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I was recently told that meta questions should not be closed because you disagree with them. I then found

And have since removed my vote to close.

However, I am still left with some doubt. I do not think we keep them open for historical reference, since you can always refer to them whether or not they are open or not, and I cannot think of many other possible reasons.

Is there any particular reason we should leave such questions open?

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    $\begingroup$ Your question may create a loop. This comment is just a joke :) $\endgroup$
    – user243301
    Oct 8, 2017 at 11:38
  • $\begingroup$ "Is there any particular reason we should leave such questions open?" Yes. The reason is there is no reason to close it. Every question stays open unless there is an immediate reason for it's closure. This applies to main and meta alike. (Put differently, "Is there any particular reason we should leave such questions open?" is the wrong question to ask. ) $\endgroup$
    – quid Mod
    Oct 8, 2017 at 19:37

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Voting to close simply means "as of now, this is not an acceptable question for the site". But there can be acceptable questions/proposals on meta that perhaps others disagree with. Downvotes on meta loosely mean "disagree".

Keeping a meta question open with a lot of votes is essentially the community saying "this is an acceptable question to ask, however the answer is no".

Edit: For the specific case of the question you voted to close: It is a proposal about a feature for math.SE. So it is an on topic question. However as I'm sure you and everyone else agreed, it's a terrible idea. So you downvote (as I did, because I thought it was an awful idea).

Opinions do change. Maybe in 5 years the site is so barely functional because no one uses mathjax. It drives away all the good members. Maybe in the future, it's not such a bad idea. Norms have changed over the years.

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    $\begingroup$ "Maybe in 5 years the site is so barely functional because no one uses mathjax." And maybe pigs will fly. $\endgroup$
    – Simply Beautiful Art
    Oct 8, 2017 at 0:28
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    $\begingroup$ @SimplyBeautifulArt Norms have changed over the years, I don't think that's disputable. $\endgroup$
    – user223391
    Oct 8, 2017 at 0:29
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    $\begingroup$ Thank you for your explanation though. Much appreciated and makes sense. $\endgroup$
    – Simply Beautiful Art
    Oct 8, 2017 at 0:30
  • $\begingroup$ Unless mathjax gets replaced, I won't let mathjax get discarded to the side. Besides, I need it for quickly formatting math for other purposes. $\endgroup$
    – Simply Beautiful Art
    Oct 8, 2017 at 0:31
  • $\begingroup$ @SimplyBeautifulArt I was giving the hypothetical that maybe there's so many new users flooding the site with posts not using mathjax that the site becomes unusable. Maybe at that time, it is not too crazy to have a "mathjax quiz". Just an example, I'm not saying this will or will not happen. Norms have changed. Things people thought when the site was smaller don't really make sense as the site gets bigger. It's good to have questions open so we can come back and maybe modify some responses. $\endgroup$
    – user223391
    Oct 8, 2017 at 0:34
  • $\begingroup$ Lmao, maybe, just maybe. But yes, I have noticed that the norms do change (as I occasionally read old meta posts which clearly do not align with the current times) ... but I don't really see old things get modified around here on meta. $\endgroup$
    – Simply Beautiful Art
    Oct 8, 2017 at 0:36
  • $\begingroup$ @SimplyBeautifulArt Sure. It doesn't happen often if ever. But at least there should be the chance. $\endgroup$
    – user223391
    Oct 8, 2017 at 0:37
  • $\begingroup$ I don't think updating old posts is a good idea, however. Personally, I think making new posts and preserving/locking the old ones is a better idea, and that, from what I get from your answer, meta posts should be left open to show that they are acceptable questions, even if we disagree on what they ask. Correct me if I'm wrong/you disagree. $\endgroup$
    – Simply Beautiful Art
    Oct 8, 2017 at 0:40
  • $\begingroup$ @SimplyBeautifulArt Yeah, that sounds reasonable. Questions even if they are universally disagreed with, might still be acceptable questions. Closing is saying the opposite. I think we're in agreement. $\endgroup$
    – user223391
    Oct 8, 2017 at 0:42

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