I think this whole power point/ rating bend the discussion is taking might be a little out of topic.
It's true points feed vanity, but it is also true that it is nice and useful to have feedback on contributions.
The whole problem with the points is the current voting system give real value to diffent votes and you will have great community feedback and dinamic interaction on the whole website.
That idea has always been seen as impossible to implement though... I can't understand why.