Why study educators in 3-D environments?

Studying educators in this environment is like going to another country and studying another culture. Why do we study other cultures? It's not like studying another culture will save the world or cause us to find a cure for cancer (or maybe it could). We study other cultures because other cultures are essentially a reflection of ourselves. Although other cultures may seem different from us in many ways, in essence they are not. By studying other cultures, we are studying ourselves. And since we are studying ourselves, we are contributing to the body of knowledge known as academia.