Both. It is scientifically driven, but scientific exploration itself is a necessity. Not necessarily because we will all die if we don't do it (though there is

Both. It is scientifically driven, but scientific exploration itself is a necessity. Not necessarily because we will all die if we don't do it (though there is a bit of that), but because curiosity is what makes us human. It is as necessary as heroin is for an addict, except that unlike heroin, it is an addiction that lead us to great things. If we stopped doing that, I wouldn't even want to call the resulting species "human".