This questions sounds a bit controversial, but I will ask it anyway.

The USA, India, Canada, Israel, Sweden, Norway, Spain, Netherlands, Australia, France, Singapore, South Korea, Germany, Switzerland, Japan are spending billions of dollars every year on science.

Some companiesc say their created scientific research centers like Google DeepMind or Microsoft Research. Some billionaires such as Bill Gates or Michael Bloomberg are funding scientific research.

Is there any actual evidence that Science lacks money?

That more money would actually help scientists do more interesting stuff?

In PC video games, a gorgeous game called Crysis came out. Everyone was stunned. Since Crysis, video game studios have spent a tremendous amount of money to try to make games more beautiful, but it hasn’t really paid off.

Almost no one notices these small improvements anymore. In fact, many gamers actually question whether studios focus too much on graphics at the expense of gameplay and fun.

Don’t get me wrong. I love Science. I’m happy we are funding Science.

But I’m just wondering whether money is the real bottleneck neck that Science faces.

Right now, do scientists actually have money problems making it difficult to conduct ambitious research?

Would more money actually help them discover new things ?

  • Hapankaali@lemmy.world
    1·
    2時間前

    Is there any actual evidence that Science lacks money?

    That more money would actually help scientists do more interesting stuff?

    Yes, there is a pretty strong correlation between R&D spending and scientific output. Even so, spending is only in the low single digit percentages of the economy everywhere. Societies could easily decide to spend less on decadent luxury and more on science.

    Right now, do scientists actually have money problems making it difficult to conduct ambitious research?

    So science is a high-risk, high-reward numbers game. You try more things, hire more scientists, and more science will happen. Most research doesn’t lead anywhere, but the small fraction that does leads to things you could just never get without scientific research. Yes, there are many (such as yours truly) who could have continued to be scientists but take jobs in industry because positions as scientific researchers are extremely competitive and there is not enough money to hire all suitable candidates.