I love this section of the article (edited for clarity): "I'm not motivated by application, but I know that we can find uses for fundamental work. Think about

I love this section of the article (edited for clarity): "I'm not motivated by application, but I know that we can find uses for fundamental work. Think about Alan Turing. He wrote a mathematical paper in logic in an obscure journal about Entscheidungsproblem. It was not motivated by application." This is similar to Feynman's plate story, which started off as a casual response to an observation he made in a university canteen, and which ended in a Nobel prize. To extend my point, it is precisely this kind of curiosity-based enquiry that modern academia discourages.