I don't see how the marker in the cup makes an analogy with the pedal, is the marker the pedal spindle, and the cup is the crank?

If my pedal seized on the spindle, and I somehow kept pedaling, wouldn't that unscrew the pedals as sure as grabbing the spindle with a wrench and pedaling forwards? And isn't a proper greased ball-bearing just making that seizure very very very gradual?