I apologize if this is a "dumb question", but I would really like someone to respond to this question.
Why is reputation so important to people?
I believe that some people answer questions and ask questions just for the reputation. This is related to the FGITW problem (that is Fastest Gun In The West for those who do not know. Search it up on http://meta.stackoverflow.com). Sure, reputation on the site gets you privileges and the like, but why do so many people go for reputation? Does rep make you feel good or something?
Personally, I see reputation as simply a number on the top of my screen. Yeah, $1338$ rep, so what? I would probably feel the same if I had $10$K reputation. But some people are so giddy with delight when they earn the slightest bit of reputation. Perhaps people think that one day, they will get a lot of rep and essentially become "famous" (like Andre, robjohn, etc).
Does anyone have any ideas why people care about reputation so much?