[mattlutze]

The previous is suggesting opinion on threads would bias around popular personalities on the site. pg is popular here, others are too, but not all are universally "important" to the world. Publicizing to a greater extent these personalities' thoughts on subjects will drive out other viewpoints, as commenters self-edit in hopes of those up-votes.

In the case of your example, if someone important likes what you said and you feel rewarded for that, you're more likely to say that (or something similar) again, regardless of the objective merit of the statement.

Say your comment was "Java is stupid". it only gets 3 upvotes, but XYZ likes it. You feel validated, so next time the subject comes up you say it again. Commentary was then shaped by a personality rather than the merit of the commentary.

[jorgearturo]

I was trying to be crystal clear. But I liked your conciseness more than my long-winded reasoning break down.