Is palaeontology a waste of public money?

[DE&i]

Interesting debate , I'm finding it difficult to comprehend. All suggestions welcome, I've qouted the headline below , with the link.

 

"In these austerity-hardened times, why should palaeontology be funded over health research, team sports and performing arts?"

 

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/nov/09/is-palaeontology-a-waste-of-public-money?CMP=share_btn_tw

[ashcraft]

Waste is a quality statement.  It is going to be different for different people, as such it will be an unanswerable question.

 

Brent Ashcraft, eyeing two minutes until the three day weekend starts

[LordTrilobite]

If nothing else, Palaeontology is a very important tool to get kids interested in science. Animals such as dinosaurs aren't around any more and give us a sense of wonder. All science is important. Though some sciences are maybe less sexy than others. Palaeontology can be a great gateway for people.

 

It also gives us a certain perspective on the world and our place in it which can be very valuable to have.

[Jesuslover340]

Ooh, this incites me >.< 

 

1) Why do we fund team sports and the performing arts? For entertainment, fun, and passion. For those very same reasons, we shouldn't de-fund paleontology, for most in the field exercise fun and passion, but also produce material entertainment for kids, inspiring younger generations to claim a passion of their own. 

2) Why do we fund health care? Because there needs to be knowledgeable people equipped with adequate tools to appropriately treat patients. And often, those very same people were taught by vertebrate paleontologists (medical schools often hire paleontologists to teach anatomy)! Furthermore, those people that go into health care need to be passionate about what they do, otherwise it'll 'destroy' them...unfortunately, most go in it for the money and not for the patients. As a result, I think the medical practice field has become a bit corrupt, including accurately diagnosing the patient. Can you imagine a society where everyone was paid decently to enact their passion? You wouldn't have apathetic doctors treating you and your kids. But because subjects of passion are being de-funded, most go into the medical field for the money...

Will continue later...

[FossilDudeCO]

Hmm...at the museum I work for a chunk of our income does come from public money.

In Colorado it is a fund called the SCFD (Scientific and Cultural Facilities District) it is a 0.1% tax added to all sales in the area of 6 cities.

It is based on how many visitors a year our institution receives and the number of volunteer hours put forth.

It accounts for around 30% of our income each year. Another 30% comes from tours and gift shop sales, and about 40% comes from PRIVATE grants and donations.

The PUBLIC money actually does very little for us. It pays our bills (electric, gas, water, etc.) and helps us maintain our buses to continue to give tours.

The 70% of our PRIVATE INCOME pays for salaries, site maintenance, education classes, research, and cleaning, repairs and displaying our collections.

 

Point being our PUBLIC money pretty much goes right back to the state.

Tours, education, collections, exhibits, school groups, and staff salaries are all on the private sector.

 

I don't think public money really helps enough.

[jpc]

I thought the article was fairly tongue in cheek...

[doushantuo]

A not-so-veiled plea to continue funding ,methinks.

 

 

 

[Boesse]

The author is a British palaeontologist who has a rather dry British sense of humor that is often lost on some of us =)

[doushantuo]

I loved the dry wit.

I can remember the study of Miocene tephra falls and mammal taphonomy having some impact on dust emission legislation

The Miocene ash plume seems to have had farfield effects,and/or had seemingly killed mammal herds hundreds of miles off of the presumed eruption site

 

[tmaier]

Paleontology is one of those sciences that is not well funded. People have to constantly defend the funding.

It's common to get comments from the general public of "What good is that?". Not only are those annoying statements directed at paleontology, but also towards any other fundamental scientific research. Practical people want a new toaster design out of every project they fund.

[mrieder79]

It's the best waste of time I can think of.  

[tmaier]

When it comes to paleontology as a hobby... Science used to be a hobby of the a very few wealthy people, or it would be the rare clever person who got funding from the wealthy to pursue science as an amusement for them. Nowadays the general public has the education and spare time to make it more of a common hobby, grossly expanding the number of participants.

In private funding of science (by industry and private individuals) the researchers have to stick to projects that give a finacial return on the investment. So, there is some science, but it tends to be purely practical and applied. No fooling around chasing theoretical underpinnings of the big picture. Private research is mostly applied engineering, not science.

And then we have the public sector funding. This is where most real science comes from. It is also biased towards things that are needed (critical sciences, weapons development, etc.), but then other sciences like paleontology sneek in there and can get funding. They feed at the trough when nobody is looking.

[erose]

Here in the US of A we have done our bit to keep down the cost of paleontology by getting rid of that extra "a" to keep down printing costs....

 

Actually here we see the percentage of paleo research and papers being published by the USGS (United States Geological Survey) wax and wain as the funding is adjusted by liberal versus conservative legislatures. Of course there is always money for fossil fuel research, but paleontology (=evolution) maybe not so much...

 

I am not British and this is not an attempt at dry humor.

 

[tmaier]

British dry humor should not be attempted by amatures without a net and a spotter. In some areas you need a license.

[Plax]

funding of anything is by demand regardless of its necessity for survival. Am no fan of sport but can see that there is much demand for it so it is funded by popular subscription. If there is public demand for Paleontology it should and will be funded by what ever source, public or private. We aren't just surviving in the civilized world but we also enjoy ourselves. Society is enriched by the arts and sciences.

[smt126]

Obviously a plea for more and continued public funding. To answer the question though, it does also apply a practical financial benefit as well. Paleontology can lead to the discovery of minerals and other resources that can be mined. It doesn't happen as often as a general geological survey, but it's another aspect others haven't brought up yet.

[Ridgehiker]

One can't  generalize.  90% of Canada has only rudimentary geological assessment.  There's areas of the Arctic the size of the UK that have only had a few geologists take more than token rock samples from.  I know that nothing new has been researched from where we surveyed on Ellesmere Island in the mid 1970's.

Anyways, research by a country's geological surveys are an inventory of resources.   Often this is done via sedimentary geology...biostratigraphy, etc.  Nitty gritty paleontology.

 

Where things get more nebulous is the funding of more discretionary research such as vertebrate paleontology, museums, etc.  That issue can only be addressed by each individual society.  Does a town want to fund a museum? A state/province create a paleo position in the college geology department?? A country mapping of its paleo history? It all comes down to the allocation of limited resources.  We all agree on the value of arts and science but which of those gets a piece of the pie? Opera or a drama company?  Taxes  to fund an outdoor skating rink or a public tennis court? The prep of a dino or more funds for a space telescope? 

Anyways. I personally support the funding of paleontology but understand that a case needs to be made  for any project when society is paying the bill.  

[ashcraft]

2 hours ago, Canadawest said:

 

Anyways. I personally support the funding of paleontology but understand that a case needs to be made  for any project when society is paying the bill.  

+1