Only ~40% of people that answered this feel that their published work adds value to society. https://twitter.com/analisapackham/status/1341409873880375300

I started out in this profession because I thought my work would have the potential to influence policy, or at least would be read by >5 people. But instead, I, like everyone else spends years and years on papers that barely crack the surface beyond my subsubfield.

Friend recently shared that the goal should be 'providing knowledge' and not 'changing policy'. But usually the first circulated working paper has the main results. And then is iterated on many times with little added value. Seems inefficient at best.