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Sure, I'll give it a shot. 1: It's not that much $ and neurons, actually. We spend far more marketing lipstick and selling mobile games. If your priority is to
by visakanv 12y ago
Sure, I'll give it a shot.
1: It's not that much $ and neurons, actually. We spend far more marketing lipstick and selling mobile games. If your priority is to reduce wasted spending, there are far worse candidates.
2: Original science and research has consistently yielded some of the biggest game-changers in technology (and subsequently, human well-being) than anything else. Libraries, electricity, the Internet, all of those felt like frivolous indulgences when they were starting out.
3: Projects like these are exploratory, which makes them inspiring. People are curious and eager to learn. This puts a pressure on the educational pipeline. People become scientists to learn answers to these questions. They use these skillsets for other things as well. I recommend listening to Neil Tyson talking about space: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUbOjZWjTLU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUbOjZWjTLU
I agree that our impending ecological doom is an issue. If you want to get into the psychology of it- people simply don't feel the pinch yet. It seems vague, distant, something we can't do very much about. It's the same reason people tend to be bad at planning for their retirements.
That said, the world is a better place with the LHC than not. There are far worse things we spend our $ and neurons on that we ought to cull first!
- artur_makly 12y agothanks for those points. "impending ecological doom is an issue" - best case a rounding statistical error - that will pass, no big woop. - Worst case. jokes on us. yes some serious culling is needed but on both sides of the spectrum. We must be very careful how our tiny scientific community applies itself these days too. I just watched the video, Tyson makes some nice points. I agree that we should invest in dreaming about tomorrow... but i feel that tomorrow's science and today's scientific neurons should be applied more pragmatically. ( perhaps since ive just become a dad..our PRESENT reality just got way way bigger) I'd rather hear 2-yrs from now about a new unlimited energy source with 0 emissions than us landing on Jupiter's moon. "Jesus is coming..look busy people".
- visakanv 12y agoCongrats on becoming a dad! I'm totally with you on energy sources. We need advancements, pronto. It's happening, but it could come sooner. That said, I don't know about trying to force/cajole scientists to doing what we think is best... it might really just be best for everyone to do what they're most passionate about. I'm not sure. I'm sure there are others who have thought very deeply about how to allocate humanity's limited resources... I'm often thinking that we need a bigger scientific community ASAP