Letting go of the assumption that karma means much above -3 would also go a long way. Karma is just here really to keep trolls away. If there are vast differences in Karma scores posted from around the same time, then maybe that means something. I know personally that the comments and posts I am most proud of are, generally speaking, my least upvoted ones.

To consider an example, this and this were posted around the same time, both to discussion. The former initially received vastly more karma than the second. But the former, while amusing, has virtually no content. The second is a well reasoned, well supported post. Did the former's superior karma mean that it was a better article? Obviously not. That's why the second was promoted and, once it was, eventually overtook the former.

Another obvious example is the sequences. Probably everyone here would agree that at least 75 of the best 100 posts on LW are from the sequences. But, for the most part, they sit at around 10-20 karma. Those that are outside that are the extraordinarily popular ones, which are linked to a lot, and sit at probably around 40 karma. This is not an accurate reflection of their quality versus other articles that I see around 10-40 karma.

I really try (but don't always succeed) to vote karma based on "Is this comment/post at a higher or lower karma score than I think it should have?". If everyone used this, then Karma scores might have some meaning relative to each other. But I don't think many people use this strategy, and the result is that karma scores are skewed towards more read and funnier posts. Which generally tend to be shorter and less substantial.