The problem with this is that a lot of conclusions are drawn from discussion. StackExchange with its almost nazi-like moderation forces no discussion, resulting in very biased answers which favour those with a not necessarily well deserved or earned reputation.
I much prefer to have a few opinions on the table and form my own from them.
Yeah, there are a lot of really bogus answers on some of the questions. Usually there is something of value there if you know what you're doing, though.
Also I don't have the ability to downvote crappy answers because I'm not special enough or something, which really irritates me to no end...
> Also I don't have the ability to downvote crappy answers because I'm not special enough or something ...
You need to accumulate 500 karma points, after which you can downvote. This is to prevent people opening throwaway accounts and instantly downvoting something they don't like.
I much prefer to have a few opinions on the table and form my own from them.