Agreed. Not for all content though. But for what's foreign to me. Ideas, concepts, even products. If I don't "get it" right away, comments help guide me to a better understanding. Lower scores indicate noise. (Not really, but I won't know the difference.) Sorting comments without points isn't enough though; you don't know when exactly the noise begins and where to stop reading.
It's even useful for topics I'm already familiar with. If a comment I don't necessarily agree with has a high score, I'll wonder why. It's a great opportunity to walk down new mental paths or explore different angles about the topic without feeling vulnerable. If any insights emerge while doing this, I'll then follow up with my own comment.
In either case, it's impractical to analyze or reflect on every comment, so points are a pretty good heuristic. Even if it is a broken system, it does help a lot of the time.
Comments
Agreed. Not for all content though. But for what's foreign to me. Ideas, concepts, even products. If I don't "get it" right away, comments help guide me to a better understanding. Lower scores indicate noise. (Not really, but I won't know the difference.) Sorting comments without points isn't enough though; you don't know when exactly the noise begins and where to stop reading.
It's even useful for topics I'm already familiar with. If a comment I don't necessarily agree with has a high score, I'll wonder why. It's a great opportunity to walk down new mental paths or explore different angles about the topic without feeling vulnerable. If any insights emerge while doing this, I'll then follow up with my own comment.
In either case, it's impractical to analyze or reflect on every comment, so points are a pretty good heuristic. Even if it is a broken system, it does help a lot of the time.