What's the point?

There's one question that I am always asked when I tell people my research area. It's asked in a variety of ways but they all mean the same thing: "What use is that?" And then I have to tell my inquisitor that trying to coordinate metals to group 15 Zintl clusters has absolutely no direct applications for the near future and I'm only doing it for interest's sake.

This question annoys me because the implication is always there that if research doesn't appear to have any specific applications, then that research must be pointless. And I just cannot understand this point of view. "Blue skies research" is vital if we are to gain a full understanding of the world. Plus just because we can't see any uses for a particular research area now doesn't mean there won't be any in the future. For example, lasers were described as "a solution looking for a problem" back in 1960 but now have a huge variety of applications: microscopy, surgery and printing to name but a few. Who's to say that in thirty years from now there won't be a problem that can only be solved with group 15 Zintl ions? And then wouldn't it look ridiculous if all research into Zintls stopped in 2011 because there were no uses for them at the time? In my opinion, no research can ever be pointless.

Pointless?