It's not hard to see why this would be the case when the culture seems to start with the premise of "it's just ivory tower mathematics with no practical consequences"

If instead people were willing to set that hubris to the side and treat problems seriously then maybe we would see theoretical advancements be turned into empirical improvements with proper investment. Why would investment be made to operationalize theoretical advancement if the belief is that it's meaningless?

The entire reasoning of not treating these problems seriously from the start, then saying they rarely turn into empirical improvements... it all seems very self-fulfilling and circular.