Fair point, but waste in one domain should not be used to excuse waste elsewhere. Unless your argument is that it's generally hard for human societies to know where to best invest their scientific talent without the benefit of hindsight.

Think of it as a playground for the exercise and training of a pool of minds that will one day either make the glove fit or kick the sand castle over replacing it with a better mousetrap.

Too many metaphors? Hmmm, maybe fold in some dimensional reduction somehow.

human societies don't decide where to invest their talent; individuals do

I agree plus ST takes a person who would have researched somewhere else. The Googler or Jane Street or guy who decides to travel the world in the canoe have different reasons and probably would need way more persuading to be in academia.