Very true. I lurked on Reddit because I was intimidated of their opinion of me. What if I posted something against the Hivemind's opinion? I get bashed down to the nether regions. However, here I'm not intimidated to post or comment because of the social and badge incentives, also because nobody bashes anyone else for having a different opinion. I think keeping the current hub-style voting system will encourage good discussion because users don't fight for a big number. Also the people who come around these parts are intellectual themselves, setting the tone for discussion. I too think that it will grow to be a fantastic place.
I worry, but hubski should be fine as long as Reddit and other aggregators keep their average users in line. Like 9Gag keeps the worst users from Reddit, Reddit will keep mediocre users from hubski. EDIT: After thinking this through, it doesn't matter. Reddit went down the toilet anyway. Only time will tell.
That's a great point. The fact that a lot of the current users of Hubski are people who understand the shortcomings of the Reddit system will really make the community great, improving upon the issues of other social media sites. (also, I just thought of another nice, welcoming touch to the site: no downvotes!)