[ErwinSmout]

"Many of those complaints seem theoretical. I like to focus on practical concerns."

The only reason ever why people engage into theory, is precisely because of a deeply rooted desire to address "practical concerns". Hawking literally stated that his aim was to understand everything about the entire universe.

People who "like to focus on practical concerns" see an apple fall and (after they've seen it happen often enough and never ever otherwise) ultimately conclude that "apples fall and that's just how it is". Newton saw an apple fall and ultimately unveiled the concept of gravity. In doing so, Newton also unveiled the (admittedly extremely exceptional) circumstances in which it might be possible for us to see an apple "fall upward into the skies" after all.

[tabtab]

Many "overly educated" (for lack of nice way to say it) just seem to often waste time on idealistic issues. It would take a while to give a decent example, but they just seem to not understand the business world and capitalism. The Newton example is not applicable because it's usually not about discovery, but weighing tradeoffs. I don't mind their personal R&D, just don't make the customer pay for or wait too long for the R&D. After work, they can invent all they want.