Abstract

In the French language, it sounds very odd indeed to associate the word futility with serious things, and especially with medicine. The term is most often used to speak of “frivolities,” such as trinkets or any other bling-bling. “On parle à Paris et on ne pense guère, la journée se passe en futilités”, Voltaire wrote in a 1765 letter ; or “De cette indigne classe où nous rangent les hommes, de borner nos talents à des futilités”, said Molière in his 1672 play, Les Femmes savantes. It looks as though the term...