Appropriate use of reputation points

[mtrawls]

Originally Posted by D.J. Fluck

Basically, there really is nothing you can do about it except deal with it or bar the reputation system all together. If i'm not mistaken this is the 2nd or 3rd thread that has been dedicated to complaining about the reputation system. Again, reinforcing what Andy said, go on with your lives, do what you want and deal with it.

Oh, ... I really hope that is not how this thread is seen: as "complaining about the reputation system." And I hope too that people don't think "there really is nothing you can do about it." I started this thread not to complain, but to spark a debate so that the system could perhaps be improved, or at least its limitations more understood. Now, what Mr. Baker said is very smart and is a very good point to consider. But please don't see me as complaining; the system can be changed for the better by various actions, ... and the only way that any change might be affected is by intelligent debate. And even without change, an intelligent discussion (as opposed to complaining) is a good thing for the community.

Sure, there are those that take the system to the extreme, and you can't really change them -- they are who they are. But anyone who refuses to talk to someone of lower rep, or assumes someone with 10 bars is smart or insightful is reading into the system far more than can accurately be read. If the system is to stay, in my most humble opinion it should not be meaningless; to make it more meaningful, its weaknesses must be addressed and discussed intelligently (whether or not that results in any official change). Again in my opinion, we shouldn't tell people how to give out rep; but that doesn't mean we can't offer suggestions (as we currently do). I'm not necessarily advocating any change in the system -- but a discussion is certainly needed, even if it is a re-discussion (or, as it seems, a re-re-re-discussion).

I hope I haven't overstayed my welcome in this thread, but I felt I needed to clear up some things.