I first saw the phrase “quasi-” in George Orwell’s 1984 in 10th grade. However, once I saw the definition, I freaking loved the concept. The exact definition is right here:
Looking at the Latin origin, it means “as if, almost.” This will come into importance later.
Now, let’s come to the smart aspect: once again, here is the exact definition:
Clearly, I am using the first definition for “smart” here. In conjunction, quasi-smart would go to describe a person who is essentially intelligent, but not really completely there. However, I want to put a different perspective on smart.
Let’s image in a person in a state of being that’s perfect – happy with his job, life, family, ambitions, characteristics, personality, health, interpersonal skills, etc, etc. A person of this caliber would be considered as having a high aptitude, or in other words, smart. This state of perfection, which I am calling smart, is unreachable. We have to remember, that no person is perfect: the idols we have are going to be messed up in some aspect of their lives. As Tim Ferriss said in Tools of Titans:
HOWEVER – while we may never reach perfection, we can get as close as we can to it till we can essentially be considered perfect. Essentially means “Quasi” and perfection can be replaced with “Smart”…
BAM We got Quasi-Smart.
Something to address though: the gap between being Smart and Quasi-Smart is something that is intended to get smaller and smaller as time goes by. My math-minded brain can explain it like this – if there is a plotted of my knowledge over time, there will be an asymptote at a state of perfection (Asymptote: A line that continually approaches a given curve but does not meet it at any finite distance.)
That idea that we are closer and closer to reaching a state of pure-awesomeness excites me. It’s a sign that there is always room to grow and learn but also able to approach a better state of life at the same time. This journey is also something I label as Quasi-Smart.
Now, one last tangent: in Harry Potter, Dumbledore has a tool called the “Obscurus.” It allows him to view his memories back in time. While I can never look at these memories in the same magical way that the all-powerful wizard can, the most I can do is think back to the memories I have and visualize them the best I can and learn from those moments: the happy, the sad, the anxiousness, the excited, and everything in between. By writing it out in a journal, those thoughts become solidified and by putting these lessons on the internet, they become permanent road marks of my journey.
That’s what this project means to me.
LES GO.
Quasi-Smart 