An alternative viewpoint: everything's easy after it's been done, but it's hard up until then.
> after centuries of science as a profession, pretty much all the easy stuff has already been done.
But with the benefit of all that has already been done, shouldn't we be able to do things now that were previously impossible? In other words, "easy in 2014" != "easy in 1200".
> It's actually an argument for more cojones in science-- being willing to do bold stuff and explore "crazy" hypotheses.
Maybe doing whatever's easy is the most efficient (by time, money) way to make progress?
> after centuries of science as a profession, pretty much all the easy stuff has already been done.
But with the benefit of all that has already been done, shouldn't we be able to do things now that were previously impossible? In other words, "easy in 2014" != "easy in 1200".
> It's actually an argument for more cojones in science-- being willing to do bold stuff and explore "crazy" hypotheses.
Maybe doing whatever's easy is the most efficient (by time, money) way to make progress?