Uh, people have wasted entire lifetimes chasing wild goose. Newton and Einstein both spent the latter halves of their lives :( despite being geniuses.

▲

cmilton 4 days ago | parent [-]

I think the primary difference would be they didn't waste billions of dollars in their research.

	▲	AftHurrahWinch 4 days ago \| parent [-]
		Isaac Newton dedicated over thirty years to the study and practice of alchemy, writing over one million words on the subject. Comparable in scale to his writings on mathematics and physics. I'd rather GDP be $1B smaller right now if it meant that Newton had spent another 30 years on physics and math.