Not true, otherwise we wouldn't be having this discussion - the OP is saying that it's a necessary filter.
How can I see who's winning this argument without seeing the vote-count!
"Everyone agrees"? :)
Yeah, I should have more faith in the commenters. Not used to attempts at humor here...
Everyone agrees that my sarcastic jokes are funny. Especially the metajokes.
Only in comments, or should we apply that to submissions also? If it weren't for using social proof to decide which stories should be highlighted, why do we have a voting-based front page?
Indeed, we should all wander through the net with no inkling of others opinions in order to mitigate some dubious risk. Enlightened people read every article, decide for themselves and then sit silently.
And yet what we've left in is the feedback mechanism that provides people a self-centered understanding of how well the community receives them. ie: People are still "scoring points," though maybe we have made the points less valuable.