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1) Some people enjoy researching it. Therefore it adds to their lives. 2) Some people enjoy knowing about it. The researchers therefore add to these people's
by AndrewDucker 14y ago
1) Some people enjoy researching it. Therefore it adds to their lives.
2) Some people enjoy knowing about it. The researchers therefore add to these people's lives too.
3) Pure research frequently turns out to have an application later - numerous branches of pure mathematics later turn out to have applications. New knowledge is added to the toolkit we can use to understand the world.
- brey 14y agoentirely in agreement with 3) I know you were answering the question as written, but IMO 1) and 2) are out of place in a discussion about 'value', with the implied context of 'and why are we spending public money on this useless rubbish?'. you may as well replace 'learning about number theory' with 'windsurfing'. sure, it adds to their lives, but it's only the public good that has an impact on the discussion.
- JabavuAdams 14y agoWhy do we build concert halls and stadiums? There's this thing called "culture"... It's hard to define, but you know when it's missing.
- saraid216 14y ago(Note, the original question was deleted, so I can't see context.) The public good most certainly includes the good of the people doing it, though. The notion that those who act on behalf of the public good must commit a sacrifice of their own, individual good is simply wrong.