I wholeheartedly agree. We live in a world where the value of everything must be justified on a regular basis. The fundamental challenge with research is that

I wholeheartedly agree. We live in a world where the value of everything must be justified on a regular basis. The fundamental challenge with research is that it’s inherently risky, yet research institutions are expected to demonstrate “impact” (a.k.a. papers, patents, and $$$) on a regular basis in order to stay funded. This pressure is passed down from the shareholders and executives to middle management (or, in an academic context, the administration and tenured faculty evaluating non-tenured faculty and staff), who then passes it on to the researchers. I apologize if I come off as bitter, but as someone who got into research because I was inspired by reading about people like Dennis Ritchie, Alan Kay, and many other researchers from the previous generation, it’s a shame what science has become, but it’s a reflection of our society where the worth of persons and individuals is quantified in terms of money, and where anything that’s not perceived as making money is denigrated (such as the liberal arts).