"I stand by my point that nearly all important advances of mankind are tools developed to solve a long forgotten goal." That is indeed true. Of course, almost

"I stand by my point that nearly all important advances of mankind are tools developed to solve a long forgotten goal." That is indeed true. Of course, almost all of the goals I have accomplished for myself have been accomplished by actively engaging in pursuing that goal rather than pursuing some side channel, while the side projects I've created have generally been a lot less useful to myself and humanity than, say Bach. :D