[isolli]

At what opportunity cost?

[kakacik]

If you want to bash badly-spent potential look at people doing cutting edge ad research and optimization, or HFT. This is at least good base research that others can build on.

[isolli]

Fair point, but waste in one domain should not be used to excuse waste elsewhere. Unless your argument is that it's generally hard for human societies to know where to best invest their scientific talent without the benefit of hindsight.

[bluGill]

String theory has generated a lot of hype over the years, but never delivered anything. Looks to me like they are all the negatives you hate about ad research.

[azan_]

But HFT is good! It allows better pricing of equities and increases liquidity.

[tomrod]

Low. It's too expensive to send all of humanity across the stars at present.

[boxed]

100% unknown. That's always the problem with science and why political control and direction always backfires and is stupid.