Triviality is a term used in many scientific fields, which has a common meaning for them - an understanding of extreme simplification. Without a universal terminological definition, the meaning of the word triviality is interpreted with appropriate amendments regarding the context of use. In the area exact sciences triviality usually means the simplest concepts in his class, in humanitarian areas the term usually takes on the function of an adjective, defining the characteristics of an individual.
So, in the context of characterizing a person, triviality implies a certain simplification of his thinking, actions, approach to life, level of intelligence and other characteristics in relation to which it is used.
What is it
In a personal context, triviality is understood as a person’s lack of creativity, a living mind that allows you to transform information and comprehend new things. This leads to the fact that his behavior is stereotyped, his thoughts are quotes from other people’s opinions, and jokes have long lost their relevance. Similar situation often arises due to the lack of intellectual or environmental opportunities to enrich one’s baggage and, as a result, judgments become uninteresting and hackneyed, there is no originality in the decision, the construction of one’s life and the expressed point of view. In addition, the humor of such individuals is simplified and sometimes quite vulgar in content.
Triviality can be considered synonymous with banality; it corresponds to the developmental level of elementary school or medieval man. Since the Middle Ages, the meaning of triviality has been reduced to the understanding and proclamation of banal things, accessible to everyone who has completed the initial stage of education. This arose as a criterion for human literacy and understanding of the surrounding reality, but in modern world triviality of behavior no longer depends on education. The concept has received new extensions relating not only to knowledge, but also to the ability to navigate a situation, creatively process it, and create something exceptional and fresh.
The triviality of thought processes and results leading to this implies a certain lack of demands and interest in one’s own thoughts and desires. That is, such a person will not think for a long time about the situation that has arisen, but will take advantage of ready-made solution, will not analyze the course of his thoughts and check them for correctness or destructiveness; most likely he will stop at the former. Such rigidity, without pauses for reflection, cannot give active mental activity. new push and the development of the situation, in addition, it impoverishes knowledge. Knowledge is meant as such a global category, because new assumptions and possibilities always arise in the process of thinking about previous categories, criticizing one’s actions and other people’s judgments. Without this, using a trivial, predictable approach, the possibility of restructuring experience is destroyed.
Thought Process A trivial person is not distinguished by his own exactingness, therefore the things he states are often perceived by others as bad taste, nonsense, or even extreme vulgarity. They don’t sit at trivial lectures, don’t watch such films and communicate with people like this is also quite rare, because in every person there is a desire to learn new things, to play with the mind, to make discoveries, which is impossible with the constant chewing of irrelevant information.
All stereotyped ideas, actions, decisions are born from triviality. It is she who popularizes already well-known thoughts, making them sound like a refrain in our heads, eliminating the possibility of getting out of influence stereotypical thinking. WITH positive side triviality preserves old beliefs and traditions, in principle any traditions, developed positive behavior, which greatly simplifies a person’s life. Quite problematic in every specific situation disassembling it into its components and looking for a new original solution or even deliberately coming to the old one - this takes a lot of time and can sometimes be expensive in situations of need rapid response. Thus, triviality is a kind of resource that saves strength and mental energy, but this is only relevant in repetitive situations that do not have a key semantic or life significance.
Negative statements associated with triviality do not in any way reflect its stabilizing and unifying function, but only condemn its everyday and petty orientation. It is impossible to completely exclude this quality, present in the character of every person, since otherwise this is society’s hello to chaos and misunderstanding. The everyday everyday level is the basis that helps unite all people, different ages, beliefs, intellectual and social levels.
Of course, in order to gain new emotions and expand their experience, people strive for creative and unlimited personalities, for originals, but not everyone has the opportunity to constantly be close to such a gushing source. Therefore, over time, having received a new emotional as well as mental experience, a person takes a break to integrate new information into your familiar trivial world.
At this stage of development of society we can talk about individual level trivial perception. So, having a completely diverse experience, the opportunity to focus on any thing in your development and choose your social circle, independent of your territorial location (mobile and social media) people gradually erased the line. Perhaps what is familiar, familiar and even boring for a person who is in the same conditions with you will become innovative ideas And unique experience for another. Now it is impossible to establish one standard for absolutely all people, as it was in the Middle Ages.
