At the same time, asking them to solve social problems with money and technology and dubious morality doesn't look like the way forward either.
Very aptly, the Manhattan Project or Space Race weren't aimed at the improvement of mankind per se. Motivation was a lot more specific and down to earth.
> At the same time, asking them to solve social problems with money and technology and dubious morality doesn't look like the way forward either.
Well, no, the way forward is to just take away all that money and just spread it around.
It’s all a bit depressing that we have the ability to do so much as a species but we don’t work together.