4 ms·

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 captu

by vibhavs 17y ago

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."

vijayr 17y ago
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.
- diN0bot 17y ago
  can you explain more of the appeal? (apologies, but i am going to explain my opinion here before waiting for you to answer. eit.) i stopped watching 75-85% of the way through. i couldn't take all the "you know"s, "like"s and "um"s. i'm not sure if the content wasn't appealing to me, or if her explanation was unexciting. when i see great art or learn something awesome i feel something lift inside me. i have an emotional connection. this drew a blank. i was a little surprised, since the blog post made sense to me. i agree with other commenters who mention have this fuzzy concept but not seeing it discussed in public much less defined. for a "best" TED talk i'd recommend http://www.ted.com/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight.html http://www.ted.com/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke... she's a good speaker. there are other excellent speakers, too. maybe the "worked on 8hrs a day for 6 weeks" build up raised my expectations, but she sounded nervous, laughed at her own unfunny and irrelevant jokes, and didn't create anything wondrous or lifting inside either my heart or my head.
  - kringz 17y ago
    Perhaps it would be difficult to understand what she is talking about if you had never experienced similar personal dilemmas...
    - lux 17y ago
      Indeed, the struggle with the process of creation, the fear of rejection, misunderstanding, failure, is at the core of many artists. I look at entrepreneurialism and hacking as forms of art too, so the topic is very on point here in my view. But back to that vulnerability. As an artist, you can connect to that immediately. It's moving to hear another artist talk that openly and honestly about something so central to their existence. One of my favourite things she said was about being a mule. We're all mules. And we can be proud of the effort, of continuing to show up, regardless of the result. I'm a fairly hard-line atheist (I am open to actual proof ;), but there is something mystical about the eureka moment during the creative process. Sometimes it is a wave that comes at you when you hope to be ready, and you just try to catch it while you can. And several times I remember feeling the way she described the dancer becoming something more. I've seen that dancer before. Anyone who's created art for long enough has touched that, but as a logical person I'm almost ashamed to get that out-there describing my personal experiences. Hat's off to her for having the guts to do so and do so that openly.
    - diN0bot 17y ago
      er... i think i understand what she is talking about and have had similar personal experiences...interesting choice there of questioning that. no, i was speaking to the disjoint between the content of the blog article (effortless requires extreme diligence) and the example (eat, pray, love author's ted talk as "best ted talk ever").
  - vijayr 17y ago
    Jill Taylor's talk is awesome, I agree. I'm not sure how to explain. Genius is a topic that can't be black and white, and can be debated/discussed all day. The part about being a mule etc, struck a chord. I read her book, it was good, though I wouldn't say its the best travel/autobiographical book I've read. "Travels" by Michael Crichton is very very good, he was a great guy and had traveled to many places. He was trained to be a doctor, but his heart was into writing, he talks about that a lot. You could take a look at 'eat pray love' (though I'd recommend Crichton's book if you have to choose), to get a background on her, as a person. In short, I don't know how to explain, I just happen to agree with her thoughts on the subject, and really enjoyed the talk.
jerf 17y ago
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Sprezzatura 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 http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_Nicoll It's ours now! Mu-hu-ha-ha-ha!
gtufano 17y ago
A great word. In English. It is somewhat interesting that it is a word from XVI century italian, not in use anymore. I can barely understand the meaning because we have some cousin words remaining in the language. For example "Sprezzante", that means "contemptuous" or "scornful" and have very negative connotations. This negative connotation extends to the ancient word, so it is difficult for me (and I suppose for other Italian speaking) to give it a positive meaning. Loaned words are funny sometimes...
jamesbritt 17y ago
"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!" That's also true for many English words translated to other languages, and for English words simply being explained in plain English. What's particularly interesting is when one culture decides that some concept deserves a single-word moniker, while other cultures have no corresponding word, as if the concept never (or rarely) comes up. (The German word Schadenfreude comes to mind as an example.)

