Thomas Khun argues in his book that those scientific fields that try to achieve specific goals make worse progress then scientific fields that attempt to solve problems within those fields that it’s researchers find interesting.
Physics progressed when physicists wanted to understand the natural laws of the universe and not because physicists wanted to make stuff that’s useful.
On the other hand, you have a subject like nutrition science that’s focused on producing knowledge that has immediate practical applications and the field doesn’t make any practical progress.
Thomas Khun argues in his book that those scientific fields that try to achieve specific goals make worse progress then scientific fields that attempt to solve problems within those fields that it’s researchers find interesting.
Physics progressed when physicists wanted to understand the natural laws of the universe and not because physicists wanted to make stuff that’s useful.
On the other hand, you have a subject like nutrition science that’s focused on producing knowledge that has immediate practical applications and the field doesn’t make any practical progress.