• SPRUNT@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      I wonder what percentage of these weird studies that make us ask “why are they spending money on that?” are being done by students working on theses and doctorates and whatnot, and what percentage are non-scholastic institutions asking for government funds to see if you can teach penguins to French kiss.

    • Madison420@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      To be clear this is probably someone’s PhD thesis and they basically do it on their own dime with grants and such. It’s not like the dod playing with bugs for some reason.

    • danc4498@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      If you ever want to do anything socially unacceptable, just say it’s for science.

      • kofe@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        I’ve heard in psychology it’s the opposite, which is kind of unfortunate. Like one guy I follow on YouTube talked about wanting to research something (can’t remember what, but take something like pedophilia) but was told that if he went forward with it he’d be viewed as one because people often want to research what they’re familiar with. I personally find that a bit more important to study than whether ants track their steps, but I’m just one person 🥲