I came across many discussions (mainly in meta) that are quite lengthy (e.g., this discussion). As a result, it is quite difficult to go through all the answers/comments and I feel like I'm getting lost and miss entirely the whole point of the discussion.
My questions:
- How can we prevent discussion from going on and on, without any apparent conclusions? It seems to me that a discussion that has no conclusion(s) is pointless and is quite a waste of time.
- Would it be appropriate to "close" a discussion at some point (when it gets too lengthy)?
- Is it possible to require (either the person who "closed" the discussion, or the OP) to provide a comprehensive summary of the conclusions drawn from the discussion?
- Who should have the authority to decide when a discussion should be concluded (OP, moderator)?
EDIT:
Recently, I came across this discussion which is closely related to the aforementioned discussion. It's obvious that some conclusion or closure for the first discussion would have benefited a lot the second discussion.
These two examples only emphasize the need for a conclusion/closure for discussions.