Scientists and other researchers should focus their research on areas that are likely to benefit the greatest number of people.

It is debatable whether scientists and other researchers ought to concentrate on researching subjects that will have positive impacts on the greatest number of people. While it seems reasonable for scientists to focus on pratical researches, they should not limit their research topics on how many people will benefit from their research for several reasons.

To begin with, excessive emphasis on amelioration of a lot of people could have deleterious side effects. Many researchers are indeed interested in topics of which could have immense merits on numerous people. Thus, they are more likely to become narrow-minded and blinded to attain their intended results, even sometimes violating ethics. Little Albert experiment, for example, was an experiment that was a breakthrough in Psychology. It was an experiment which found out that fear and phobia could be learned, and it shed lights on many related theories; however, the subject, Albert, could not get over with his learned phobia against white furry objects and had to suffer for his entire life. Moreover, drugs and cosmetics tests on animals are widely done to prove effectiveness of products and detect possible drawbacks. For the benefit of the greatest number of people, a myriad of animals are suffering; in fact, US Food and Drug administration reported that 92 out of 100 fail on humans, which indicates serious waste and unethicalness. Because some scientists are obsessed with benefits to humans, they are apt to put other animals, or even humans in danger.

Furthermore, it cannot be exactly predicted if a particular research will reap benefits to a lot of people. Every research is based on hypothesis, not a fact. It is simply impossible for humans to accurately anticipate the outcomes. For instance, nuclear plants, although it has lots of possible benefits with its potential as an alternative energy, nuclear power can engender detriments as well. Therefore, the nature of the study is questionable-whether it is for the good or the bad. On the other side, researches conducted on brain study seems to have very dim future. Brain studies of dementia or other rare disorders are considered impractical and not applicable to a lot of people. Nonetheless, the study could branch out to explain more important features of human body and suggest some fundamentals of human anatomy which could be immensely beneficial to humanity.

Admittedly, with limited resources, it could be better to focus on researches on those areas that are more likely to benefit the greatest number of people. Science is a tool for enhancement of humanities after all. Nonetheless, with the name of effectiveness, science cannot neglect those few people suffering from rare conditions. Also, research on natural sciences are needed even though they do not seem practical since will all eventually be conducive to development of human society.

All in all, because of aforementioned reasons, scientists and other researchers should not only put emphasis on areas that have positive impacts to numerous people. The society should not be run only for the majority, and people should not overestimate their ability to predict the efficacy of research topics.