Racking up "Internet points" is not a perverse goal? I don't see how it provides value to either the person attempting to acquire these points or the visitors providing them.
That's begging the question. People do a lot of things that actively harmful to themselves and others -- my argument is that purposely acquiring karma, for the sole reason of increasing one's score, could very well be one of those things.
> People do a lot of things that actively harmful to themselves and others -- my argument is that purposely acquiring karma, for the sole reason of increasing one's score, could very well be one of those things.
You are making a random and unsubstantiated claim that acquiring karma is somehow "harming" the person acquiring it. Onus is on you to backup your claim.
Why would one assume that its obviously true.
> That's begging the question
I would say your point is this.
"Begging the question is an informal fallacy that occurs when an argument's premises assume the truth of the conclusion"
My original comment was actually asking the question: what value to the user does acquiring karma provide?
You begged the question by saying that acquiring karma must provide value because people are acquiring karma. That's the assuming the truth of the conclusion.
I'm not strongly making the claim that acquiring karma is harmful but I'll re-iterate my original question: what is the value of acquiring karma for either the person doing it or the audience? My unsubstantiated feeling is that provides no value but I'd be interested in hearing a counter-argument.
The problem is that we have clear proof that people are motivated to acquire karma since... people try to do that thing. You could possibly shift the question over to the topic of "Is being motivated to acquire karma a positive or negative utility - perhaps, does the user acquire karma as a goal, or acquire karma to avoid not acquiring karma for their comments?"
Its not a perverse goal.