science needs weirdos who are willing to work on edge cases Yes, but there's more than one kind of edge. The edge of scientific knowledge is worth paying peop

science needs weirdos who are willing to work on edge cases Yes, but there's more than one kind of edge. The edge of scientific knowledge is worth paying people to explore. The edge of your own knowledge is worth exploring on your own. The edge of your funding agent's credulity is very profitable to explore, but such work doesn't help science at all.