Issue31"Moneyspentonresearchisalmostalwaysagoodinvestment,evenwhentheresultsofthatresearcharecontroversial."Iagreewiththespeaker'sbroadassertionthatmoneyspentonresearchisgenerallymoneywellinvested.However,thespeakerunnecessarilyextendsthisbroadassertiontoembraceresearchwhoseresultsare"controversial,"whileignoringcertaincompelling引人注目reasonswhysometypesofresearchmightbeunjustifiable.Mypointsofcontentionwiththespeakerinvolvethefundamentalobjectivesandnatureofresearch,asdiscussedbelow.Iconcedethatthespeakerisonthecorrectphilosophicalsideofthisissue.Afterall,researchistheexplorationoftheunknownfortrueanswerstoourquestions,andforlastingsolutionstoourenduringproblems.Researchisalsothechiefmeansbywhichwehumansattempttosatisfyourinsatiable不知足的appetiteforknowledge,andourcravingtounderstandourselvesandtheworldaroundus.Yet,intheverynotion某种想法ofresearchalsoliesmyfirstpointofcontentionwiththespeaker,whoillogicallypresumesthatwecanknowtheresultsofresearchbeforeweinvestinit.Tothecontrary,ifresearchistobeofanyvalueitmustexploreunchartedandunpredictableterritory.Infact,query问题whetherresearchwhosebenefitsareimmediateandpredictablecanbreakanynewground,orwhetheritcanbeconsidered"research"atall.Whilewemustinvestinresearchirrespectiveofwhethertheresultsmightbecontroversial,atthesametimeweshouldbecircumspectaboutresearchwhoseobjectivesaretoovagueandwhosepotentialbenefitsaretoospeculative.Afterall,expensiveresearchalwayscarriessignificantopportunitycosts--intermsof(根据,按照,用...的话,在...方面)howthemoneymightbespenttowardaddressingsociety'smoreimmediateproblemsthatdonotrequireresearch.Oneaptillustrationofthispointinvolvestheso-called"StarWars"defenseinitiative,championedbytheReaganadministrationduringthe1980s.Inretrospect,thisinitiative倡议wasill-conceivedandlargelyawasteoftaxpayerdollars;andfewwoulddisputethattheexorbitantamountofmoneydevotedtotheinitiativecouldhavegonealongwaytowardaddressingpressingsocialproblemsoftheday--byestablishingafter-schoolprogramsfordelinquen...
