topic about gnosiology eh, rather interesting.

1)i think it boils down to this, the motivation to get information. let's see, this would be at the top of maslow's pyramid of needs. from one side, if the basic needs are not satisfied, one will not go seek for this new information.
from another side, one would think, what is the purpose of obtaining this knowledge? its it useful? hence the function or the purpose of the knowledge, and the attitude of the individual and society towards to knowledge.
2) i think that would be religion, ethics, lack of funding, lack of tools that extend our sensory field. if we can't sense them we can't know them.
also our society is currently more biased towards specialisation rather than generalisation, in generalisation, one have the knowledge of various field and could associate relationship between different fields, thus discovery of a new knowledge.
3) time and value put into RnD. and a bit of luck and intelligence to interpret the result of luck