In our present era, we find that the culture of triviality has asserted itself in an unprecedented way across various aspects of social, cultural, and media life. Triviality can be defined as the inclination toward superficial, light, and value-empty matters—things that lean toward non-seriousness and abandon deep issues and important subjects in favor of what is easy and widely consumed. This phenomenon is not a passing coincidence; it has become part of the daily life of many people.
The reasons behind the spread of triviality are numerous, the most important of which are:
The proliferation of visual media and social networking platforms, which shifted the focus from deep content to quick, bite-sized entertainment. Many people now prefer consuming short videos and superficial content that requires no deep thinking. Platforms like Instagram and TikTok glorify empty simplicity at the expense of knowledge and analysis—despite the possibility of using these platforms to foster culture, which some do.
Added to that is the desire for quick fame. Rapid success has become a goal pursued by many individuals, especially young people. In the age of social media, anyone can achieve fleeting fame without any real skills or meaningful achievements. It is enough to present superficial or controversial content to attract followers and become widely visible.
But is social-media “reach” truly real? Certainly not. It is a loud form of visibility—not an accurate representation of society. If it were real, public-opinion research would rely on it. Science requires representative samples to have value, something that “trends” do not provide.
In some societies, educational systems have become more focused on quick results and job-oriented skills at the expense of critical thinking and engagement with deep ideas. Education often neglects teaching young people the values of inquiry and investigation, leading to generations lacking intellectual depth.
In the age of globalization and intense competition, many people feel pressured to follow popular trends and viral content. It becomes easy for an individual to be drawn into trivial content simply to feel a sense of belonging or out of fear of being different.
When triviality becomes the dominant standard, people lose the inclination to practice critical thinking and engage deeply with issues. They begin to prefer quick conclusions and shallow opinions without any attempt at understanding or analysis.
The spread of triviality results in the decline of cultural and societal dialogue. Instead of discussing essential issues—such as justice, freedom, and development—people become preoccupied with marginal topics, scandals, and entertainment content that adds nothing to collective awareness.
The widespread presence of triviality also erodes cultural identity. When people turn toward imitating superficial models and importing random Western trends, they weaken their connection to their own heritage and authentic values.
Triviality is also linked to consumerism, which pushes individuals to become preoccupied with appearances and empty material desires promoted by cultural and entertainment industries. A person becomes merely a consumer of products and content, far removed from creativity or intellectual production.
Is there a way to confront the culture of triviality?
Yes—but it requires political and social leadership with cultural depth, capable of understanding the dangers of triviality and its spread.
With thoughtful planning, educational systems can play a critical role in countering triviality by reinforcing critical-thinking skills and encouraging reading and scientific research. School and university life should encourage inquiry, intellectual curiosity, community participation, sports, arts, and deep dialogue.
Media institutions can contribute by offering cultural and educational programs that address intellectual and social issues with depth.
Supporting arts, literature, and cultural production that offers profound perspectives and analyses of society and humanity can serve as an important alternative to the shallow content dominating the media landscape.
Every individual can also contribute by controlling the content they consume. Instead of following superficial and disposable material, one can turn toward what nourishes the mind and builds knowledge.
The spread of triviality poses a real challenge to modern societies, weakening the quality of cultural dialogue and encouraging superficiality in thinking and behavior. We must all strive to change this reality by focusing on intellectual depth and meaningful cultural production, and by resisting the lure of shallow content that may seem appealing in the short term but is empty of any real value.
In this context, my friend Dr. Raouf Roshdy wrote me a wonderful message titled “A Very Trivial Article.”
He says:
“A Very Trivial Article” – Translation of the quoted message
“You cannot wake up in the morning and say to yourself: ‘From now on, I’m going to be trivial.’
That is very hard—believe me.
Triviality is not a choice. Triviality is a lifestyle. You must live it from the earliest days of your childhood. Whoever enjoys swimming on the shore will become bored of diving into deep waters. Triviality, in short, is the halting of intellectual and emotional growth at the age of five—at the pre-school stage.
You may think that you need to be angry, hysterical, violent, superficial, chaotic, and obsessed with appearances to enter the magical world of triviality. But even that might not help, because triviality is originally a talent—and like every talent, it needs refinement. You must possess the innate readiness to be a follower. It is a noble instinct, really—the instinctive ability to choose silly sources of knowledge. And you have no excuse; Egyptian media has not failed you in this regard for decades.
Avoiding reading, shunning people with intellectual depth, and steering clear of logical discussion may help—but talent remains the primary requirement.
Triviality is an art. Truly.
The trivial person spends his whole life perfecting and polishing his triviality. He adds his own touch to his silliness, creating unique patterns in interpreting his foolishness, and surrounds himself with fixed rituals to give meaning to his nonsense.
What are you compared to someone who has always excelled at trivial matters since childhood—trivial simply by age?
The miracle lies in ensuring that your mind never grows older. The secret—simple yet difficult—is that your mental mechanisms must resist cumulative understanding so that your silly behavior remains constant.
Do you see how hard the trivial person works?
You, then, are not qualified to be like him—because you are thinking about being trivial in a deep way.
Where will you find the superficiality that guides the trivial person’s decisions?
Where will you find his admiration for himself, and his certainty in the brilliance of his thinking?
You are doubtful, critical of yourself all the time. You have spent your life with Descartes, Nietzsche, and Schopenhauer.
The trivial person, my friend, is someone who has deeply mastered superficiality. He possesses firm mental mechanisms that allow no doubt. The distance between the inputs of his perception and the outputs of his decisions is far shorter than the spiral complexity of your own cognition.
Forget about becoming trivial—it is a trivial idea.
Stay deep, and suffer in the bliss of your mind.
And do not envy the trivial person, who enjoys misery.”
Quotations from Alain Deneault (“A System of Triviality”)
The Canadian writer Alain Deneault says in his famous book “La médiocratie” (The System of Triviality):
“The trivial have won the battle in our time. The era of truth and values has changed. The trivial now hold everything—with all their triviality and corruption. When noble values and principles disappear, programmed corruption floats to the surface as taste, ethics, and values. It is the age of the descending vagabonds. The deeper a person sinks into vulgarity and baseness, the more popularity and fame he gains.”
He adds:
“Social-media platforms have succeeded in glorifying the trivial. Any foolish beauty or empty-headed man can now impose themselves on viewers through numerous television-like platforms—mostly hollow, unproductive platforms that offer no valuable output capable of challenging time.”
Conclusion
The culture of triviality has come to dominate daily human life, consuming much of people’s mental energy. Many now spend most of their time arguing and debating about the most superficial things—clothes, shoes, fashion trends, appearances, the tallest building, the biggest mosque, the prettiest cow, the best bull.
The trivial have become role models for the coming generations, to the point that the world is now threatened by the permanent rule of triviality.
The wisdom of our time:
“O you trivial ones—advance and rise;
this is your age, these are your days.
And you noble-minded ones—retreat and hide.
Triviality is not only dominant—
it is contagious.”
“For every disease there is a remedy—
except foolishness and triviality;
they have defeated every healer.”
Do not underestimate triviality—it will eventually consume everyone if we do not stand against its rising tide.
