We explain what relevance is and what are socially relevant issues. In addition, differences with relevance.
What is relevance?
The relevance of something is its importance or its significance in light of a context certain. Relevant things are those that have importance, visibility or significance, and therefore it is important to take them into account. On the other hand, irrelevant things are those that, being insignificant, unimportant or superfluous, are not worthy of attention. effort or attention.
The word relevance comes from the Latin word relevant (“outstanding” or “outstanding”), composed of the prefix re- (“backwards”) and the verb I will take ("raise" or "raise"), and that can be understood as "stand up intensely".
In this way, someone relevant is someone who, figuratively, stands in the middle of a seated group, that is, someone who stands out from the crowd. This sense of the term is used in certain disciplines such as orography: it is used to refer to the height of a mountain with respect to the rest of those in a country.
Relevance, however, is a concept relative, not absolute. Something relevant in a given context may not be relevant in a different one, or for a different person.
Thus, for example, for a doctor studying the symptoms of a patient, a migraine may be relevant, since it may be a sign that something is wrong with the head; but that same migraine becomes irrelevant if instead of being at the doctor we are in a French class.
social relevance
Social relevance is a concept that is used to measure the importance or impact that a idea, a practice or an object in terms of wellness of the society.
That is, what is endowed with social relevance is worthy of being taken into account by society, since it represents something capable of affecting it for better or for worse. On the contrary, something that lacks social relevance is something that has no impact on society. community.
Social relevance can be central in justifying a research or a procedure, especially if it involves the use of scarce resources. A business or a government they can prioritize certain activities over others, for example, evaluating the social relevance of each, that is, choosing the one that can be more significant, revolutionary or vital in the face of people's needs.
Topics of social relevance
When we talk about issues of social relevance, we refer to those issues that are important or valid in the face of the needs of the population in general. Issues that have an immediate social impact are often called this way, that is, they describe Social problems urgent and whose attention would improve the quality of life from the people.
Topics such as the gender equality, the visibility of the minorities or fight against racism, are examples of issues of social relevance in contemporary industrial society.
Naturally, if we take as a context a nation in civil war in which people are killing each other, such issues can lose social relevance and be considered irrelevant, since there are other much more pressing social issues that deserve more attention. It all depends on the context.
Relevance and relevance
Relevance is importance or visibility within a context. Instead, relevance refers to the congruence, the correspondence or appropriateness of a topic in a given context. Therefore, they are similar notions, but not equivalent.
An issue is pertinent when its discussion is relevant, has a place, is appropriate to what is expected. However, that doesn't mean it's necessarily relevant. For example: in a debate about the government plan of a country, it is not pertinent to talk about the dark side of the Moon, while it is pertinent to talk about the problems that the country faces.
However, some of these problems may be more relevant than others for the debate: the fact that national cinema has not released a masterpiece for a long time does not have the same relevance as the devaluation of the currency.