> I don't want to argue from a false dichotomy here. I don't mean to say that everything is all cut and dried and that there are easy answers to all questions. But I do feel that looking for immediate gains in scientific and technological research and development is short-sighted. R&D is *supposed* to be speculative--that's the whole point of it.

Yes, but it also costs money, LOTS OF MONEY! The hope for economic gain is what drives a large part of R&D. Money people are almost by definition short-sighted. The very best way, in our current economy, to make money is to be the first one to implement and market a technology. Unfortunately, this comes at a pretty hefty cost to society, the environment and our future lives.

There are of course other pressures that are quite beyond the money issue that continue the incredible momentum of technology, but I felt that this aspect was very important.

I'm sorry if this is not argued well, but I couldn't compress my 20 pages of thoughts very easily.