Hmm...I just had a thought. Often, when new people ask a question, or pose a thought here, they write about something that's been discussed before. In fact, the older the board gets, and the more that's been discussed, the harder it is to come up with new things to talk about. Until just a moment ago (when I had a random thought pop into my mind regarding this) I thought, "well, it only makes sense to refer someone to the old thread. No use re-hashing this AGAIN."

But then I thought, "Hmmm...there are new people on this board all the time. Maybe that kind of simple "paste the URL" referral kills the new thread, and thus, kills new thoughts?"

Clearly, referring people to the old thread makes sense, as there is a wealth of instant info available. Clearly as well, there's no point in re-writing what's already been written...

I don't have the answer...maybe there isn't one...but is there a way that we all can phrase things so that it encourages new discussion on the new thread, while still letting people know that there's information elsewhere?

Like I said...I don't have the answer...maybe there's no good one. But what it seems like right now is that we are all like publishers, evaluating new authors...and the authors are coming to us saying, "I'd like to write a book about the Second World War." and we say, "Well, there was a book written about the Second World War once before. Go read that. That one's enough."

Clearly it's not that simple...but I think it's worth thinking about how we can encourage NEW thoughts...and whether we're stifling new discussion.

Just my humble thoughts...