Tex wrote:
> I thought 'mundane' came from the word's
> usage on Babylon 5 ---meaning a common, ordinary 
> human, in other words--a non-telepath.  

Flamingo wrote:
All the people in Bab 5 are very involved in fandom, some of them 
(like Harlan Ellison) have been on the scene since shortly after 
fandom began (in the '20's.  Harlan was active in the late 50's 
when it was really active).  They very deliberately "borrowed" 
the term "mundane" from fandom where it has been used since the 
very earliest days.  A mundane is simply a non-fan.  It has 
nothing to do with creativity, since a fan who doesn't write or 
edit is still a fan.  It has to do with no participating in any 
type of fandom at all.  Your Uncle Bert who spends Sunday washing 
the car and watching football, but couldn't really be called a 
football "fan" is a mundane.  

