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Wow. I'm surprised to see so many anti-science comments on HN. If you cannot extrapolate how pushing the boundaries of scientific knowledge is beneficial to hum

Wow. I'm surprised to see so many anti-science comments on HN. If you cannot extrapolate how pushing the boundaries of scientific knowledge is beneficial to humanity as a whole then I'm sort of at a loss. The money spent on the LHC is a drop in the bucket (for example, the USA spends 70 times as much in one year on defense alone).

bostonpete 15y ago
I've never criticized the LHC, but couldn't your comment apply to any scientific research? Since resources are bounded, you can't automatically say that any scientific research is worth spending billions of dollars of money on. I don't think it's productive to label as "anti-science" anyone who asks sincere questions about whether LHC (or any project) is worth the price-tag.
- easy_rider 15y ago
  The "problem" with science is that it's discoveries now, might not hold any value in the present time, but could be proven worthy in a later stage when we have discovered other things. Let alone the fact that when they pursue a goal to find out for example about a magical Higgs particle, there will be innovations in other side-fields of that particulair research (e.g. computing power, more advanced sensory array's etc). And these technologies can then perhaps be applied in fields that people can actually relate to in their own environment: Making a planetrip more safer by enabling sensors to be less error-prone for example.
- vectorpush 15y ago
  I don't think it's productive to label as "anti-science" anyone who asks sincere questions about whether LHC (or any project) is worth the price-tag. Asking questions is great, the anti-science rhetoric is the kind that suggests that research isn't worth the cost if the objective knowledge is not obviously or immediately applicable outside the lab. Science works in discrete steps. you can't automatically say that any scientific research is worth spending billions of dollars of money on. Not all researchers are created equal, so I can't automatically say it, but I'd be hard pressed to name a field of cutting edge research that I think doesn't deserve to be well funded. The reality is, science is pretty damn cheap for what it yields (e.g. the modern world). You can't really put a price on universal truth.
- bandushrew 15y ago
  heh. I agree, its hard to imagine the horror of a world where billions (or even trillions) of dollars is diverted from 'defence' to fund scientific research. where on earth would it all end?

bostonpete 15y ago

I've never criticized the LHC, but couldn't your comment apply to any scientific research? Since resources are bounded, you can't automatically say that any scientific research is worth spending billions of dollars of money on. I don't think it's productive to label as "anti-science" anyone who asks sincere questions about whether LHC (or any project) is worth the price-tag.

easy_rider 15y ago
The "problem" with science is that it's discoveries now, might not hold any value in the present time, but could be proven worthy in a later stage when we have discovered other things. Let alone the fact that when they pursue a goal to find out for example about a magical Higgs particle, there will be innovations in other side-fields of that particulair research (e.g. computing power, more advanced sensory array's etc). And these technologies can then perhaps be applied in fields that people can actually relate to in their own environment: Making a planetrip more safer by enabling sensors to be less error-prone for example.
vectorpush 15y ago
I don't think it's productive to label as "anti-science" anyone who asks sincere questions about whether LHC (or any project) is worth the price-tag. Asking questions is great, the anti-science rhetoric is the kind that suggests that research isn't worth the cost if the objective knowledge is not obviously or immediately applicable outside the lab. Science works in discrete steps. you can't automatically say that any scientific research is worth spending billions of dollars of money on. Not all researchers are created equal, so I can't automatically say it, but I'd be hard pressed to name a field of cutting edge research that I think doesn't deserve to be well funded. The reality is, science is pretty damn cheap for what it yields (e.g. the modern world). You can't really put a price on universal truth.
bandushrew 15y ago
heh. I agree, its hard to imagine the horror of a world where billions (or even trillions) of dollars is diverted from 'defence' to fund scientific research. where on earth would it all end?