Myth of Relevance

Close to the completion of my article on Radulph of Worcerster and William the Armless, I ran into a snag! My editor wanted a third case study.

Now, William and Radulph were not ordainary monks. These were fellows who cut off their own arms and legs at the elbow and knee, to avoid showing their stigmata. Not a common thing to do, really. Only the two of them had ever done it. But he wasn't having that, the editor.

"Two just won't do, you see," says he, "You need three."

"Why three?" say I. "I can't just invent someone. There were only two of them."

"You just need three. Three is a nice round number."

Impertinent (adjective):

1 - Intrusive or presumptuous, insolently rude; uncivil
2. Not relevant; irrelevant: an impertinent detail.
3. Inappropriate, incongruous, or absurd (of facts or ideas)
4. Trivial, silly, or absurd (of people)

i.e. a callow, impertinent youth.

The examples always refer to a 'youth' and have two adjectives.

"A saucy impertinent youth"
"An indolent, disrespectful youth"
"An idle, insolent youth"

etc.

Impudent (adjective)

1. of, pertaining to, or characterized by impertinence and rudeness, effrontery
2. Unashamed, immodest.

Origins:

Latin 'Im' (without) and 'pud' (base of pudere, 'to feel shame'; cf pudendum = 'shameful thing'. Thus, 'without shame.'

Insolent (adjective)

1 - boldly rude or disrespectful; contemptuously impertinent; insulting
2 - Novel; strange; unusual
3 - Contemptuous of rightful authority, seeking change or progress

Origin:

From Latin 'In' (not) 'Solens' (customary), i.e. 'deviating from that which is normal or customary.'

Adjectival form of 'Indolence'

1. Avoiding labor and exertion; habitually idle; lazy; inactive.
2. Conducive to or encouraging laziness or inactivity.
3. Causing little or no pain
4. Slow to heal, develop, or grow

Origins:

From Latin "Indolencia" meaning "freedom from pain", from the prefix 'in' (not) and 'dolens' (grieving, suffering).

The sense of "laziness" inherent in the modern term begins c1710 from the notion of not 'taking pains' or being 'painstaking', thus "avoiding trouble", or being lazy.

"People are scared of laziness and persecute those who accept it, and it always happens because no one realizes laziness is the truth; it has been branded as the mother of all vices, but it is in fact the mother of life. In his folly, the son scorns his mother as a mother of all vices and would not remove the brand; in this brief note I want to remove the brand of shame from laziness and to pronounce it not the mother of all vices, but the mother of perfection". Malevich, 1921.

In job interviews, they always ask you: "where do you see yourself in five years time?"

The answer required to attain the job is something like: "Working in this organisation! But a few steps higher up the ladder. This job will be really great in terms of developing my career."

The honest answer, in my case, is: "How the hell should I know? How am I expected to have a stable career in a totally destablised employment market? Why don't you tell me where I'll be in five years time? It's become your problem, more than mine."

I think this is now basically true for many people my age and younger who have decent education and have fair employment skills, but who have decided that the standard long career path in which such five year plans are valid, or even remotely sensible, is no longer their best option, given the nature of the market.