1) It means that materialistic things did not matter to him. he wanted something which he did not have or maybe was not attainable.
2) they were afraid that if they called the person by their name it meant disrespect to him/her. thus they did not mention the name out of fear.
3) He must have been really busy trying to achieve something and was unaware of the things around him.
SORRY IF I'M WRONG.