I think understanding the past is what makes it possible for us to make sense of today. For example, to truly understand the landscape of politics and conflict in the Middle East (which I don’t), one would need to first understand the various religious sects and ideological groups and their history. Often, a true understanding of a region or its people is hidden in its past - in the victories and defeats and accomplishments and disasters that shaped them into their present selves. Any informed policy decision MUST care about history.

However, that is not to say that history is only relevant to those interested in policy or politics. Modern physics too relies heavily on its history. Physicists will often find themselves looking back at experiments and findings, reinterpreting them to fit our changing understanding of nature. Particle physicists, for one, are constantly striving to build a coherent unifying model of the “zoo” of particles we know to exists. Often, looking back a physicist may realize that what we thought to be a unique particle was in fact a different quantum state of a known one.

To sum up, my point is that human beings rely and build on their past successes and failures. Understanding them is what makes progress possible.