I dont come out of the hole'n the Wall much..  I don"t care for the endless ad campaigns, trolls and the "I know better than you because I am screaming louder" mentality that I find prevalent in many posts out "here". Imho the merit system is obviously flawed despite theymos and the "meta" crew's best intentions. It's either a semi-functional beta at best or a self perpetuating circle jerk at worst.

I do tend to be of the mind set that something is better than nothing however and do appreciate the hard work involved for some. That being said, I am having a issue with this thread for some reason. When people start telling other people how to think my censorship hackles rise and the warning bells start clamoring.

Here is a example. These two have made such a impression on me with some of their thoughtful and insightful post's over the years that I ended up putting them on my DT list. I have had no trades with them or any other interactions but I still feel as though they are "trustful". I haven't searched through ever single post nor will I, but I do wonder however if they feel they have earned the 2300+ merits that the community has bestowed upon them. I suspect there might be some doubt.



My point is here are two well respected members telling other people how to think and act..   I am not sure it could be more of an anti-thesis of what bitcoin is all about if it tried. The merit system has to be more than just rewarding the same 1% of people who make quality post's. This is a subjective proposition that has to be intuited at the users discretion. It has to be a way to engage and draw new participation or we will end up in a very small echo chamber. It's to the point that I almost refuse to merit legendary members at all unless it is truly profound or cutting edge. I try and bestow what little merit I gain to newbies trying to gain a foothold so as to entice more participation as a whole or to member who I feel are close to ranking up a level.

I think Globbo's point was to reward and encourage decency and politeness...plain and simple. That seems admirable and a good use case for merits if I have ever heard one.

Just my two sats.
tc