I was always under the impression, once you start a thread, you pretty much have to live with it, as request to have it closed will go unanswered. The obvious lesson here being: Think before you post.
I did not know the passage of time made this unwritten rule moot.
FTR: I’m not angry or anything. Just curious what the thinking is behind this.
As with so much else here, it depends. Considering that it took almost seven years for the first reply to that thread, I’d suspect the OP has lost interest.
The mods decide. You can request, and they will take that into consideration, but if there is a reason to keep it open, they will. Typically, zombie threads are closed if the necromancer hasn’t added anything of value to the discussion or if the thread is really old. But ultimately it’s the mods’ decision.
Any OP can request a thread be closed. It depends on the situation if that request is honored. In the case of the zombie thread I closed, there had not been any reply to the OP in about seven years and the OP felt his POV was no longer relevent.
But that shouldn’t make any difference. The next two posters ‘added something of value’ to the old thread. Either leave them open or stop saying ‘we don’t close zombies’. As it stands, more of them get closed then get left open.
Other then dragging up old pit threads, I don’t understand why any zombie threads ever have to be closed.
I agree in that an OP simply losing interest would not be enough to close a thread. In this case the OP felt that the thread no longer was an accurate reflection of his POV. Given its age and the limited interest it had garnered in seven years, the OP’s request made it an easy one to honor.
Anyone interested in the topic can open their own thread based on their experiences.
Short answer: Yes.
I’ve done this dozens of times. If it’s a good enough reason, I’ll close it, such as the reason the OP gave for the one that was closed in the example.
But the majority of the time, you’d be right and closing topics is always a last resort.
The reasons given for this time, however, were valid enough.
My guess is that the OP feared the wrath of the Pedant Brigade lecturing him on proper use of the word “unique”. 
The “add something of value” rule is operative mainly in GQ and Comments (and occasionally in CS and the Game Room). I think in general the default is to close old threads in other forums. In that thread, the two posters didn’t add anything of any real significance (and I think the second one’s post was due to a misunderstanding of the OP).
I wasn’t aware that the rule was only for those forums. Checking the rules (posted in ATMB), I see the it’s really only stated for certain forums, the others it basically says the mods can close threads if a really long one gets bumped and the mod doesn’t want to read the whole thing.
Regarding the two posters not adding anything significant, I think you’re wrong there. The first poster answered the OP’s question. The second poster asked the OP a clarifying question. I’m not sure how much more significant you’d expect the posts to be with only an hour between the bump and the thread getting locked.
Out of curiosity, what if the OP had posted the thread today and asked for it to be locked after the first two replies?
No, because as I said, I took into account the age, the inactivity, and the fact that after six odd years the OP no longer felt his OP applied to him. All three things factored into my decision. Had it been a new thread or an old thread that had lots of responses (and therefore had grown beyond the original post) it’s unlikely I would’ve closed it.
The OP made a reasonable request about a personal thread (to him) that was absolutely dead for six years.
And that’s what bugs me (in general, not about you or this thread specifically). We say we don’t close threads, but all else being equal, it was only closed because it was old, therefore we close old threads.
I’ve said many times before that I think all old threads should remain open (except under some limited circumstances). I don’t see why any of them need to be locked. Even ones that get bumped by spam. Who cares? Delete the spam and it’ll fall back to where it belongs, if posters have started talking about it again, let them, what’s the big deal.
However, there’s no rhyme or reason to why one gets closed or another stays open, so maybe we should just go back to the old way of locking them all.
I disagree.
It wasn’t closed because it was old. It was closed because the op asked and his reasons were valid. Being old was a factor, not the factor. Op’s ask and get new threads closed often enough.
Many old threads remain open unless they become spam bait, the new posts are drive by, or other extenuating circumstances (like people replying to a dead or banned OP).
Then help me out here.
Bolding mine.
You specifically said if it wasn’t old, you likely wouldn’t have closed it. So which is it?
I’m not trying to trip you up, but you’re giving me two different answers.
Again, OP creates a thread, two posters make the same two posts, you get the same email asking for it to be closed. In one case, the OP is 6 years old, in the other it was posted the same day. Do you close it in both cases? Above, you said no, now you’re saying yes.
If only there were a way for you to open a new thread on the subject…
No, I’m not inconsistent. I have said it being old was one of the factors. I have never denied that. I also explained how that was included in with other factors. I also gave an explanation of how that old thread would have been left open, despite being old, if all three factors weren’t in place. Honestly, I think my explanations have been complete and consistent. You just can’t take one part of the rationale alone- it had multiple parts.
Its true that in many cases zombie threads have a lower bar for closing, because often people have died, been banned etc. But that doesn’t mean closing it is de facto.
I hope that clarifies, at least my thinking.
Difference: OP comes in makes post, within 6 hours, two posters reply to the topic. What is the justification for the OP to request the thread closure?
In the case we have: OP comes in and makes a post. NOBODY replies for 6 years. Now one person replies somewhat on topic, and a second poster misunderstands and asks for clarification based upon that misunderstanding. The OP decides he doesn’t wish to reply, and requests the thread be closed because the only conversation is about him, and he doesn’t wish to explore that topic any more.
Two very different circumstances where the age is a contributing factor, but not the only factor.
Hypothetical: OP makes same post, some discussion about uniqueness breaks out, several posters comment on various aspects of uniquity and their own lives, thread dies. 6 years later, someone reanimates the thread. The OP requests closure, but because there is other discussion about other posters included in the topic, the Mods might well have left it open on the grounds that there was a larger conversation than the one poster.