There is the general tendency towards the "lowest common denominator" that seems to be inevitable in communities. Besides introducing draconian barriers like ne

There is the general tendency towards the "lowest common denominator" that seems to be inevitable in communities. Besides introducing draconian barriers like needing to have N points before one can upvote, I'm not sure what else can be done on sites like ours. Is that viable? Will it counter the tendency towards the banal? Will it force new-comers to only make "safe" comments in order to gain enough points? Or will it encourage richer conversations and meaningful engagement?