The Useless Use: The Necessity of Incubation, The Necessity of Idleness. Welcome to the Era of Uselessness.

The richness of civilization is built upon countless accumulations of the "useless."
Nearly forty masters tell us:
The necessity of exploration, the necessity of slowness,
The necessity of gestation, the necessity of futility.

Welcome to the Era of the Useless.

In this book, acclaimed European scholar Nuccio Ordine extensively cites the words of nearly forty masters, combined with his own powerful insights, to guide us in re-examining the "utility of the useless" and the "uselessness of the useful." He points out that humanity's obsession with material desires and blind pursuit of practicality cannot bring about any true knowledge or spiritual transformation; instead, it leads to the decline of human intellectual capacity.

At the end of the book, Ordine also includes "The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge" by American educator Abraham Flexner. Although nearly a century separates Ordine and Flexner, their arguments resonate like a sonata of humanities and science. Both of them, coincidentally, examine whether people's concept of "practicality" is too narrow, proving that examples of the usefulness of the useless are innumerable.

Ordine further emphasizes that humanistic thought and scientific knowledge are by no means in opposition. Instead, they fight side-by-side on the battlefield against "profit," jointly defending the autonomy of knowledge and the freedom to explore "useless knowledge." He encourages the pursuit of the satisfaction found in the "useless," liberating humanity's imaginative spirit and capabilities:

In this century where everything is sacrificed to utility,
When utilitarianism seems to be the only compass, and self-interest appears to be the last hope,
We should understand: "The utility of the useless is the utility of life, creativity, love, and desire."
Because "the useless brings us the most useful things – that is, creation without shortcuts and without rushing,
allowing us to transcend the illusions woven by society."