At the forefront of any niche field in science is a very small group of specialists working the problem (historically too: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_discovery) - the way we get ahead as a species is more specialised groups working more problems, which requires a larger educated base to draw from. i.e. we all go to the stars together or not at all, a dystopian future where most humans are impoverished/uneducated can't support the scientific progress needed to advance past our current technology