Serious question: what motivation was there?

AFAIK points aren't worth anything and don't unlock anything after the first few, probably to help block spam/bots.

It's exceedingly rare that I even click a profile here, and even then it's usually to see what a person works on not how many points they've accumulated.

In fact, there are many cases where the most knowledgeable person on a subject comments, I click to see who they are, and realize they've only ever commented a few times. I imagine they either mostly lurk, or have an idle account they just use when friends drag them into the conversation.