The Value of Useless Knowledge

And trusting that curiosity will lead somewhere meaningful.

April 06, 2025

🍏your Sunday read 6th April, 2025

A well-researched original piece to get you thinking.


Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Sign up to get it in your inbox every week.
Know someone who will enjoy The Scholarly Letter? Forward it to them.

Online Image Credits: National Gallery of Art

Hi Scholar,

This week’s Sunday Read is inspired by an essay published in 1939 arguing for us to embrace curiosity in research. As I read it, two thoughts ran through my mind: first, how obvious the premise of the essay seemed to be (of course research is driven by curiosity) and then, how the word “curiosity” seems to have disappeared from our discourse on research. If curiosity has indeed been replaced in our way of doing research, then what has taken it’s place?

The Value of Useless Knowledge

Written by The Tatler

The most socially acceptable answer to give when asked why one decided to go into research, or become a scientist, is “to improve the condition of society in some way”. In addition to the approving smile one usually receives from the person who asked the question, it also makes us feel good about ourselves; our work matters because it is useful; our work serves a purpose.

This Letter is for Paid Subscribers

Become a paid subscriber to read the rest of this Essay and access our full archive.

Already a paying subscriber? Sign In.

Paid subscribers receive an edition of The Scholarly Letter every Thursday: :

  • • Two editions of 🍎The Digest every month
  • • Two editions of 🍏 The Thursday Essay