###Why?

My guess is that it's there because meta runs the same software as Stack Overflow, in the main site this makes a lot of sense. Having greyed answers when looking for an answer to a problem is productive and useful and it removes focus from answers the community peer reviewed and deemed useful.

###Is it useful?

I think that this visual cue is not useful in meta where answers express agreement and disagreement rather than usefulness of the answer. Reading an unpopular opinion is useful and helps me make up my mind on a subject.I almost always read the majority of answers when reading a thread on meta where on SO I almost always only read the first, or top two answers. Again, this is because these unpopular opinions make sense in meta and may still be useful.

###Should it be dropped?

Yes. I believe that visual cue should be dropped in meta. I think it doesn't do much good. As it currently stands I just 'right click -> inspect element -> set color to normal' when I read such an answer.

Why?

My guess is that it's there because meta runs the same software as Stack Overflow, in the main site this makes a lot of sense. Having greyed answers when looking for an answer to a problem is productive and useful and it removes focus from answers the community peer reviewed and deemed useful.

Is it useful?

I think that this visual cue is not useful in meta where answers express agreement and disagreement rather than usefulness of the answer. Reading an unpopular opinion is useful and helps me make up my mind on a subject.I almost always read the majority of answers when reading a thread on meta where on SO I almost always only read the first, or top two answers. Again, this is because these unpopular opinions make sense in meta and may still be useful.

Should it be dropped?

Yes. I believe that visual cue should be dropped in meta. I think it doesn't do much good. As it currently stands I just 'right click -> inspect element -> set color to normal' when I read such an answer.