sure, all ambitions have a goal. I think the point is that not all goals have some economic goal in mind. The original blogging platform and internet as a structure did not have the goal of monetizing writing. And we're honestly seeing the consequences of attempts and failures to try and monetize such stuff on the net.

Maybe there was prestige, or research grants, or whatnot, but it's clear that there's many pieces of tech who's goals wasn't to sell off to a billionaire and retire in style. I'd call such research "tech for tech's sake".

What about:

- curiosity (much of science, mathematics, etc.)

- artistic expression (musical instruments, demoscene)

- fortunate accidents (penicillin)

- just tinkering around (all sorts of inventions)

- play and fun (many non-commercial computer games)

- communication (telegraph, telephone, email, ...)

- self-expression (blogs)

- being dissatisfied with something and trying to change it (many more inventions)

- basic needs (advances in food, shelter, medicine...)

- trying to gain a military advantage (all sorts of weaponry and defenses)

- exploration (e.g. traveling to the bottom of the ocean, or landing on the moon)

- ideology/philosophy/religion (GNU and free software; cathedrals; pyramids)

etc.

At the end of the day much of technology is motivated by human needs, interests, desires, fears, etc.

OP's move from tech to comedy writing shows that interest or passion can be powerful motivators.

It's also not confusing to me what the other person is saying, maybe you can clarify what your misunderstandings are before anyone can address them.