Maybe in the long term - though I very much doubt that patronage was unbiased, nor will crowdfunding. Imagine the fundraising power of anti-vaxxers, for example, in funding utterly junk science.<p>I like the idea of experiment.com, but right now...it&#x27;s just not there. I want it to be, but it&#x27;s just not. None of the projects you link even approach &quot;Pay a grad student for a year&quot;, let alone supporting an assistant professor and their lab.<p>I&#x27;d also like to note that you&#x27;re taking &quot;close to the average citizen or constituent&quot; as an inherently good thing, and I&#x27;m not necessarily convinced that&#x27;s true, or at least so true it doesn&#x27;t need examination. What&#x27;s worth research is not necessary what captures the public imagination. Heck, its not even what captures the imagination of other scientists - I have <i>no idea</i> what&#x27;s worth funding and studying in high energy physics or theoretical CS, and I very much doubt they know the same for my field.