The pessimistic/realist view is that issues are sometimes ignored because, though they may actually be quite important, they are a pain to deal with or the main

The pessimistic/realist view is that issues are sometimes ignored because, though they may actually be quite important, they are a pain to deal with or the maintainer of contributors just don't want to think about them. A matter of "out of sight, out of mind" but with the benefit of being able to instantly close off new issues without begetting discussion by marking them as a duplicate of the old locked and closed issue. A roundabout and obfuscated form of the "closed: wontfix/not interested" patterns of yore. Of course that's not the main or majority reason, but it is there. And it is fair.