alt Hacker NewsIt's not that everyone contributes equally. It's that everyone's contribution matters. And while small contributions are less impressive, they are also more numerous, much more numerous which means that it's not out of the question that in aggregate they matter more; which means they should not be discounted. As Napoleon allegedly said "quantity has a quality of its own".
Moreover, the researchers are the contributing 20% (or more like 2%). It's probably fractal, but if you zoom out even a little, there's a long tail of not-much in any group.