So far, I like the reputation system but now I think of it as socially orientated because not everyone supplies rep points whether they're deserved or not after solving their problem or recently joined members can only give neutral rep. It's probably mainly in the social lounge when someone finds a funny link or even burns another member appropriately and I've had a few from my opinion in a friendly argument.
So relax, it's not an accurate judgment of every user's technical capability on CF. Hell, I'm a living testament to that, haha!