I think a lot of "looking backwards" is based on nostalgia. I remember feeling anxiety at times when I was growing up. That anxiety turned to nostalgia because now I know how it turned out. It wasn't so easy when it was happening. It seems to me that we do need a forward thinking philosophy for how we handle the future. Progress comes from having a plan and accepting that the world is in a constant state of change. The "we've always done things that way" model is doomed to fail. Good message.