I like this article from Daniel Lemire which explores this further
https://lemire.me/blog/2010/03/22/so-you-know-whats-importan...
Sure you can’t accurately predict what will and won’t be important long term, but you should think your work is important. Whether you’re right or wrong time will tell.
True but unfortunately this is how funding works based on what I saw during my time working at various labs.
You need to provide enough evidence that what you are after is going to "work". Most of the brand new ideas get resources by repurposing data from existing funded projects. If you don't have what you need, you finangle the funded project to produce the data the new idea needs.
I'm all for not syncing resources into crazy ideas that will never work but current state of affairs (it's getting worse) is too conservative
In fact, I remember the book having a very clear assumption that you can't work on important things all the time anyway. But well, there has been some time since I've read it. But it is a very sensible and nuanced advice for highly ambitious people.