My issue is that doing what the poster did here, i.e. restarting an old thread without adding new info or even reading the previous replies, seems very selfish. It wastes the time of every reader and causes confusion among many.If the answer was superfluous, it was unnecessary for the original poster. It gave the replyer a sense of usefullness however, and that is what keeps many of us here (sounds pathetic, doesn't it?). This forum is not just for those who ask but also for those who want to share their knowledge or experiences.
Hence, giving all respect to your point of view, I have to disagree.
If someone wants to chime in just to be heard, then do it on a current thread. There will be no possibility of confusion and the additional time it costs readers is minimal.
I don't believe that people want to be selfish. I suspect that most people resurrecting threads like this don't even realize what they are doing. That's why I asked the question. As I stated in my original post I think there's a UI issue here. If we can identify it maybe we can fix it.