Well, personally I don't consider "Twitter debates", "viral content" or what I think is implied with "insta-fame" to be all that amazing or noteworthy at all. T

Well, personally I don't consider "Twitter debates", "viral content" or what I think is implied with "insta-fame" to be all that amazing or noteworthy at all. Those are all ephemera by definition that may or may not end up obscure historical footnotes one day. Other things you described amount to the business cycle. There's a lot of interesting to stuff to be learned studying economics and finance, but the particular results and spotlights of a given boom-bust aren't necessarily all that notable. Do you recall the aftermath of the depression from 1920-1921 in the United States? Likely not, and it barely registers in the public consciousness regardless. Finally, only one actually amazing thing - new discoveries in physics. Too bad you don't see all the behind-the-scenes academic debate, infighting, spurious results, grunt work that underpins the eventual eureka moment. And don't forget just how many "eureka moments" aren't really that at all, but inflated expectations from poor scientific reporting. How many people do you think realize that "statistical significance" is pretty mundane in comparison to our everyday understanding of "significance"?