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How much of that attitude do you think is due to a cultural shared failure to value basic science and theoretical research, and how much is due to a failure to
by zerebubuth 10y ago
How much of that attitude do you think is due to a cultural shared failure to value basic science and theoretical research, and how much is due to a failure to communicate the benefits of such activities?
I think it's quite possible that when people hear "it's complicated" or "we won't see practical applications for a decade", they wonder whether it's money well-spent. Especially if funding for things which have an immediate impact (e.g: healthcare, schools) is perceived as desperately lacking.
It seems to me that the joy of discovering and understanding the universe does not get communicated to the general public, and that's a failing of those who are asking that the general public fund their research (whether individual scientists or funding bodies such as EPSRC).
- sidlls 10y agoI can't disagree that there is a failure of communication as you note. Or at least a deficiency.
- ams6110 10y agoAlso I think that popular media accounts of some ridiculous-sounding research that got funding tends to get extrapolated (by at least some folks) to a characterization all taxpayer-funded research. One example I remember hearing about a few years ago was a study of how cocaine affects the sexual behavior of Japanese Quail. A lot of people hear about that sort of thing and question why their money is being spent on such useless-sounding research. And I imagine a fair number of people who are just working to get by don't see much point in the study of escoteric particle physics either. Never going to affect their lives.