Those who claim that governments should not continue to devote resources to space exploration are wrong. Although most people' s lives are relatively unaffected by the direct consequences of space exploration, many modern technologies that have a tremendous impact on daily life -- e. g. , fiber optics, computers, and lasers -- are unexpected consequences of it. Society might have missed the benefits of these technologies if governments had not devoted resources to space exploration. Which one of the following most accurately expresses the principle underlying the argument above? ['Governments should continue to support those projects that have, in the past, produced unintended benefits.', 'Governments should not be prevented from allocating resources to projects whose intended consequences do not directly benefit most people.', 'One can never underestimate the beneficial consequences of government support of ambitious technological undertakings.', 'The less practical the goal of a government- supported project, the more unexpected the consequences of that project.']