Really, given the determinism of the prevailing social forms, becoming aware of the nature of things is a bit like being the only person on a train who can see that the engineer is inebriated, the passengers mindless, and the tracks built by an unknown corpration that neglected to furnish a map along with the timetables.
Hence the need for the acquaintance with the minds of the past. That which I cannot change is no part of their thoughts.