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Comment by kcima | Hacker News Reader

I understand (somewhat) and agree fully with the value of this research. (Great specifics by the way.) I am hearing from you that we have no idea what we will discover, but it could be anything and likely something really cool.

The question I have is really how it was explained to politicians and decision makers who are not scientific. Was it really, "with this research we could discover anything from teleportation to a better way to make toasters", or was it something more specific?

I currently see our governments doing everything they can to limit discovery and creativity because they don't understand basic science or the Internet. It is interesting and heartening to me that a project like this currently exists and is mostly not questioned.

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I don't think the top politicians in each country had to sign off on this. More likely the money was already allocated to scientific research and there were people in charge of deciding how to spend it.

<cynical rant>To the extent that politicians did have to be persuaded, they were probably persuaded by other means than that of elucidating the potential scientific payoffs. They were probably persuaded using political arguments, i.e. how it would play with their voters. Politicians are not, in practice, guardians of a sacred trust. They operate by their own rules and for their own reasons.</cynical rant>

no no no you're coming at this from the wrong angle.

To the politicians, it suffices to say that "It's bigger than what the Americans got".

The importance of CERN for European science and culture as a whole is an interesting subject, but I'd assume it's had very much positive effect.

The timing of the announcement, 4th July, surely suggests this could be what actually transpired.

> I currently see our governments doing everything they can to limit discovery and creativity because they don't understand basic science or the Internet.

The truth is that it's easier for politicians to buy votes with handouts than it is for them to fund research in the hopes that an enlightened public will appreciate them for their foresight. Looks like they're correct... unfortunately.

Government does not fund anything. It redistributes the wealth of the taxpayers. At least attribute the source of the funding to the correct people.

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