The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge
by Abraham Flexner · first published 1939
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The first thing that came to my mind after reading the post was this book - The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge by Abraham Flexner The second thing was - he used "cul-de-sac" instead of "dead end" :)
on “The Bitter Truth of Learning: It’s Tough, Unpleasant, and Often Pointless” ↗A relevant classic: "The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge" https://library.ias.edu/files/UsefulnessHarpers.pdf
on “In ‘Elastic,’ a Physicist Argues That the Mind Needs Time to Play” ↗…their ideas on some other ones were downright silly now that we have spent over two millenia improving on them and developing the ideas and tools such as "experimental science". [1] Abraham Flexner, "Usefulness of Useless Knowledge", Harpers 179, 1939, https://library.ias.edu/files/UsefulnessHarpers.pdf HN discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14558775
on “What Is Mathematics and What Should It Be? [pdf]” ↗Thanks! Macroexpanded: The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge (1939) [pdf] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28121309 - Aug 2021 (23 comments) The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge (1939) [pdf] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23791427 - July 2020 (4 comments)…
on “The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge (1939) [pdf]” ↗When asking these kinds of questions, I always remind myself "The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge" [0]. On the other hand, I believe that researching how animals think, behave and "work" in general, is a very important part of being human. They're alive, too, and they defy tons of prejudice we have…