But in order to navigate your originality or triviality, you can carefully look at the ideas and trends floating in your immediate circle of friends and evaluate what new you, as an individual, bring to the understanding of this. This trait can be both developed and overcome in order to add a little predictability to yourself and fit into the established company; it is better to increase your triviality in their eyes by telling a few jokes specific to these people. Such a small amount of manifestation of ordinaryness will allow you to quickly enter the general circle and be accepted as one of your own. If there is a feeling that your favorite company is getting bored of communicating with you, and your speeches are finished earlier, then it makes sense to load your thinking before speaking. Simple practices like questioning your thesis or connecting two theories can help bring freshness back to your perspective.
What is the meaning of the word "triviality"? We are used to using it exclusively in a negative way. But is it right to consider the expression “trivial” as a synonym for “banal,” “primitive,” or even “vulgar”? Where did this apparently foreign word come from? In this article we will look at several versions of the origin of the term, its further metamorphoses and rooting in the Russian language. Let us remember in what cases it is appropriate to use this word. We will also study the question of why some scientific pedants also consider the words “sugar”, “saltpeter” or “strawberry” to be trivial expressions.
The first version of the origin of the term
All researchers agree that “triviality” is Latin word with the Russian ending inherent in nouns. The most approximate translation of the term trivialis is “by three roads.” What was at the crossroads in the ancient settlements of Europe? Historians claim that the place was for fairs or an inn. In such places, ordinary people gathered, news that was on everyone’s lips was discussed, and debates were held that were not of the highest oratorical level. Therefore, first French, and then in other adverbs the expression “trivialis”, that is, “a crossroads of three roads”, acquired an allegorical meaning. On the one hand, this is something simple, simple. But on the other hand, what was repeated many times after smart people, worn out, hackneyed, unoriginal. Previously, in the Russian language the term carried the semantic load of “everyday”, “ordinary”, but then gradually acquired a negative connotation - “vulgar”.
Second version of the origin of the term
Other researchers see the noble trivium at the root of the word "triviality". This is one of the levels of medieval classical education. When a boy mastered reading, writing and counting, he could act, to put it modern language, to the “preparatory faculty” of the university. There he studied the “trivium” - the three liberal arts. Grammar is the basis of all knowledge. It included the study of literature and even mastering the art of versification. Rhetoric, according to Raban the Maurus, made it possible to correctly and succinctly express one’s thoughts (both in writing and in front of an audience), and also introduced the student to the fundamentals of jurisprudence. It is also the art of composing official documents and office work. And finally, dialectics, or logic, the science of all sciences. Ability to think and debate. This free art was comprehended with the help of the works of Aristotle translated by Boethius. As you can see, there is nothing wrong with this origin of the word “trivial”. On the contrary, the one who mastered the trivium was already considered an extraordinary, learned person.
Vulgarization of the term
Where did it come from that “triviality” is something banal, devoid of originality and novelty, something in which there is no flight of thought or spirit? Let us not forget that the trivium was only the first (and lowest) stage in the education system of the Middle Ages. Next, the student studied the “quadrivium”. This level included the four liberal arts - music, arithmetic, geometry and astronomy. It should be assumed that medieval students also had their own “hazing,” which was expressed in a disdainful attitude towards their still “uncouth” comrades from junior years. In the mouth of a well-trained cleric, a “trivial person” is one who has mastered only the trivium. That is we're talking about about a dropout with an education.
"Triviality": meaning in chemistry, biology and mathematics
In these industries human knowledge the term does not always have a negative connotation. If some substances or living organisms received their name even before the introduction of scientific nomenclature, which provides for the naming of objects in accordance with their chemical composition, molecular structure or phylogenetic data, they are considered "trivial". These are sugar (α-D-glucopyranosyl-β-D-fructofuranoside), baking soda (sodium bicarbonate), strawberries (garden strawberry) or (caustic buttercup). In mathematics, triviality is certain numbers close to zero. As well as arithmetic equations operating with these numbers.
Usage in colloquial speech
But "triviality" is like scientific term is an exception to the rule. In common parlance this word carries a clear meaning. These are banal sayings, hackneyed, well-worn maxims. In relation to clothing, the term can mean mediocrity, lack of style and originality. Also, something simple or self-evident is said to be trivial. A synonym for this expression is in this case - « common place" Sometimes shallow, banal thoughts are called trivial, when a person operates with stereotyped concepts. In Russian, this word carries a connotation of vulgarity and mundaneness. To say about a person that he is a mere triviality means to say that he is boring and uninteresting. Therefore, before calling your interlocutor that name, think about it, because he may be offended.
