Big‑question bias in astronomy

Astronomy has institutionalised a hierarchy of problems that elevates a few canonical 'Big Questions' (eg. primordial cosmology, dark matter) while treating messy, richly informative phenomena (eg. interstellar dust, ionised gas) as mere nuisances to subtract away. That bias skews telescope time, funding and career incentives toward a narrowed agenda and away from observational complexity that could generate unexpected discoveries. — Shifting research priorities matters for public science policy, funding decisions, national scientific capacity, and which discoveries become visible to society.