text: have we gain anything by all of the research and 'monitoring' of earthquakes? can we predict when an earthquake will occur?  if not, then what are we 'monitoring'? we can't predict earthquakes, but we've learned a lot about what earthquakes are and how they occur. every bit of information we learn brings up closer to being able to predict earthquakes.   how about the question: what have we gained from all the medical research done over the centuries? can people live forever? if not, then why are we doing medical research?