You're right - I should be thinking and deciding for myself. But if judging the value of a comment requires expertise or experience that I do not have the scor

You're right - I should be thinking and deciding for myself. But if judging the value of a comment requires expertise or experience that I do not have the score is valuable to me. This is more so when I see a comment and a counter-argument. And if I wrote the parent, a high-scoring reply would make reconsider my position.