The nontrivial pursuits of summer
鈥淭丑谤别别 diverged in a yellow wood....鈥�
What鈥檚 that? Frost had only two roads?
Indeed. But the convergence of three paths is the idea behind a number of words for some things that are 鈥渢rivial鈥� and others that are not.
Trivial, according to the Online Etymology Dictionary, is from the Latin trivialis: 鈥渃ommon, commonplace, or vulgar.鈥� The adjective comes from trivium, a 鈥減lace where three roads meet,鈥� or public square.
Since the late 1500s, trivial has meant 鈥渙rdinary,鈥� 鈥渋nsignificant,鈥� or 鈥渢rifling.鈥�
But trivium came into English in the early 1400s. It meant the 鈥渇irst three branches鈥� of learning 鈥� grammar, rhetoric, and logic. Down the road, so to speak, lay the quadrivium: arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy. These seven 鈥渓iberal arts,鈥� artes liberales, were of no immediate practical purpose and thus deemed worthy of 鈥渇ree men鈥� 鈥� liberal meaning 鈥渇ree.鈥� Parents of incoming college freshmen, take note.
Trivial still means 鈥渋nsignificant.鈥� But , the noun, has acquired a sheen of 鈥渟pecialized knowledge to use to impress peers and win love.鈥� To feminist writer Mary Daly, 鈥渢rivia鈥� was the crossroads where goddesses met to exchange wisdom.
Nontrivial, meanwhile, has picked up currency to describe things that really do matter. It鈥檚 one of those words for ideas whose meanings we get at by describing what they鈥檙e not.
recently quoted some researchers trying to use crowdsourcing to 鈥渢each鈥� their robots. They acknowledged that 鈥渢he issue of quality control was 鈥榥ontrivial.鈥� 鈥�
A article on trust in the bond markets noted that 鈥渢here is a nontrivial chance that your dealer will sell you a bond 鈥榳orth鈥� 90 for 98.75.鈥澛�
And I ran into nontrivial myself the other day on a visit to one of Boston鈥檚 academic campuses. I was shown a , used to test satellites. On a white board nearby were some simple notations about which direction was the x-axis, which the y-axis, and which the z-axis. An element of the trivium (writing) was supporting efforts in the quadrivium (astronomy).
When I remarked on these handwritten reminders, my guide commented that getting x, y, and z wrong in space would be a 鈥渘ontrivial鈥� matter.聽
The episode reminded me of a joke I heard as a child: A captain is retiring after many years in command of a particular ship. He tells his successor of some important guidance he鈥檚 left for him in an envelope in a particular drawer.聽
If you鈥檙e ever up against it, the retiring captain says, get the envelope. It may be enough to get you out of trouble.
And so the day comes. When the successor goes for the envelope and opens it, he finds that the note within reads, in its entirety, 鈥淧ort is left. Starboard is right.鈥�
It was funny, but the joke left me with a larger idea that in most fields, there are a few essentials that, if you stick with them, will keep you on track. And that鈥檚 no trivial thing.