by vibhavs 17y ago

vijayr 17y ago

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.

diN0bot 17y ago
can you explain more of the appeal? (apologies, but i am going to explain my opinion here before waiting for you to answer. eit.) i stopped watching 75-85% of the way through. i couldn't take all the "you know"s, "like"s and "um"s. i'm not sure if the content wasn't appealing to me, or if her explanation was unexciting. when i see great art or learn something awesome i feel something lift inside me. i have an emotional connection. this drew a blank. i was a little surprised, since the blog post made sense to me. i agree with other commenters who mention have this fuzzy concept but not seeing it discussed in public much less defined. for a "best" TED talk i'd recommend http://www.ted.com/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight.html http://www.ted.com/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke... she's a good speaker. there are other excellent speakers, too. maybe the "worked on 8hrs a day for 6 weeks" build up raised my expectations, but she sounded nervous, laughed at her own unfunny and irrelevant jokes, and didn't create anything wondrous or lifting inside either my heart or my head.
- kringz 17y ago
  Perhaps it would be difficult to understand what she is talking about if you had never experienced similar personal dilemmas...
  - lux 17y ago
    Indeed, the struggle with the process of creation, the fear of rejection, misunderstanding, failure, is at the core of many artists. I look at entrepreneurialism and hacking as forms of art too, so the topic is very on point here in my view. But back to that vulnerability. As an artist, you can connect to that immediately. It's moving to hear another artist talk that openly and honestly about something so central to their existence. One of my favourite things she said was about being a mule. We're all mules. And we can be proud of the effort, of continuing to show up, regardless of the result. I'm a fairly hard-line atheist (I am open to actual proof ;), but there is something mystical about the eureka moment during the creative process. Sometimes it is a wave that comes at you when you hope to be ready, and you just try to catch it while you can. And several times I remember feeling the way she described the dancer becoming something more. I've seen that dancer before. Anyone who's created art for long enough has touched that, but as a logical person I'm almost ashamed to get that out-there describing my personal experiences. Hat's off to her for having the guts to do so and do so that openly.
  - diN0bot 17y ago
    er... i think i understand what she is talking about and have had similar personal experiences...interesting choice there of questioning that. no, i was speaking to the disjoint between the content of the blog article (effortless requires extreme diligence) and the example (eat, pray, love author's ted talk as "best ted talk ever").
- vijayr 17y ago
  Jill Taylor's talk is awesome, I agree. I'm not sure how to explain. Genius is a topic that can't be black and white, and can be debated/discussed all day. The part about being a mule etc, struck a chord. I read her book, it was good, though I wouldn't say its the best travel/autobiographical book I've read. "Travels" by Michael Crichton is very very good, he was a great guy and had traveled to many places. He was trained to be a doctor, but his heart was into writing, he talks about that a lot. You could take a look at 'eat pray love' (though I'd recommend Crichton's book if you have to choose), to get a background on her, as a person. In short, I don't know how to explain, I just happen to agree with her thoughts on the subject, and really enjoyed the talk.

jerf 17y ago

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Sprezzatura 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 http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_Nicoll It's ours now! Mu-hu-ha-ha-ha!

gtufano 17y ago

A great word. In English. It is somewhat interesting that it is a word from XVI century italian, not in use anymore. I can barely understand the meaning because we have some cousin words remaining in the language. For example "Sprezzante", that means "contemptuous" or "scornful" and have very negative connotations. This negative connotation extends to the ancient word, so it is difficult for me (and I suppose for other Italian speaking) to give it a positive meaning. Loaned words are funny sometimes...

jamesbritt 17y ago

"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!" That's also true for many English words translated to other languages, and for English words simply being explained in plain English. What's particularly interesting is when one culture decides that some concept deserves a single-word moniker, while other cultures have no corresponding word, as if the concept never (or rarely) comes up. (The German word Schadenfreude comes to mind as an example.)