Learning Unimportant Things

Luther quotes the classical author Seneca:

But alas, how deeply we are ensnared in categories and questions of what a thing is; in how many foolish metaphysical questions we involve ourselves! When will we become wise and see how much precious time we waste on vain questions while we neglect the greater ones? We are always acting this way so that what Seneca has said is very true of us: “We do not know what we should do because we have learned unimportant things. Indeed, we do not know what is salutary because we have learned only the things that destroy us.” (AE 25:360; see also my prepublication draft of No Greater Treasure: Foundational Readings in Luther and Melanchthon on Education, p. 139)