I very deliberately chose my wording as "little use for their output" specifically because I think that there is a lot of use for cultural output. There is howe

I very deliberately chose my wording as "little use for their output" specifically because I think that there is a lot of use for cultural output. There is however a shift in many programs away from making things that are actually useful, and more towards the output of papers/research/reports for their own sake. There is usually only the thinnest of lip service towards any results having to be novel or show anything new, and little work goes into understanding the state of the art, resulting in vast amounts of duplicated effort.