For me personally, I would want to do research that would result in making discoveries to help the current generation rather than the future generation. Both are definitely very important to help, but the current generation influences the future generation so why not fix the problems that are currently here? There are always new advances to products that have already been created but more improved. By focusing on the current generation, in the future, there will be newer products that could help the future generations as well. There is also more of a reward to have a product that can be created now and you see these products being used. When products are made for the long run, you won’t see it in the market for years. There is less satisfaction in this than having a current product to help people now. Sometimes products that are made for the long run might not even go in the market because of an issue that cannot be overcome.

I do not think that one is more important than the other. They are both very important where research that helps the current generation will solve problems for people now but research done for the future generations can be a major advancement as well. Some research takes many years to figure out like for certain diseases that still don’t have a cure. Research for the future is just as important as research for now.