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I agree with your last sentence, but not your third last. Society could easily afford to invest far more in research than it does, and the investment would be r

I agree with your last sentence, but not your third last. Society could easily afford to invest far more in research than it does, and the investment would be repaid many times over; unfortunately it has not chosen to do so. I don't believe this is a fundamental choice. People really do want things like clean energy and cures for cancer. It's just that the issue of adequately funding such has slipped down the cracks of politics. If your comparative advantage is in politics, I would recommend that as the single most important potentially solvable problem of our time. If your comparative advantage is in STEM, mind you, I think it's perfectly sensible to stay out of the rat race for the handful of physics professor jobs and become a programmer or petroleum engineer instead.

dnautics 12y ago
> People really do want things like clean energy and cures for cancer. No, people SAY they want these things (because maybe it makes them feel good or because it gives them social capital). But when it comes time to actually put their hands in their pockets and give, they come short. I know this since I tried to crowd-fund for cancer research. It was hard. I got barely enough. I'm still backing the project out of my own pocket to the tune of 10-20%. I've had my nonprofit website (with a donation link) on my lyft line profile for a week. I've had about 10-20 good conversations about what i'm doing. My conversion rate? 0%. In this time, I have had zero dollars donated to my nonprofit. It's ok - I am well within budget for my project.... But I'm just saying that it is facile to say people want these things but in the end one really wonders. Fact of the matter is, that politics is not very good at funding these things either. A lot of grantsmanship goes into twisting your expertise to allow the bureaucrats to dispense their money into your project. There is very little accountability, and the administrators are trained in the same system that creates the professors, (and reviews the journal articles) so it is a bit of an echo chamber.
gaius 12y ago
You seem to be implying that people who invest for a living are leaving money on the table for no particular reason. The truth is most research goes nowhere, and even research that generates a product, it often turns out to be a dead end. The truth is like airline seats. Everyone says they want legroom, but what they really want is the cheapest seat, regardless of how uncomfortable it is.

dnautics 12y ago

> People really do want things like clean energy and cures for cancer. No, people SAY they want these things (because maybe it makes them feel good or because it gives them social capital). But when it comes time to actually put their hands in their pockets and give, they come short. I know this since I tried to crowd-fund for cancer research. It was hard. I got barely enough. I'm still backing the project out of my own pocket to the tune of 10-20%. I've had my nonprofit website (with a donation link) on my lyft line profile for a week. I've had about 10-20 good conversations about what i'm doing. My conversion rate? 0%. In this time, I have had zero dollars donated to my nonprofit. It's ok - I am well within budget for my project.... But I'm just saying that it is facile to say people want these things but in the end one really wonders. Fact of the matter is, that politics is not very good at funding these things either. A lot of grantsmanship goes into twisting your expertise to allow the bureaucrats to dispense their money into your project. There is very little accountability, and the administrators are trained in the same system that creates the professors, (and reviews the journal articles) so it is a bit of an echo chamber.

gaius 12y ago

You seem to be implying that people who invest for a living are leaving money on the table for no particular reason. The truth is most research goes nowhere, and even research that generates a product, it often turns out to be a dead end. The truth is like airline seats. Everyone says they want legroom, but what they really want is the cheapest seat, regardless of how uncomfortable it is.