A friend of the WikiLeaks founder has said that he describes himself using the term, coined in a book about people on the ‘cutting edge of human evolution’

Name: Edgewalkers.

Age: 11.

Appearance: In this case, blond, translucent skin, in need of fresh air.

Sounds like someone we know well. Yes, it’s Knightsbridge embassy cleaning staff bete noire Julian Assange.

What has he done now? The WikiLeaks founder is the subject of an epic 22,000-word New Yorker profile entitled A Man Without a Country.

No country? Way to insult your Ecuadorian hosts, Jules. I suspect they will live. The article describes a 2015 conversation between Assange and the artist George Gittoes, in which Assange talks about being an “edgewalker”.

I presume that means someone who takes huge risks. Such as, say, leaking emails believed widely to have been stolen by Russian intelligence services, which may have helped elect Donald Trump. Er … yes. Gittoes explains: “It’s a Julian thing … he reckons that many people think they walk on the edge, living a risky life, but an edgewalker really walks on the edge, and that he is a real edgewalker.”

So, is the term an Assangism? Nope. It comes from the title of a 2006 book by Judi Neal, a management expert with a focus on “spirituality in the workplace”.

Is her definition the same as Assange’s? Neal’s website says “edgewalkers are those who are on the cutting edge of human evolution and who are committed to making a positive difference in the world. They use all of their human potential and integrate their intellectual, emotional, physical and spiritual energy in service to something greater than themselves.”

I’m sure Hillary Clinton would agree that this sounds like Assange. I think he is going by his own definition of the term.

How do I get to be an edgewalker, then? You can get different levels of coaching from Neal’s organisation – all of which cost upwards of £2,000. It also does workshops around the world.

Ah. Maybe frequent Ecuadorian embassy visitor Pamela Anderson is in fact an expensive life coach. Well, starring in Barb Wire was certainly a dangerous risk.

Do say: “I would like to integrate my physical and spiritual energy in service to this mountain of data entry.”

Don’t say: “Julian, play Where the Streets Have No Name!”