> practical social and economic benefits to humanity as a whole? Why does it have to be practical? Scientific discovery is a perfectly valid end in its own eve

> practical social and economic benefits to humanity as a whole? Why does it have to be practical? Scientific discovery is a perfectly valid end in its own even if it only ever means that we understand the universe better The fact that almost always scientific discovery turns out to have practical purposes in the long run (centuries, not decades) is an added bonus. It's not like it's a huge expense either. If switzerland decided to it could cover the yearly budget of cern, by itself at the cost of a fraction of a percentage of its gdp alone