It's all about testing our ideas of the World, and if we find something that works, we have a 'model' for it and can use that to do useful things.

IDE'A, noun [Latin idea; Gr. to see, Latin video.] What if what you see aka sense aka perceive represents both inspiration for your growth and temptation for your loss of both mental/physical potential? What if reality represents a self sustaining system (internal loss/growth balance) that causes you as the free will of choice in response to that balance? What if your choice within balance (need/want) represents the consequence of growth/loss?

find new ways to make steel in better ways

a) what are you making better for aka towards which goal? Also consider being form (life) within flow (inception towards death)...is life outcome oriented if death is predefined at inception or is life balance oriented; hence representing a responding free will of choice?

b) what if everything needed to make steel and everything needed to make steel better already exists; which implies that one cannot create "new"; only transmute out of ALL existence; based on ONEs understanding thereof.

useful vs useless

Doesn't that imply choice of want vs not want evaluating it as such; while reasoning (versus conflict) with others who evaluate it as the opposite? What of ONE within ALL aka choice within balance cannot define value; only evaluate (ONEs choice) value (ALL balance)?