"Is it easier to have an intellectual discussion on reddit? Yes." I'd have to argue with you there. Reddit loves to converge on an opinion and call it "right". Upvote system is the cause of that.

I post here quite regularly and it has happened on many occasions that after I post a motivation and good argument around my post, it get upvoted above a previously highly rated conflicting post.

This, is a problem. The original post shouldn't be there in the first place. It's misleading for everyone who viewed the comments section before my comment got upvoted.

Which is why I love 4chan. Instead of people getting the easy road out and have posts prioritized for them they need to evaluate themselves and their opinions. But just like everywhere else, most people aren't reasonable. People like to believe what they already believe. But reddit is enforcing that by making popular (in pure numbers, not quality) opinions shine brighter.

Instead of like in 4chan where if you really make a good point people either go "ah, I see/so true" which is rare. Or they shut up and the thread dies.