Why do people research family history?

I took a look at the reasons people give for researching family history. I looked at the writings of Alex Haley, and posts on forums at genealogy.com and rootsweb.com boards. I synthesized the answers I found, and although I think there is much more to be said on the topic, here are some of the reasons given.

To make history more personal
To leave a mark
To have an important topic to discuss with older family members

Unanswered questions about one's heritage

Looking for a sense of fulfillment
Fascinating to read and learn
The moment of serendipity, and then to experience that again, and again finding more and more nuggets of gold
A sense of belonging