Camshafts: What effect does increased lift have on performance?

What if the head flows the same at .450 and .600?

You still lift the valve to .600 because you lift average the flow.

Unless you are a street car guy. Then performance doesn’t really matter as long as it sounds cool.
Exactly!
Ramp rates are wildly different for tons of cams, even just flat tappet cams, in the case of Mopar's(AMC & some older Olds) the large tappet diameter allows for crazy ramp rates, it's even more ridiculous for mushroom tappets. You can 100% have much higher lifts with the same seat-to-seat duration, the question is how much You want to push it, & do You want to do/spend the $$$$ what's needed to upgrade the valvetrain.
The amount of benefit depends on the heads & what range of operation You're talking about. Take stock SB X/J/U heads, they pretty much nose-over @.475" lift, some less than others. Increasing the lift still gets the valve open quicker & spends more time in the lift range where the heads are flowing more, even if it doesn't flow much or any more at the peak, as long as the head doesn't 'back-up' dramatically it's still a win.
Exactly!

Open that valve up as quick as possible and as high as the head is efficient and you will have taken advantage of the head and maximize it potential.

If you follow this general rule, you will have, even with very little experience, maximized the combo for the best results without getting your head twisted into knots slicing and dicing your brains into a mush for the best possible outcome.

There are thought patterns for lifting the valve beyond the heads ability and even using the cams opening ramp to launch the valve (NASCAR) off the ramp…. While all of this is great, it’s not what should be done on a street vehicle. It makes me sense.

If the head flow great to .500, just lift the valve to .500.
No need to go crazy.