Personally I think history has a very significant inherent importance. History is first of all a fascinating subject in its own right, without relating it to modern relevance the study and understanding of the past is essential. Should history be accepted as general events which happened at some point only to lead to the modern world then I find doing anything to advance society further as ultimately redundant.

We all want to be remembered for what we have done and we want to feel that we have our own significance in the world. Why do scientists spend time looking for cures to diseases, finding sustainable sources of energy or building increasingly powerful computers? Why do lawyers spend their time solving legal disputes, and why do laws exist in the first place? At some point the answer has to become 'to sustain or enhance life'. And then, the question arises of 'why should we want to live?'

Of course life has its own inherent value and many live to find as much pleasure as they can in life with no regard for posterity. But then again, so do billions of others now and so have many billions of people in the past. If humans lived and died with their impact on the world leaving no record, the only evidence of their significance being broad developments which happen to be of relevance to the present, then we have forgotten those who lived what were to them equally important and self-absorbed lives.

Essentially, we all do things for a reason and without history those reasons are forgotten and only their effect remains. Even then, it is only the strongest, most successful and influential developments which are seen by us and regarded as little more than a background to our own concerns