recurrent issues

[Robert Goodman]

Originally Posted by bob jenkins

For the 1 time that "lumping" is good (new information has come to light that helps resolve some old dispute), there are 99 times that it's bad (someone has just joined the forum and takes it upon himself to go back and answer every thread in the past 2 years, and the answer that the newbie gives in post #35 is the same as the correct answers given in posts #3, #14, #17 and #23. Then, someone reads the answer, doesn't realize it's an old thread and starts asking all the "what if" questions that were already asked).

How is that worse than the newbie starting a new thread on the subject, not only not having read the previous material, but not even knowing it was there?