If you ain't cheatin', you ain't tryin'. If you get caught, you ain't tryin' hard enough.

I love how little science news articles always relate these pie in the sky research projects to how it will someday be able to help the needy. Every article that mentions brain research mentions how it will be able to help that .00000000001% of the population. And I love how every article that talks about the rediculous new robots that get made in Japan will someday be able to help the elderly get around.

I think it is good to be altruistic, and I'm all for helping them. But we live in a capitalistic world and they should be focusing on what we're willing to pay for. When I hear about brain research, I wanna hear, "someday, this will allow people with enough cash to upgrade to a new super brain that will give them the ability to control small animals and set new records in consecutive Jeopardy wins." Now THATS something I'm willing to pay for. Charge us all a little premium and help out people with disorders for free on the side. Then we can do good at the same time.

Why do we always need altruistic excuses for doing stuff that's interesting?

What degree of obfuscation is enough to thwart determined tracking attempts?