In the scheme of things

Reader question:

What does this sentence – Of course the opinions of newspaper reporters, radio personalities and television faces mean very little in the grand scheme of things – mean?

My comments:

It means to people who do not read a newspaper, listen to the radio or watch television, "the opinions of newspaper reporters, radio personalities and television faces mean very little".

"In the grand scheme of things" is an idiom. It means that when you put things into perspective, taking EVERYTHING else into account, sometimes what has previously been considered significant isn't quite, well, significant.

It's a variation from "in the scheme of things", meaning in light of how things – all things – generally work. In the religious sense, the scheme is seen as God's scheme, his great plan for everything. Otherwise it's just an overview of the overall situation. In other words, it's the big picture.

In the scheme of things, for example, humans are insignificant. Here, humans are being discussed with respect to all species and in terms of the cosmos as a whole. After all, we are just a small part of what's going on with Mother Nature on Earth. Indeed, the Earth itself is tiny in the scheme of things, in that it's a small piece of rock hurtling in the vast solar system, which itself is in fact a tiny system in the galaxy among innumerous other galaxies in the whole universe...

There are other variations from "in the scheme of things" including "in the greater scheme of things", "in the overall scheme of things" and of course "in the grand scheme of things". Here are media examples to give you a chance to see each one of these variations in action.

1. in the scheme of things:

As for downer cows,in the scheme of things they pose a far smaller risk factor for mad cow disease than, say, cattle feed. Still, the government doesn't want to take any chances, so its rules state that cattle arriving at the slaughterhouse in a "nonambulatory" fashion must be euthanized and their meat must not enter the food supply. There is, however, one exception — an exception that drives Mr. Pacelle crazy. If a cow arrives at the slaughterhouse on its feet and passes inspection and then goes down, it can be still be slaughtered — so long as a U.S.D.A. veterinarian reinspects the animal.

- A Case of Abuse, Heightened, New York Times, March 8, 2008

2. in the grand scheme of things:

Not since 1960 have Wyoming Democrats felt so relevant.

That year, at the Democratic National Convention, the state's delegation cast 15 votes that pushed Sen. John F. Kennedy over the top and made him the party's nominee for president.

With this year's race for the Democratic nomination still unsettled after primaries this week, Wyoming Democrats are feeling relevant again as Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama focus on the 12 delegates at stake in Saturday's caucus.

...

"In the grand scheme of things, Wyoming factors in for us," said Obama spokesman Matt Chandler. "We take it very seriously."

- Wyoming at last is a Democratic player, AP, March 6, 2008.

3. in the greater scheme of things:

There's also an outside chance the measure, equal to about 1% of annual economic output, could kick in when conditions are already mending.

"If it's too large and it comes in too late, and you have all these (Federal Reserve interest rate reductions) in the pipeline and it can be counterproductive," says Michael Wallace of Action Economics. "In the greater scheme of things, it reasonably addresses some specific issues."

4. in the overall scheme of things:

When faced with a stressful situation ask yourself, "How will I feel about this next week, next month, or next year?" Although your feelings may be very intense at the moment, will they last? Recall how time has soothed past events. Consider the big picture. In the overall scheme of things, will what you are confronting now matter as much in the future?