> I don't understand why we don't (as a society) fund more scientific research, in general. Humans are much better at handling short-term projects than long-te

> I don't understand why we don't (as a society) fund more scientific research, in general. Humans are much better at handling short-term projects than long-term projects. There are many reasons for this including, but not limited to, human psychology, harder to assess risks and payoffs, and limited human lifespans/workspans (e.g. leadership changes every 4-8 years and therefore so will the direction of the project). These issues are very prevalent when, for instance, the development of a new antibiotic can take up to 20 years. In addition, plenty of science results in duds. We see and hear about the successes, but we don't really see the hypotheses that are failed to be proven and discarded, which I imagine are the vast majority. Most people are not scientists, and this kind of process is foreign to them.