To be fair those single points are important, they've led to things like nuclear energy and modern computers... come to think of it a lot of our modern technology is rather like the physics equivelent of exploiting an extreme edge case in a game physics engine.

[–] cynar 4 points 2 months ago

I fully agree. It's more the frustration that it now takes so much time and resources to make even a tiny bit of headway.

My favourite example of why pure research is useful, however, is the laser. When it was invented, they had no clue what it could be useful for. It was the classic "solution looking for a problem". It was a fun quirk of quantum mechanics that allowed thek to function. Now, they are critical in multiple areas, but for business and research.