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Invest in science

Pushing the frontiers of knowledge with the meta-problem

Science pays off big-time

Scientific research produces more bang for our buck than any other form of investment. It’s different from most other investments in two key ways: it takes longer to pay off, but the impact of the results is exponentially greater.

How do we choose the research topics today that will make our lives even better tomorrow? Which problem (or cluster of problems) should we choose to solve? Which will give us the best bang for our buck? That is a challenge that can be solved using the Meta-Problem Method.

The  method is about choosing the best problem to solve, but only after you’ve defined the goals you care about, explored your many options, and weighed the trade-offs. To learn more about the Meta-Problem Method, click here.

Modern life is built on science

The lives we lead today are made possible by the scientific discoveries we made in the past. From the food on our plates to the phones in our hands, from the medicines we take to how we travel and transport things, from the clothes we wear to how we teach our kids, all are better today because of science.

Science is about discovery, and the research often starts decades before it has a practical impact on the world. All the more reason to choose our research investments wisely.

Discoveries can be used for good or bad, so we need to think carefully about the tradeoffs and unforeseen consequences of our research investments. Research into nuclear fusion gave us a new source of power, but it also led to the most devastating weapons humans have ever had.

How do we choose a topic?

The long time to results makes it hard to pick the most fruitful research topics today, but there are some rules of thumb.

If a dollar spent on research is likely to generate a hundred dollars in benefit, it’s clearly a top investment candidate. Conversely, if it’s going to take a lot of effort for modest gains, there may be better ways to spend the money.

Practical, personal and scientific priorities all have an impact on our choice of research projects.

Questions and tradeoffs to think about

Uncertainty, tradeoffs and unintended consequences are part of the deal when you tackle a decision like which scientific research to invest in.

For example:

  • Who will benefit from this research? How do we get the most benefit for the most people?
  • How much time, talent and money are we prepared to put into this work? How passionate and committed are the research team?
  • Will our research complement the work of other scientists in the field?
  • Can we borrow insights from other fields that could make our work better or faster?
  • What other exploration do we have to give up if we choose this line of research?
  • What other research work could be boosted by the project we are considering?
  • Can we communicate the work and its value in an understandable way, so we win public, political and financial support?

Choose an example below to learn more about the Meta-Problem Method and how it can guide your choices