kaspatalk

I am rather new to crypto and have seen these thrown around. I remember that Ethereum went to POS instead of POW but for the life of me I cannot understand the difference. Anyone got a clear understanding of what the pros and cons are of both?

centralization vs decentralization imo is the very obvious one

Firstly nice to have you here and it is amazing that you are interested in this topic. Points for going PoW instead of PoS are - Better decentralisation and security - in PoS in order to provide security you have to be centralised(we have visa for that what is the point? and Dagknight (parameterless is not possible with PoS)

Are these the sole benefits that we are going to use for Kaspa or are there other reasons way down the line that we will benefit from?

Simple
PoS:
can be highly Centralised
Typically has VS and supply held by Team
Token usually on Etherium
No really value of the token

PoW:
Can be Highly decentralised
Can be Far Launch - and provable
Has high Security
Is backed by an entire industry (Mining)
Mining Uses Electricity therefore good for economy
Mining uses Physical equipment whish is good for the manufacturing industry
Mining businesses are Taxable and good for governments
Is a Coin not a token
Also miners have a vested interest in the wellbeing of Mining coins.
Feels a little bit more real than Ethereum tokens

Because PoW is PoW(he is him), not a PoS. As simple as that