Morgan BellToo much money raised for bronchitis research...
July 3rd 2008 01:25
Read about it here!
Ok, ok... so it's an article in The Onion, which means there's a good chance it's made up. But read the post:
Yes, it's funny, but it also brings to mind one of the problems with donating to medical research - what is it going towards?
Medical research benefits from the fact that people are willing to donate to cure their disease of choice. When the AIDS panic was on, people donated in spades to the AIDS Foundation; cancer is always a popular choice, too.
Where's the donations for string theory? Geological surveys? Philosophical musings?
Do we need to be elbow deep in human lives to be worthy of donated money?
Well, to be fair, in the physical sciences, the government is often willing to cough up the cash... between defense spending and potential commercialization, there's a mint to be made. All you have to do is suggest, somehow, that your project has applications in detect terrorism, to pick the wolf of the day, and someone will perk up, I'm sure. Hell, I'm working on one right now. Really - give me some money?
Ok, ok... so it's an article in The Onion, which means there's a good chance it's made up. But read the post:
"The nonprofit organization Clean Airways announced Tuesday that it had raised the completely unnecessary sum of $140 million to further the study of bronchitis, a minor inflammation of the lungs which has claimed zero lives in 75 years and primarily affects smokers."
Yes, it's funny, but it also brings to mind one of the problems with donating to medical research - what is it going towards?
Medical research benefits from the fact that people are willing to donate to cure their disease of choice. When the AIDS panic was on, people donated in spades to the AIDS Foundation; cancer is always a popular choice, too.
Where's the donations for string theory? Geological surveys? Philosophical musings?
Do we need to be elbow deep in human lives to be worthy of donated money?
Well, to be fair, in the physical sciences, the government is often willing to cough up the cash... between defense spending and potential commercialization, there's a mint to be made. All you have to do is suggest, somehow, that your project has applications in detect terrorism, to pick the wolf of the day, and someone will perk up, I'm sure. Hell, I'm working on one right now. Really - give me some money?
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