Reputations

[Sheriff Gonna Getcha]

I see some of your points SBF, but the rep. system has some value. First, the reputation system encourages people to be thoughtful as it punishes carelessness and stupidity and rewards thoughtfulness. Although there are numerous people who will give others negative points for posts that are thoughtful and positive points for dumb posts, I still think the system's flaws are outweighed by its benefits. Second, the reputation system allows users to see how others view them. Granted, you can already do that when people quote your posts. However, some people would prefer to express their opinions more discretely and the reputation point system affords them an opportunity to do just that. And if a series of rep. points express the same idea (e.g., "You're spelling sucks," or "Nice way of backing up your posts with facts") it's easy to take note of that and adjust your future posts accordingly.

If people don't like what you say and their comments are without merit, simply ignore them. If people have something to say about your posts and their concerns/comments are thoughtful, take note. In short, disregard the dumb comments and take note of the thoughtful ones.