[csomar]

I'm not certain where the author wants to go with this. Comparing research with an Airplane flight seems not correct to me.

Also

> By definition chance cannot lead to long term gains (it would no longer be chance)

Heh. The whole universe might be made by "chance". It is, in fact, quite possible that the total energy of the universe is 0. Our existence is a fluctuation.

Define long term gains. Since infinity is out of our possible reach, it is possible (though unlikely) to make long term gains just by chance. Especially, if you have a large audience. Some of them will get lucky.