We have reputations points so that new posters can bask in my glory immediately, as opposed to needing to learn of my intelligence and general superiority over the course of a few weeks.

Now I just need to get Justin to fix the system, because it has woefully miscalculated my true merit. Two little green boxes? Who is this forum trying to fool?!!!!

Seriously though, this is not a method for judging the quality of one's thinking, but the quality of one's posting habits.

I don't see it as distracting. The actual number of reputation points is not posted except in your personal profile, and you can't see what other people have accrued.

Look at the member list. There are 498 members. Of these, only 10 have 3 or more little green boxes and 8 of the 10 are current or former moderators, i.e. people who have been involved with the forum most heavily and for the longest. Only an additional 15 people have 2 boxes.

This means that 473 of the 498 registered users have only one box.

Now, you'll disproportionately see posts by people with more boxes, but that's no surprise -- you accrue 'reputation' by making helpful posts and by taking an active part.

I'm not sure the reputation score matters much, but I DO like the "Thank You" function a lot, and that's the main determinant of the reputation score.

So would it be against the rules for me to sell my thank you's to boost someone who wants an extra green box?

LOL
Yeah, how much

^^^ You can have all mine!
They are meaningless, not harmful like the 'groans'.
If the general consensus ever agrees with me, it means that I, too, am now incapable of critical thought and my brain is now ossifying!
It's nice to see, once in awhile, someone understanding what I say. I don't need a 'button' to determine that, though.

Well, the girl who showed her breasts in her avatar got a massive reputation very quickly. Quite profound.

But I do like the thank-you option.

All said and done, I think it's - overall - a good thing. I don't much like any 'competitive' elements, but in some cases it can encourage good behavior.

The good thing about this sort of 'rewarding' is that it helps or hurts not a bit unless it's perceived to mean something. Also, for those railing at everything they see, it gives yet another tidy excuse to complain.

Do you think someone who went a step further and showed the only thing available to man thats of that nature, would get lots of reputation ?

I got it :bigsmile:

Was I drunk drunk when i wrote this thread?
Probably not, rather completely stupid!

It's interesting how the individual parts differs from the whole in terms of philosophical relevance, yet the sum only consists of one piece.

While the rep has no philosophical relevance, apparently discussing the fact does. Perhaps it's a chance for more rep...

According to Douglas Adams there are levels of drunkness on wich you can only remember what you did then you hit then again. According to him, thats why people never remember end of the year promisses until the end of the next year

I like the thank you fuction, and the whole reputation and "thank yous" thing serve as a measure of how much this particular person tend to have views that are similar or interesting to other members of the forum.

Someone thank someone here, I wanna see meta-thanking (Or whatever that would be called)

May I suggest myself? (And how would this be called?)

I often don't even notice these on forums, are they really that distracting? If they hold no importance to you you can just overlook them. Admittedly, it'd be nice if there were an option for ignoring them so that they don't display on the forums if you're not interested.