Haha

Looking at my own experience, I'd agree that my journal papers don't *directly* make the world a better place. I do get to do a fair bit of real-world-impact work though, like consult on sustainable transport systems - which sounds suspiciously commercial doesn't it? But I'm only in that position because academia let me build up a base of techniques and software that none of the commercial operators saw a business case for 10 years ago. (And also, because I've built some credibility based on those papers).