&gt; There are no major advances left.<p>I think the problem is elsewhere. There&#x27;s noone doing the advancing. People like myself (smart, educated, ambitious, technically-oriented) are <i>way</i> better of doing the unproductive things (finance or ad-tech) than the productive (research). And by &quot;<i>way</i> better&quot; I mean it doesn&#x27;t even compare! Academia is fucked-up as well (chasing it&#x27;s proverbial tail by encouraging young researchers to publish, not to, you know, actually research).<p>Simply said, everyone is looking to invest capital in equity, but nobody actually wants to pay <i>people</i> to do the work. Give me a living wage (i.e. not 40k when the tiny apartment I live in costs 600k) and freedom to decide the direction I&#x27;ll go in, and I&#x27;ll gladly research &quot;useful stuff&quot;. Otherwise, I&#x27;d rather chase my own interest by doing the &quot;useless&quot; (but highly-paid) stuff.