Obscura Arcana

Two thousand years ago, there were only a few hundred people in the world who had the means, opportunity and interest to investigate the world around them. Greece gave us men such as Archimedes, Hippocrates and Pythagoras who made significant advances in understanding the world around them. As time progressed, more advances were made, and more people were able to devote their time and energy to the process.

That progression has continued to today, perhaps with the occasional hiccup, where there are now tens of thousands of people seeking these advances. We call them scientists and engineers, mathematicians and doctors. For the most part, once a discovery is made, it is recorded and used by others, never to be revisited.

When Archimedes did his investigations, he was considering some pretty basic stuff. Basic mathematics and physics as well as some basic inventions. The most famous is the water screw, which can be used to move water uphill.

These days, we're at the point where we have so many people looking into the world around us that our investigators can focus on incredibly obscure stuff. Here are some article references from the site Science Daily (used without permission):

Mathematician Uses Topology To Study Abstract Spaces, Solve Problems
Scientists Test Rapidly Deployable Chemical Detection System Tested At Stadium
Discovery Of Metabolic Pathway For Parasite Could Lead To New Controls For Diseases
Study Finds Some Prostate Cancer Patients Potentially Overtreated
Hearing Loss And High-speed Dental Tools
High-maintenance Dynamics At Work May Affect Subsequent Performance
Bigger Solar System? Astronomers Debate Definition Of 'Planet' And 'Plutons'
Study Provides Evidence That Autism Affects Functioning Of Entire Brain
Mathematicians Maximize Knowledge Of Minimal Surfaces

Realize that these are not references to somebody's blog entry, full of speculation and insight casually-obtained. These represent structured investigations into understanding some facet of the way the world works. Money is changing hands to ensure that this sort of investigation takes place, and people devote a chunk of their lives to making it happen.

All this investigating of the universe around us, in ever greater depth and detail, is what has given us our health care, our electronic gadgets, our understanding of the weather, economics, you name it. As time progresses, people will continue to delve ever more deeply into more and more obscure areas of understanding. Imagine the notion that someday somebody is going to be investigating the relationship between quark structure and its impact on the sweetness of sugar. It'll be investigated "just because", and it may well lead to the invention of warp speed engines for spaceships. We don't know the significance of learning things, which is why, as a species, we keep learning about everything that we can.

Imagine the pace of discovery when there are tens of millions of scientists and engineers poking and prodding the universe to expose its secrets. New types of products and services will be appearing at an astonishing rate.