you will find many members with little to no knowledge of how BTC actually works and still have thousends of merit
I'd argue you don't need to know how Bitcoin really works (on a technical level) to be able to use it, but I get what you mean.
Making use of it is one thing; engaging in a serious discussion about it is undeniably the most bizarre things to try out as a newbie. You know the feeling of reading through pages and pages, without a single idea on point.
I have never seen a farmed account with thousands of merits though.
What I’m trying to say is that merit count can be very misleading — not just from a technical perspective. Some people contribute very little and still earn merit, and the opposite is also true.
why should anyone argue on this? I can't help but recall one time a user posted about not getting the usual amount of merit since his new ranks (I can't recall who that was) -- it's a kind of worrisome situation and more of a daunting task for some, but for others just like you said, it's easy easy.