A tool to help facilitate communications and encourage open discussion and sharing of ideas. And i would suggest we do not actually achieve that very well if our default setup is, pop at the top. "Most voted" is an old school tool that originates in technical forums for finding working solutions to computer and technical issues. Not personal opinion discussions. By placing the most voted up reply to the top of a technical questions and answers forum we really do save everyone time. Because we came here to get an actual working solution to a specific technical difficulty. The answer that IS objectively correct and fixing the problem made first up at the top of the list to be seen really helps. However if we are having an open discussion of opinions and ideas, then we're not actually putting the correct answer at the top. We're putting what's pop at the top. If we put at the top what is pop, guess what. On average what is pop will be coming from a very similar POV. Like how all pop music from ANY genre shares in similarities that make it a pop hit, regardless of what other classification it may have also had. This effectively reduces the churn of ideas and the communicating of different POVs. That is no longer a platform for the sharing of ideas, but for just distilling us down to what was able to garner the most votes fastest. betting the consistent "winning strategy" for the game of be at the top to be seen, is to appeal to the LCDs basically. Which reduces scope of POVs we see and homogenizes the nature of the the up vote replies seen at the top of all threads. Pop at the top gives us an incentive to use hyperbole and other hot button topic phrases that just appeal to those who will +1 for the catch phrases and wharbelgarhble. Just consider that if the wharblegarhble is consistently treated as meaningful discourse. What do you think winds up being the most easy to see posts if pop at the top is our default thread order? Topics about objective facts is/is not correct are great for, "best" at the top. Cause in those conversations best means this answer/reply was proven to actually fix problems for the most people here. Vs. conversations of personal opinions will stifle and hide less popular ideas/options, by making pop at the top the default sort order. Nice to have the option, better to default to newest or oldest first though, if we are actually trying to foster communications and idea sharing. Not just hold popularity contests of who can manipulate the readers better for the most +1s. Also +1 means nothing. People can give the most votes to a post because it made the laugh a lot, but was basically off topic/not discussion participatory. Is that really helpful then to place it at the top by default?