As far as I can see, system of merits here is some sort of reputation. It serves to distinguish experts in cryptography from inexperienced users, that is quite useful inside the forum, since we know how much we can trust a certain user. And of course, merits can serve as a moral encouragement for the help given to others.

And, consequently, they mean nothing if we got them in a different (undeserved) way. In addition, outside this website, these merits don't mean anything and can not be used at all. So, why do so many users try to get them from the very beginning of their registration, as if this is their main goal on the forum? It seemed to me that merits should be just a tool, not an ultimate purpose.

Numerous daily posts like "How to get merits", thousands of similar responses to posts only worsen the state of the community and do not do any good, but kill communication, don't they? Or, maybe, I've missed something?