TRIVIAL
TRIVIAL
(Latin trivialis - located at a crossroads, on a public road). Vulgar, vulgar; common people, rude.
Dictionary foreign words, included in the Russian language. - Chudinov A.N., 1910 .
TRIVIAL
[lat. trivialis - ordinary] - 1) unoriginal, ordinary, vulgar, hackneyed; 2) consisting of truisms (TRUISM). Fr. trivial.
Dictionary of foreign words. - Komlev N.G., 2006 .
TRIVIAL
bad taste, bad taste, vulgar.
Complete dictionary foreign words that have come into use in the Russian language. - Popov M., 1907 .
TRIVIAL
lat. trivialis, actually located on an open public road. Vulgar.
Explanation of 25,000 foreign words that have come into use in the Russian language, with the meaning of their roots. - Mikhelson A.D., 1865 .
TRIVIAL
Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. - Pavlenkov F., 1907 .
Trivial
(fr. trivial lat. trivia-lis ordinary) hackneyed, vulgar, devoid of freshness and originality.
New dictionary of foreign words. - by EdwART,, 2009 .
Trivial
[Latin trivialis, lit. located at the crossroads of three roads, street] (book). Beaten, vulgar, devoid of freshness and originality.
Big dictionary foreign words.- Publishing house "IDDK", 2007 .
Trivial oh, oh, flax, flax ( fr. trivial lat. triviālis vulgaris).
Unoriginal, banal. Trivial thought.
Triviality -
1)
property of the trivial;
2)
trivial expression, trivial act.
Explanatory dictionary of foreign words by L. P. Krysin. - M: Russian language, 1998 .
Synonyms:
See what "TRIVIAL" is in other dictionaries:
Cm … Dictionary of synonyms
trivial- oh, oh. trivial lat. trivialis ordinary, simple. Devoid of novelty, originality; beaten, vulgar. BAS 1. In her correspondence with Baron Cherkasov, Catherine’s nobility is noticeable, among other things, that she evades funny, generous, humorous... ... Historical Dictionary Gallicisms of the Russian language
TRIVIAL, trivial, trivial; trivial, trivial, trivial (lat. trivialis, lit. located at the crossroads of three roads, street) (book). Beaten, vulgar, devoid of freshness and originality. Trivial habits. Trivial (adv... Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary
TRIVIAL, oh, oh; flax, linen (book). Unoriginal, banal. Trivial thought. | noun triviality, and, female Ozhegov's explanatory dictionary. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949 1992 … Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary
Franz. vulgar, vulgar. vulgarity, vulgarity. Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary. V.I. Dahl. 1863 1866 … Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary
Through. German trivial or French trivial – the same from lat. triviālis what is lying on high road: trivium intersection of three roads... Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language by Max Vasmer
- (foreign) about flat, vulgar, vulgar, very ordinary, mediocre Triviality flatness, vulgarity Wed. The lecture began and was a brilliant success. The ladies found its content extremely trivial, but since it was from Russian... ... Michelson's Large Explanatory and Phraseological Dictionary
Trivial (foreign) about flat, vulgar, vulgar, very ordinary mediocre. Triviality is flat, vulgar. Wed. The lecture began and was crowned with brilliant success. The ladies found its content extremely trivial, but so... ... Michelson's Large Explanatory and Phraseological Dictionary (original spelling)
Adj. Devoid of freshness and originality, hackneyed, unoriginal, banal. Ephraim's explanatory dictionary. T. F. Efremova. 2000... Modern explanatory dictionary of the Russian language by Efremova
Trivial, trivial, trivial, trivial, trivial, trivial, trivial, trivial, trivial, trivial, trivial, trivial, trivial, trivial, trivial, trivial, trivial, trivial,... ... Forms of words
Books
- Usual stories, great photos. How to turn a trivial subject into a stunning photograph, Simon Bond. To create amazing photographs, you don’t have to go far from home and travel to exotic countries - you can make amazing discoveries and breathtaking pictures…
- Ordinary Subjects, Great Photographs: How to Turn a Trivial Subject into a Stunning Photograph, Bond S.. This book, written in best traditions superbestseller "The Tao of Digital Photography", talks about how to find beauty in the most simple things, charm - in everyday situations,…
- TRIVIAL
[from Latin trivialis ordinary] hackneyed, vulgar, lacking freshness and ... - TRIVIAL in the Encyclopedic Dictionary:
