In the context of the PHP script discussed in the forum thread, what impact does the absence of proper session initialization have on the functionality of the user rating system?

The absence of proper session initialization in the PHP script can lead to unreliable user rating functionality as it may not be able to keep track of individual user sessions correctly. To solve this issue, you need to start the session at the beginning of the script to ensure that session variables can be accessed and updated throughout the user's interaction with the rating system.

<?php
session_start();

// Your existing PHP code for user rating system goes here
?>