Why does it matter if a thread is old?

[Edwin Santos]

The medical school thread was shut down, presumably for being old. Why does it matter if the resurrected discussion is interesting and does not trip the politics or other banned subject wires? Doesn't really matter if the original poster is no longer in the picture, does it? As long as anyone is benefiting from the discussion?
As it relates to the medical profession, the pandemic has really changed or accelerated trends within the industry, and the newer discussion reflects it. You never know if it might be helpful to someone contemplating the same questions as the original poster. And if it the thread is not useful, nobody will comment and it will die on its own with no casualties.

[Kev Williams]

--that thread still shows up on my computer...

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I am with you. Why was a aged thread closed? I realized it was on old thread. The reason I responded to it was to make it known people go to medical sometimes on a military scholarship and to encourage people to go to med school. In this day when people in the medical fields have been so hammered because of the pandemic and as a result are leaving the medical field, we need to encourage qualified individuals to entertain the thought of that as a profession.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

--that thread still shows up on my computer...

It's there but has a status of Closed.

[George Yetka]

Did it get political? or maybe the medical practices discussed towards the beginning were out of date(Bloodletting and the like)

[Bruce Page]

The thread is open in the Off Topic forum.

[Kevin Jenness]

The thread is open in the Off Topic forum.

It's curious that it showed up as closed earlier but now is active.

[Bill Dufour]

It was closed to me this morning. I will have to check to see if it is open again.
My niece wanted to become a vetrinarian but less then 30 vet schools in the USA. I believe there are almost that many med schools in this one state. Small states like Alaska and Idaho have no medical schools. they have deals for their students to go to Washington medical schools as home state school rates.
Bill D

[Lee Schierer]

I posted the comment that it was old, but didn't close it. It is open on my computer.

To answer the OP's question. Old threads are fine, but when a person is asking for advice, it doesn't make a lot of sense to offer advice on that subject years later.

[Scott Brodersen]

To answer the OP's question. Old threads are fine, but when a person is asking for advice, it doesn't make a lot of sense to offer advice on that subject years later.

Maybe it's for people who have the same question and find the thread by searching.

[Jim Becker]

Maybe it's for people who have the same question and find the thread by searching.

Perhaps. But in the thread in question, the new community member who made the post that wolk up the thread was replying directly to the OP and providing advice.

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Interestingly, some forum software developers have started to address this with the ability to flash a warning when someone goes to respond to a thread that has not had attention for some predetermined time period.

[Scott Clausen]

I occasionally get sucked into a "zombie" thread without checking OP post date. Any advice or comment on it are likely never to be seen by the OP. Nothing wrong with that other than I am wasting time.

[Keith Outten]

Old threads are never removed because they always contain valuable information that benefits someone even if it is many years old. So, if you comment in an old thread its probably true that the Original Poster will never see your response but any number of people may read your posts and learn from the information your share as long as The Creek exists.

I have probably said this a thousand times here, "Our archives are very valuable and those who don't take the time to visit them are missing a major woodworking resource".