triviality

One might define „trivial“ as an attitude that is concerned only with the surface of things, not with their causes or the deeper layers; as an attitude that does not distinguish between what is essential and what is unessential, or one that is prone to reverse the two qualities. We may say, in addition, that triviality results from unaliveness, unresponsiveness, deadness, or from any concern that is not related to the central task of man: to be fully born. ― (1989a [1974-75]: The Art of Being, New York (Continuum) 1993, pp. 20f.)