If we want to understand the past we must do so on its own terms, and disregard the future of that past, but if we want to understand the present we better not disregard the past steps that were essential for getting to the present. This is of importance especially for those of us engaged in trying to push ahead the scientific path of discovery today. We are not much interested in what scientists did wrong, there is too much of that. We are interested in what they did right, because we are trying to copy them in this, not in that.

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "If we want to understand the past we must do so on its own terms, and disregard the future of that past, but if we want to understand the present we better not disregard the past steps that were essential for getting to the present. This is of importance especially for those of us engaged in trying to push ahead the scientific path of discovery today. We are not much interested in what scientists did wrong, there is too much of that. We are interested in what they did right, because we are trying to copy them in this, not in that." in the context of "Rovelli, Carlo. "Aristotle's Physics: A Physicist's look." Journal of the American Philosophical Association 1.1 (2015): 23-40." to mean that wisdom is timeless.