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this post was submitted on 29 Oct 2024
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That's not exactly how it works.
Most research is based around understanding the universe. Often called Blue Sky research (Why is the sky blue?).
Now that's a very broad category, so you break things down into something more manageable. Like the lifecycle of a specific insect, or the behavior of crowds in shopping centers during holidays.
The point being that you can absolutely tell someone what to research.
Now, you are correct in that you cannot dictate the results of research.
Except that you can, and it's the second type of research.
Goal oriented research, or maybe practical research? starts with a goal or a problem. Like a disease. The goal is a cure or prevention. How you get to that point doesn't matter as long as you do, but in practice the way to meeting that goal is going to be more research centered around understanding the goal or problem.
Now, all that said, pure Blue Sky research has a guaranteed return on investment. NASA estimates that their return is 3-1. 3 dollars back for every dollar of their budget.
All that said, there is no ethical reason to constrain research topics or even to reduce spending on science.
What you say is true though my point is that to many bean counters, research should only be done on something that addresses the current bottom line. It’s this type of view that conservatives take to heart and it’s why they tend to try to stifle higher education and research institutions.
The reason conservatives don't like research is that to truly take advantage of it, you need a strong university system, and a lot of students.
And universities are breeding grounds for leftist ideals.
Education in general moves people to the left, but universities take that to 11. And that's why conservatives hate it.