The Cynicism of Science

The danger of treating science purely as a game is that playing games as a life work does not often bring lasting or full satisfaction. Science must pay its way just as much as any other human activity, though the payment need not always take a purely material form. The prestige of science and its moral and political influence have also to be taken into account. It is only the narrowest specialization or the most complete social cynicism that makes it possible for the scientist to accept the present conditions of scientific work with anything approaching satisfaction.