Please take your time to read this thread from the admins: https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/merit-new-rank-requirements-2818350
If you want you can check the one I have crate for about the Activity and Merit system. https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/comprehensive-guide-to-bitcointalk-newbie-friendly-calculator-and-infographic-2534500
Please keep in mind that:
IF YOU TRY TO ABUSE THE MERIT SYSTEM YOU WILL BE BANNED!
And here you can actually see how it looks like, the lazy way:
Thanks for the informative post. I admit I was just minding my own business posting the way I post when I started noticing the merit statistics by people's profile handles. Now I know where it comes from. Looks like I can just carry on. I'll try to award your post some merit points now that I know I can.