Should the goverment fund scientific research?

[jesse quick]

As an aspiring astrophysicist I'm definitely pro the government providing funding, but it's a tricky issue.

Should the government spend money on scientific research when there is a recession going on? Should they prioritise some areas over others? (And if so which?)  

[RabidKitten]

What an incredibly tricky question! I am not qualified academically to give an intelligent response to this HOWEVER in my very under qualified opinion I believe that yes the government should make allotments for scientific research.

Where should prioritization go? Even trickier streets lol. Where specifically do you think it should go?  

[Dune make you Swoon]

I think some scientific research could actually help the government save lots of money.
Like the search for sustainable energy.

So yeah I definitely think scientific research should be funded, even during a recession.  

[jesse quick]

RabidKitten

Where should prioritization go? Even trickier streets lol. Where specifically do you think it should go?

I don't know that I could choose. The problem with scientific research is that quite often you don't know where it'll lead. I'm not going to pretend I know a lot about some subjects but I know that it was research in physics that led to the MRI machine. It was research that pushed computing forward. And maybe some fields that seem like a dead end could actually lead to something completely different and life-improving.
So I think it's very hard to say where the priority should lie.  

[Irako of the Desert]

Depends on the research. More efficient energy resources research? Good. More efficient weapons of mass destruction research? Not good. Better medical research to cure currently incurable diseases? Good. Research into biological weapons? Not good.

The problem with a lot of scientific research is that almost everything can be turned to a bad purpose. We trust our governments to have the people's best interests at heart, but those are not the only things the government is concerned about. Why is the government interested in your desire to create miniature black holes so you can try to find out what's inside? Why would they want you to prove that the universe was not created by some higher power?

I'm not saying the government is bad or that they shouldn't fund scientific research. I'm just saying that people should think about the impact such research will have, both the good effects and the bad ones.