This balls down to the question of _purpose_.
I think the knowledge is in the journey. There is a saying that every new facet in one's life comes with ignorance. By the time you know how to be a teenage, you find yourself in adulthood. So we learn on the job--life.

To predict the future you must understand the past. Although we might not have a clear vision of what the future or have all the answers to our enormous question, the past holds hidden truths and signs. And we can only unearth through introspection-- asking the right question and this will stir us aright.