2023-01-09
In high school a friend did nothing but play video games. Then he would come first in any exam. I thought he was just a genius -- born smart.
Then I found out that he wasn't slacking off. He relaxed in public, and outworked everyone in private!
In college, a friend floated through the calculus which nearly drowned me. I asked him how he did it.
He told me he just paid attention in class.
Then I discovered he had studied it all before in high school. That's why he made it look so easy -- this was just a refresher for him!
Sprezzatura: to hide effort and appear to accomplish difficult actions with casual nonchalance.
This isn't necessarily malicious. But it's still deceptive. Sprezzatura makes it look easy, which is discouraging. You're just not going to be good enough. You are either born like that, or you aren't. You weren't so you might as well give up, right?
Wrong!
Beware of sprezzatura!
What you really see is a facade.
Now you know of sprezzatura, isn't it inspiring to know that the perfection you see was deliberately brought into existence?