Ever since the waning of medieval scholasticism, critics of the intellectual activity of the period have mocked medieval philosophers for their obsession with so-called metaphysical minutiae. Humanists frequently suggested that the medievals had lost track of what was valuable in philosophizing. One topic of regular scorn for such philosophers was the continual attention to the development of theories of distinctions, for one major task to which medieval philosophers directed their considerable talents was working out careful theories of distinctions. When someone jokingly asks "How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?" she is invoking one pejorative way of invoking the medieval concern with various sorts of distinctions. To those without ears to hear, such a question can seem foolish or pointless.