Those who are in favor of the view are supported by a lot of facts. One of the facts is that more young men opt for applied science as their majors in the university. A report published by MIT in 2003 shows the number of enrollments in applied science had risen steadily during the last ten years, on the contrary, the figure of enrollments in basic science had fallen by 35% since 1995. In addition, the concern of university authority and the teaching resource investment on subjects of basic science gradually decreased. Only 30% of annual budget was spent on basic sciences, compared to 70% on applied science on average. Finally, the government and international corporations set up all sorts of funds to subsidize the development of applied sciences. Yet the investment on the basic science is even considered as a waste of taxpayers’ money.
Overall, I tend to side with the former view. In my opinion, the attention on basic research is far from being enough. Unless the government and society realize the significance of basic science and adopt proper policies, the situation will be not improved.