People aren't computers, but even without the computational analogies, what you're saying is still true. We spend a lot of our time and energy on unimportant p

People aren't computers, but even without the computational analogies, what you're saying is still true. We spend a lot of our time and energy on unimportant problems while the world is full of real problems that could use our help. I think what it comes down to is access. It's easier to buy a chess board and books about chess strategy than it is to buy the tools you would need to do cancer research. The chess community is open to anyone who wants to join; to join the cancer research community, you need years of school. There's an institution sitting in front of the problem saying "trust us, we're working on it" -- and if you want to work on it too, you have to do it as part of that institution. Most people aren't motivated enough to climb this institutional mountain. They'd rather stay at base camp and enjoy themselves. (This is one nice thing about software, by the way. You don't need a degree or an expensive lab to play around, learn, and contribute.)