The case for useless knowledge

There are some questions that we need to ask simply because we don't know the answer to these questions

My work looks into ancient life by studying ancient enzymes and tracking their evolution over long periods of time

First and foremost, it's completely curiosity-driven discovery. I think it's important to realize that science doesn't necessarily need to serve humanity tomorrow

Ultimately, it comes from a place of just wanting to know. And isn't that enough

Most, I think, biggest discoveries in science come from that place where you just simply want to know

how does this work for the sake of knowing? Imagine you're getting some test at the doctor's office

The results of your test may be available to you as short as maybe two days

Because we discovered a way to speed up a screening process in the lab

How did we come up with that technology? Because we understood that we can use enzymes that can tolerate really high temperatures

That enzyme came from a microbe that is inside a really hot, inhospitable environment like a yellowstone

So somebody asked the question, I want to know what is inside this hot spring

They found thermophiles and we realized that if we borrow from these organisms we may be able to use it for our own greater good

Like, we are so obsessed with what is in it for me, that we forget that maybe it's okay if there's nothing in it for you right now

Maybe we can also just simply explore, because that's what we do as humans

That's the very definition of being a human. It's one of the most beautiful things about ourselves

Humanity is patient. It took us a long time to build what we have around us as a civilization

It took a really long time to invent the method of science too

We found a systemic way to correct ourselves all the time. It's the best thing that we came up with as human civilization

And it so happens that it benefited us. It created longer, healthier lives for us, even better

But it came from a very curious, childlike place. place. That's such an important essence for being a scientist that this is beautiful to me

One of us have to go and ask, I want to know if this crazy lake has anything interesting in it

We need to have that curiosity. And you may be the only person in the world that thinks this is

interesting. This is beautiful to me. It's just about, I wanted to know. That's it. And that

should be good enough