What is science, and why exactly do governments around the world invest such large amounts in scientific research? In fact, to populist leaders, it would seem trivial for governments and corporate interests to be blowing such huge amounts of money on scientific research. Realists however realize the importance of science in human advancement. In fact, many of the material luxuries we enjoy today are the result of years of scientific research and development spread across a variety of fields. Detractors of science funding would find themselves changing their minds rapidly if they were deprived of the many things that science helped bring into existence.
The benefits of science and research affect almost every aspect of human development. We would have never got this far as a civilization if it were not for mankind's quest for knowledge and an urge to figure out the science behind many of the phenomena that surround us. Today much of our planet's mysteries have been documented, studied and analyzed in intricate detail and science even lets us predict previously unfathomable natural events like tsunami's, volcanoes and seismic activity. Science has also helped us understand many of life's mysteries and enabled us to solve many problems which were previously considered unsolvable.
In the current turmoil facing the global economy, governments have started cutting spending in areas that they no longer consider essential. Sadly, in many countries, science and research funds have been among the first to be axed as part of drastic measures to reduce government spending. These spending cuts on scientific research have been most widely seen in Europe, however, things back in the USA don't look so good either. Terrible spending cuts have cut funding by almost half to many key areas of scientific research. Some have lost their entire funding altogether.
While cost cutting in government is a welcome trend, axing funding for research is a bad idea. This is purely because science and research are areas where consistency is needed to achieve results. A program for example, that may have been researching a cure for cancer or a program that may have been looking for minerals on asteroids will be adversely affected for years due to funding cuts. It's not like a government can turn on and turn off these projects as they please. Most of the human resources in the scientific community are too valuable and irreplaceable to risk over budget cuts.
Short sighted funding cuts by governments can set research projects back by years, or even decades in some instances. Valuable progress on many key areas will be lost or become obsolete during the time these projects are downsized. There are many other places where government spending cuts are justified. Science and research are not among them. It's almost like dropping the oars on a boat in hope of wind. We risk losing progress and momentum in favor of sitting idle and waiting for the economic tide to turn in our favor. When it comes to science and research, it's best to execute spending cuts elsewhere and pour the surplus funds into science because in the end, as you can read here http://www.worldtransformation.com/what-is-science - our well being and the future of humanity depends on all of us seeing the big picture.
About the Author
Jake enjoys writing, and trying to understand our world from a scientific, rational point of view. He is currently looking at the ideas presented by biologist Jeremy Griffith and reconciling his ideas with the slightly deeper views expressed in his publications.