oh, oh, flax, flax Unoriginal, banal. Trivial thought. Triviality - 1) the property of the trivial; 2) trivial expression, trivial... - TRIVIAL V Encyclopedic Dictionary:
, -th, -oe; -flax, -linen (book). Unoriginal, banal. Trivial thought. II noun triviality, -and... - TRIVIAL in the Complete Accented Paradigm according to Zaliznyak:
trivial, trivial, trivial, trivial, trivial, trivial, trivial, trivial, trivial, trivial, trivial, trivial, trivial lenny, trivial, trivial, trivial, trivial, trivial, trivial, trivial, … - TRIVIAL in the Thesaurus of Russian Business Vocabulary:
- TRIVIAL in the New Dictionary of Foreign Words:
(fr. trivial lat. trivia-lis ordinary) hackneyed, vulgar, devoid of freshness and ... - TRIVIAL in the Dictionary of Foreign Expressions:
[fr. trivial hackneyed, vulgar, devoid of freshness and... - TRIVIAL in the Russian Language Thesaurus:
Syn: elementary, simple, elementary, primitive (amplified), ordinary Ant: unusual, extraordinary, extraordinary, ... - TRIVIAL in Abramov's Dictionary of Synonyms:
cm. … - TRIVIAL in the Russian Synonyms dictionary:
Syn: elementary, simple, elementary, primitive (amplified), ordinary Ant: unusual, extraordinary, extraordinary, ... - TRIVIAL in the New Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language by Efremova:
- TRIVIAL in the Spelling Dictionary:
trivial; cr. f. -len,... - TRIVIAL in Ozhegov’s Dictionary of the Russian Language:
unoriginal, banal, trivial... - TRIVIAL in Dahl's Dictionary:
French vulgar, vulgar. -ness,... - TRIVIAL in Ushakov’s Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language:
trivial, trivial; trivial, trivial, trivial (Latin trivialis, lit. located at the crossroads of three roads, street) (book). Battered, vulgar, lacking freshness and... - TRIVIAL in the New Dictionary of the Russian Language by Efremova:
adj. Devoid of freshness and originality, hackneyed,... - TRIVIAL in the Bolshoi Modern explanatory dictionary Russian language:
adj. Lacking freshness and originality, hackneyed, unoriginal,... - JOHN VISHENSKY in the Orthodox Encyclopedia Tree:
Open Orthodox encyclopedia"TREE". John of Vyshensky (XVII century), monk, one of the energetic opponents of the union. Born at the end... - ABSINTHE in the Dictionary of Alcoholic Beverages.
- HARRY MORGAN in the Literary Encyclopedia:
(English: Harry Morgan) - the hero of E. Hemingway’s novel “To Have and Have Not” (1937). Prototypes by G.M. Gregorio Fuentes, captain of Hemingway's sailing ship, is considered... - FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY in Bolshoi Soviet encyclopedia, TSB.
- SIMILARITY THEORY in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, TSB:
theory, doctrine of similarity conditions physical phenomena. P. t. is based on the doctrine of dimensions physical quantities(see Dimensional analysis... - SYNONYMS
Synonyms are words of close, adjacent, almost the same meaning. The process of creating new forms, new, differentiated categories in thought corresponds in language to the creation of new... - LONGINUS, NEOPLATONIST in the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Euphron:
(Dionysius Cassius) - Neoplatonist of the 3rd century, student of Ammonius Sakka, teacher of Porphyry, then mentor and adviser to the Palmyra queen Zeinab (Zenovia), after ... - VISHENSKY JOHN in the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Euphron:
monk, one of the energetic opponents of the union. Born in late XVI or in early XVII V. in the Galician city of Cherry and...
Triviality as a personality quality is a tendency to behave, express jokes and thoughts that are devoid of freshness, novelty and originality, hackneyed and vulgar.
Vasily Ivanovich went to India, walks the streets of Delhi, and is surprised. Suddenly a yogi comes up to him and asks: “Pour a glass of vodka.” “Why on earth,” says Vasily Ivanovich. - Don’t be afraid, I won’t drink, I’ll show you a trick. Vasily Ivanovich poured a glass, and the yogi stared at the vodka and looked, looked, and suddenly - once, and fell on his side. People came running and called a doctor. The doctor examined the yogi and said: “Alcohol poisoning!” Vasily Ivanovich returned home and ran to Petka: “Petka, pour me a glass of vodka - I’ll show you an Indian trick!” Petka poured vodka, Vasily Ivanovich stared at the glass, looked, looked, and suddenly fell. They called a doctor, who made a diagnosis: “A trivial case.” Choked on saliva!
