Comment by teiferer

Exactly. Most results will stay "useless" in the sense of not having a direct application. But the process of having figured out those results is a necessary step on the way of figuring out those few things that eventually do have a direct application. And you don't know which is which beforehand.

(Besides, it's not more useless than playing the piano. But that's a whole other type of conversation. Though it shares resemblance if you think about it long enough.)