Incidentalness

Incidentalness refers to the quality or state of being an unintended, secondary, or minor consequence or occurrence. It highlights the characteristic of something being non-essential, occurring by chance, or arising as a side effect. It often implies a lack of planning or direct causal relationship, and that the event or object is of lesser importance compared to the primary focus or objective. It can relate to events, details, or aspects, with the main theme as the primary object of discussion and concern.

Incidentalness meaning with examples

• The detective focused on the core evidence, treating the scattered cigarette butts as incidentalness to the main crime scene. They weren't crucial to solve the main goal, the murder. Their presence offered clues, but they weren't essential. He investigated their presence, but he focused on more important things like footprints and fingerprints. Ultimately, their importance became insignificant.
• The art critique focused on the artist's bold brushstrokes, viewing the texture of the canvas as incidentalness. They were not crucial to evaluate the painting's value. The way the artist made the texture offered context to the art, but it was not the sole purpose of the review. It was still discussed, but was treated with less value to the viewer.
• During the concert, the sound engineers minimized the feedback, treating the crackling sounds as incidentalness, of course, unless it got worse. The focus of their work was directed on keeping the music clear and balanced, and the feedback was not. They did try to remove the feedback, but their attention was diverted to more important matters.
• The budget proposal prioritized core infrastructure, regarding the aesthetic landscaping as incidentalness. They needed to fix the broken pipes and make sure everyone had clean water. It offered value to the world but not to the main point of this topic. The landscaping was valuable to society, just not to the proposal.
• The politician focused on policy debates, dismissing the controversy surrounding his personal life as incidentalness, and not important to the topic. It distracted voters from the important policy questions, but in the long run, it was determined to be meaningless. Despite the negative attention, it became a footnote to his success.