But the joke wouldn’t work if there were not at the same time another widely shared assumption that scientific knowledge has a value independent of any practical use. After all, it would not be funny if a charity dedicated to famine relief celebrated its own ineffectiveness; practical value in that case would be paramount, because it would be the only real reason for the charity to exist.
但如果不是同时有另外一种假设公认科学知识的价值不依赖于任何实际用途的话，这样的玩笑恐怕也站不住脚。毕竟，如果某家致力于赈济饥荒的慈善机构庆贺自己效率低下，将不会有人因此感到好笑。那种情况下实际价值是重中之重，因为它是慈善机构存在的唯一真正理由。