There are many interesting debates on RG, some span thousands of entries. Unfortunately, there is no way of referring to a particular entry other than “see above”. As one participant has put it: “One can only hit the “Show previous answers” button so many times.”
It seems to be a shame for a scholarly/scientific forum to lack an essential tool for any academic work - a reliable indexing system (as someone who recently finished University, one would not have past an introductory course paper without using such a system).
On the other hand, one should not kid oneself, this is a commercial platform where the operators are most notable by there absence. So, it might be folly to try to improve this platform as a user, i. e. a provider of commercially exploited data. On the other hand, enough pressure might force a response.
Do you think it is worth trying to improve this platform to adhere to a minimal standard of academic work? Or do we have to accept it as it is and try to make the best of it?
To be honest, I don't think so.
Already, there is developed the global mechanism for referencing to scientific statements - it is called DOI. To fulfill requirements you described above it would be enough to enable discussions in a tree form (what is being practiced already on numerous forums) instead of the current list form.
But, at the same time, it should be noted that too complicated communication mechanisms can be even more harmful than simplifying them too much.
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