Vasily Ivanovich sent Petka to study as an artist. A year later Petka arrives. And Vasily Ivanovich asks him: “Have you brought any paintings?” - Yes. - Show me. Petka takes out a black sheet of paper. Chapaev asks him: “What’s the name?” - Well, how can you not understand such trivial things? Blacks steal coal at night!
Why are banal statements called trivial? Because they are understandable to a person even with an initial medieval education.
The Russian word is "trivial", as stated etymological dictionary Max Vasmer, comes from the Latin trivialis - “that which lies on the high road”, or more precisely, at the “crossroads of three roads” (in Latin - trivium). But why should something ordinary and understandable to everyone lie at the crossroads of three roads, and not two or four? Vasmer's dictionary does not help answer this question. To do this, you need to remember how the medieval school was structured. Secondary education was not separated from higher education, and after studying Latin in elementary school A 12-15 year old boy entered the preparatory faculty of the university, where he studied the “seven liberal arts.” This course consisted of two cycles, the first of which was called “trivium” (here trivium is “the crossroads of three paths of knowledge”: grammar, rhetoric, dialectics), and the second was called “quadrivium” (quadrivium is “the crossroads of four paths of knowledge”: music, arithmetic, geometry and astronomy). Accordingly, something understandable to any person who has mastered only the first cycle of education (trivium) began to be called trivial.
Triviality – lack of demands on thoughts. Thoughts that are not subject to selection run the risk of becoming trivial. A thought that has passed through the mind is analyzed, compared, juxtaposed, in a word, passes through numerous filters of the mind, and during such processing, fundamentally new knowledge can be born from old, unprocessed knowledge. It can no longer be called trivial or banal. It's completely new. It is added, newly created value. It's like national income society with expanded reproduction.
Triviality produces hackneyed, worn-out thoughts, represented by stereotypes, prejudices, preconceptions, false beliefs and beliefs, limiting views, outdated worldviews, suggestions and incorrect psychological attitudes. Everything that floats in your head immediately ends up in an uncontrolled language. Where does novelty, originality and independence of thought come from here? Everything was done in haste: mediocre, formulaic and vulgar.
Undemanding triviality towards one’s thought stream, lack of self-control and self-discipline leads to low quality presented material from university departments. Druzhinin in his book “Charity of a Special Kind” writes: “The lecture began and was crowned with brilliant success. The ladies found its content extremely trivially, but since it is impossible to demand anything else from a Russian writer, they were satisfied.”
Triviality is disliked for its vulgarity, ordinariness and everyday life.
Leo Tolstoy writes in Anna Karenina: “There is something trivial and vulgar in courting your governess.”
Goncharov says in “The Precipice”: “Leonty was a classic. - In new literatures, where there were no ancient forms, he recognized only one high poetry, but I didn’t like the trivial, everyday things...”
Triviality is new and trivial every time. Henry Oldie in the book “Child of the Ecumene” writes :
Cruelty is the reverse side of resentment.
Hatred is the reverse side of weakness.
Pity is the reverse side of looking in the mirror.
Aggression is the rear of pride.
Now let's take all this - plus much more - divide it into paper lots, throw it into a hat, shake it, mix it well and start drawing tickets in a different order. Do you think something will change? Nothing of the kind. From changing the places of terms, even if it’s not numbers that are added, but feelings...”
Triviality is often associated with simplicity of thought, which real life obscured by vanity, turmoil, busyness, when there is really no time to look carefully at interesting things. Irina Bebneva in “Trivial thoughts about April snow” writes:
There's a snowflake - a cabbage butterfly
Landed on my palm...
I thought, like a flower will bloom,
And it will melt - just touch it.
Here we are, like butterflies, in carelessness
We all flutter and flutter to our heart's content.
We are snowflakes in the palm of eternity,
We immediately melt before we fall...
Compare with “Mistake” by Marina Tsvetaeva:
When a snowflake that flies easily
Sliding like a fallen star,
You take it with your hand - it melts like a tear,
And it is impossible to return its airiness.
Petr Kovalev 2014
