why astronomy

Sometimes I wonder about astronomy. Who does it benefit? What is the point?

I found some intriguing words...

"Astronomy has been with us forever and we still have so much more to go," said [Jose Maza, a University of Chile astronomy professor.] "If we hadn't asked ourselves so many questions by looking at the stars we would still be ... hunting buffalos. At the end, all of man's development comes from the act of leaving the stones aside and looking upward at the twinkling stars and asking, 'Why?'"