I used to find the StraightDope forums a great place for that, but then they went paid, and even though I subscribed, it kind of killed them, for me anyway. Your vision for Hubski sounds exactly like Reddit seemed when I first found it, in the days - yes, they existed! - when even /r/atheism included thoughtful and civil discussion. Let's hope it succeeds.
quality in subs like /r/atheism is a dream long dead :( It's been hardly a week i'm on hubski and after spending some time here, I cringe goingback to /r/all. I dont mind hearing news a little late here on hubski (though this surely change as the community grows) if it means filtering out all the bullshit on reddit. I fuckin love this community. And that's what shapes the site. I frequent #Music and it's incredible. I post unpopular, never-heard-of recordings and performances and I get insightful comments like 4 days later! If you dont get upvoted in the first 5 minutes on reddit you're buried. I really, really hope this place stays pure.