I don't get it. Why would you ask if an adult daycare leads to a business or new discoveries? Daycares are for nurturing curiosity and fostering development in a socially engaging environment—much like the Recurse Center—not for publishing papers.

You are missing the point. On the line between explore and exploit, RC is basically 100% explore. The point is to learn, and more importantly, to flex the muscle of learning without being taught. And to participate in a community of kind and curious people who are also motivated to do the same.

From what I see, this is more of a sabbatical time to just explore and enjoy programming without needing a productive end. I've been considering it myself.

The practical goal of Recurse is to make connections. Starting a business or publishing research are explicitly non-goals.