Actually, in the research group, it's really not that easy to become numb. It's just a constant process of elimination. Unable to accept that much of the work is futile work, which already got eliminated at the master's stage.
By the Ph.D. stage, everyone's mindset has improved somewhat, but there's still a sense of frustration when the lab doesn't yield results.
However, once things get busy, there's no time to feel that frustration. After all, even though the initial investment came from the client, they are the ones in the lab every day.
But what can we do? The client chose two different directions from the start, which essentially predetermined that one method and approach would be eliminated.
It's certainly possible for both sides to produce results, but it's rare for such a win-win situation to happen.
Given funding limitations, from a cost perspective, once there's a mature solution, there's no need to keep investing in another immature solution.
