[jessriedel]

That's probably appropriate for quickly progressing fields, but not for fundamental physics which has utterly stagnated. People wasting time on important but nearly intractable topics certainly happens (e.g., arguably myself on quantum foundations). But this is absolutely dwarfed by the number of researchers eager to springboard to a cutting edge, which hasn't moved much in decades, but who remain ignorant of the basics.

The terrible incentives for professors to quickly make graduate students useful, rather than invest in fundamental understanding that won't pay off for many years after they graduate, should also lead us to suspect the correct balance isn't being struck.