>>14090932No, objectiveless "research" doesn't drive innovation. Just burns taxpayer dollars.
Difficult objectives and the research and development needed to accomplish them are where the biggest leaps and advancements.
Most earth based research can be done with simple profit as motivation. things like space research and exploration need subsidization as there is no clear path to profitability most of the time necessary to spur private investment. It takes government subsidization to explore and develop to the point that it is attractive enough to attract private development dollars in high risk situations like space.
The blanket statement "government funded research programs are good" is unequivocally false.
