I love that the reputation system has silenced many notorious trolls. Right now they are reaping what they have sewn and will have little to no success.

I think you still have the ability to speak openly, but it will be more like talking to a person face to face than people without limitations typing across faceless platforms.

As long as someone brings up their opinion and does not try to instigate, it should be welcome. I see the potential for someone to get upset and see a lower rep person flagged their post and to go on a rampage downvoting all content of that person. The beauty is though that the blockchain makes this transparent. Someone will see what you have done and your reputation will be tarnished.

And to your point about the scientist, if you say something that gets misinterpreted, most people here will allow you to respond and may reverse their vote. I have done so myself.

Overall the reputation system is a lot better for steemit than what we had before with the increasing prevalence of trolling and spam bots littering the ecosystem. It's not perfect but I much prefer it to the alternative.