If the only reason to do anything is money, sure. I think most people here in HN know how valuable scientific research is, and the kind of advancements that come from it. The World Wide Web came from CERN.
The World Wide Web coming from CERN is not getting stuff done. It is getting lost in side-projects and doing the non-obvious, non-cheapest, non-fastest thing because it is interesting and there is a tiny chance it might be worth it in the long run. Very much not plain getting-stuff-done.