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I do not understand why it is a “either or” problem. We could fund CERN and climate research and other things. It just comes down to political will. Trying to p
by vaidhy 6y ago
I do not understand why it is a “either or” problem. We could fund CERN and climate research and other things. It just comes down to political will. Trying to phrase them as one for other is disingenuous and wrong. There is also a hidden assumption that all science work should have immediate social relevance and impact and one kind of science is replaceable by another. By that logic, we should not think about space exploration since the marine ecosystem is being over-fished.
- ChrisLomont 6y ago>Trying to phrase them as one for other is disingenuous and wrong. By this logic we can spend infinite money on infinite wants, but this is simply not true. Money spent on one project forces there to be less for other projects. As such it's reasonable to consider opportunity costs for a project.
- henearkr 6y agoLet's say we stop international conflicts, make successful demographic transitions in all countries, and concentrate our time and efforts in making progress in biology, physics, and all? Yes I know that what I propose is impossible right know, but it makes me cringe that we are such an irrational species...
- vaidhy 6y agoI do not believe this to be a zero sum game. You can argue for the merits of each one independently. Along with infinite wants, we also have infinite problems.
- ChrisLomont 6y agoIt’s not zero sum in the long run. But the converse of zero sum is not unlimited sum, especially in the foreseeable future. Thus spending on one project limits Spending for other projects.