As a scientist, I definitely think the value of research is often undervalued by society at large. But it’s important to remember that for every life-changing discovery that revolutionises society at large, there are hundreds of small discoveries that only make things a little better on the margins, and tens of thousands of very promising research paths that end up leading nowhere. When accounting for the impact of the revolutionary change, you also have to account for the cost of all the failed attempts and dead-end research paths, and also for the possibility that a successful, practical approach to a proposed revolutionary tech just doesn’t exist.
It’s still worth it, of course, just be prepared for disappointment along the way.
That’s absolutely true. Incremental discoveries are definitively the norm and practical approaches to revolutionary tech don’t exist. However, it is possible to intentionally focus research efforts on underlooked fields of research that have a large impact. Hype cycles often push research into specific fields and identifying areas where improvements have a high impact can indirectly do a lot of good.
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As a scientist, I definitely think the value of research is often undervalued by society at large. But it’s important to remember that for every life-changing discovery that revolutionises society at large, there are hundreds of small discoveries that only make things a little better on the margins, and tens of thousands of very promising research paths that end up leading nowhere. When accounting for the impact of the revolutionary change, you also have to account for the cost of all the failed attempts and dead-end research paths, and also for the possibility that a successful, practical approach to a proposed revolutionary tech just doesn’t exist.
It’s still worth it, of course, just be prepared for disappointment along the way.
That’s absolutely true. Incremental discoveries are definitively the norm and practical approaches to revolutionary tech don’t exist. However, it is possible to intentionally focus research efforts on underlooked fields of research that have a large impact. Hype cycles often push research into specific fields and identifying areas where improvements have a high impact can indirectly do a lot of good.