The Latin word futĭlis came into our language as futile . The term is used as an adjective to describe that which has little relevance, value or estimation .
For example: "Unfortunately I had to dedicate two years of my professional life to a futile project, which consisted of nothing more than carrying out my boss's orders," "Let's not waste any more time with this futile discussion , if we both know better." "Let's agree," "Predicting which team will be the champion of the tournament is futile, since multiple variables that cannot be predicted affect the determination of the results."
The futile, therefore, is irrelevant or meaningless . Trying to count all the grains of sand on a beach, for example, is a futile task: there is no way to complete this action successfully. It is also futile for a person to try to fly without the help of any device or implement since, since human beings do not have wings, they cannot fly under their own power.
It is important to keep in mind that futile is a serious or plain word : it is stressed on the penultimate syllable (the stressed syllable, therefore, is "fú" ). As it does not end in either N or S, it is a term that has an accent: futile. However, many people believe that it is an acute word, stressed on the last syllable. That is why they pronounce it as futil (accentuating the syllable "til" ) and write it without an accent, something that constitutes an error according to the spelling of our language.
If we look for the word futile in a thesaurus we find many terms that can be used to replace it in different situations and that give us certain nuances to understand it in greater depth. Some of them are the following: trivial, unfounded, frivolous, childish, petty, vain and despicable . Simply put, something futile is not worthwhile, it is not significant, and therefore it is not worthy of our attention or our efforts.
In the field of medicine , this term is found in the concept of futile treatment , that is, one that is not worth carrying out since it will not lead to a substantial improvement. Given the immense variety of treatments that medicine offers us today, thanks to the countless technological advances that have been made so far, the so-called "philosophy of futility", which consists of differentiating a useful procedure from a useless one, is more relevant than ever.
It is important to note that if human beings had not distanced themselves so much from nature, they would not have to ask themselves these questions: the rest of the animals do not resort to medicine, but once they get sick they accept their condition even if it leads them to death. death. The thing is that life always ends in death, and we are the only species that does not want to accept it. What does futility have to do with this framework? A futile treatment can prolong the suffering of a person whose illness cannot be cured, and that is why it is necessary to understand the limits of science.
All therapy is made up of a series of procedures that aim to achieve certain goals. A futile treatment is, therefore, one that makes it impossible to achieve these goals. Broadly speaking, scholars of the subject recognize three types: those who cannot prolong life in a dignified manner; those that do not give the patient their autonomy back; those that add suffering to the patient in exchange for prolonging their life. Each health professional analyzes this from their own perspective, and the same goes for the opinion of their patients; Therefore, there is no firm position on the matter.