Sprezzatura

#1

Post by nreece » Sun, Aug 30, 2009, 8:51 PM UTC

Sprezzatura
sivers.org

Re: Sprezzatura

#2

Post by fizx » Sun, Aug 30, 2009, 9:21 PM UTC

Somehow, it's fabulous to have words for concepts you've fuzzily known about for a long time.

Re: Sprezzatura

#3

Post by vibhavs » Sun, Aug 30, 2009, 10:04 PM UTC

That's a great word. It's really fascinating how certain words need a sentence-long definition when translated from other languages to English. So much is captured in one word!

And that's an incredible TED talk. I recommend to anyone who hasn't seen it that they watch it when they have a chance.

The best part in my opinion: "That's not what my creative process is - I'm not the pipeline! I'm a mule, and the way that I have to work is that I have to get up at the same time every day, and sweat and labor and barrel through it really awkwardly. But even I, in my mulishness, even I have brushed up against that thing, at times. And I would imagine that a lot of you have too."

Re: Sprezzatura

#4

Post by zackattack » Sun, Aug 30, 2009, 10:12 PM UTC

Kobe Bryant is the best example of sprezzatura in sports, especially when you see him drive to the rim with four defenders on him. Kobe also speaks italian.

Re: Sprezzatura

#5

Post by jerf » Sun, Aug 30, 2009, 10:47 PM UTC

vibhavs wrote: post #3

That's a great word. It's really fascinating how certain words need a sentence-long definition when translated from other languages to English. So much is captured in one word! And that's an incredible TED talk. I recommend to anyone who hasn't seen it that they watch it when they have a chance. The best part in my opinion: "That's not what my creative process is - I'm not the pipeline! I'm a mule, and the way that I…

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Sprezzatura

"The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary." - http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_Nicoll

It's ours now! Mu-hu-ha-ha-ha!

Re: Sprezzatura

#6

Post by vijayr » Sun, Aug 30, 2009, 11:18 PM UTC

vibhavs wrote: post #3

That's a great word. It's really fascinating how certain words need a sentence-long definition when translated from other languages to English. So much is captured in one word! And that's an incredible TED talk. I recommend to anyone who hasn't seen it that they watch it when they have a chance. The best part in my opinion: "That's not what my creative process is - I'm not the pipeline! I'm a mule, and the way that I…

That is one of the best TED talks I've ever watched, and I've seen it many times. I read her book, "Eat Pray Love" and googled her, when I came across the TED video. If anyone reading this hasn't watched the video yet, please do.

Re: Sprezzatura

#7

Post by fnid » Sun, Aug 30, 2009, 11:21 PM UTC

I'm not sure I like the idea of inventing external imaginary beings that grant us extraordinary powers for no other reason than it makes it easier to accept those powers.

It seems dishonest.

Re: Sprezzatura

#8

Post by jamesk2 » Mon, Aug 31, 2009, 12:42 AM UTC

As someone who as explored both "creative" pursuits such as art and the technical pursuit of coding, i explain to my techie but creatively challenged friends that pursuing art is like hacking your brain's kernel while it is running. A bad line of code can bring down the entire OS. It might be why traditional creatives have the reputation of being unstable. You can't really take your brain offline and debug if something goes wrong with refactoring your aesthetic assumptions. If a creative is hacking their visual identity, they can get to look pretty weird through the major releases and might require several dot releases to look "right."

But then we encounter the creative coder. Those people are freakiest of all and for that we are all better off.

Re: Sprezzatura

#9

Post by tel » Mon, Aug 31, 2009, 2:20 AM UTC

fnid wrote: post #7

I'm not sure I like the idea of inventing external imaginary beings that grant us extraordinary powers for no other reason than it makes it easier to accept those powers. It seems dishonest.

Are you advocating total awareness of the world? Total immersion in both refulgent horror and terrible wonder? Constant consideration of ounce of harm you inflict on the world around you? An unclosing eye toward this miracle of entropy we call home? Unending empathy toward every single person you pass and even those you never meet. Total awareness that your own personal self has quite possibly culminated and now has only got forty years of slowly turning to dust.

At some point you've got to shield your eyes; or, put it differently, find an interpretation you're comfortable with and settle down. Who can claim to not lie to themselves every day just to put their next foot forward? Even if you can see the honor, the honesty, in living that way I highly doubt you can survive.

If you can, write a book about it. I think David Foster Wallace tried.

Life isn't science. If you can go to a museum and enjoy the paintings, you can embellish the way you interpret your own sight. And if you're going to do it, why not pick a beautiful story?

Re: Sprezzatura

#10

Post by petermarks » Mon, Aug 31, 2009, 2:24 AM UTC

zackattack wrote: post #4

Kobe Bryant is the best example of sprezzatura in sports, especially when you see him drive to the rim with four defenders on him. Kobe also speaks italian.

Agreed. This account of his 4am workouts and non-stop icing routine on gameday is truly inspiring:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=4068270

I like Kobe more than Lebron more for this very reason. He compensates for his relatively inferior size with superior work ethic.