Philosophy Forum Topic, August 28, 2009:

Open Thread

Say anything. (So long as it's reasonably polite.)

Discuss my lecture.

Or, if you prefer, discuss the mystery of where 'cool' comes from: if it is only cool because the cool people love it, what causes the cool people to love it in the first place? (Are they better at noticing beauty? Or are they merely following some higher trend of cool-ness? Or is it all a trick so that fashion designers can earn more money? Defend your answer!)



Okay, this will not be a long, rambly response. Coolness is, of course, measured and defined contextually. I think what makes something cool is the novelty of it. That is why people are always so fascinated with technological gadgets, and the IPhone (and the likes) is so coveted for. We are constantly on the search for something new to fulfil us, to be the final answer to all our earthly desires. Hence our rabid craze to hop on the bandwagon and be in the inner circle.

Something could have been there all along, like 80's fashion. It is now seeing a revival and pronounced as cool because top-notch designers like Frida Giannini from Gucci are leading the pack in a re-vamping of the 80's trend. Who would have thought ripped band t-shirts, acid wash jeans and neon colours would ever see the light of day again? But now, they are the latest fashion and one would be considered fashion-forward for dressing up this way.

Coolness has always been inside of us. It is a state of mind that we can only hope to reach once we are comfortable in our own skins, corny as that might sound. However, I do feel that the trendsetters who declare something as cool are those who have attained that state of contentment and are able to push the boundaries of convention to try out new things. Therefore, they have the authority to say something is cool because to them, it just is, never mind what others think.

To apply Plato's Theory of Forms, our attempts to be cool is just a feeble imitation of Coolness. We are not being cool because coolness is an ever-changing phenomenon. What makes something cool is exactly because it never stays stagnant, because it changes constantly. Therefore, to truly be cool, we should stick our heads out of the Cave and see for ourselves Coolness for what it really is.

~ Posted by: Joyce at Aug 28, 2009 10:40:40 PM


My goodness. And I promised it wouldn't be a long, rambly post.

~ Posted by: Joyce at Aug 28, 2009 10:41:04 PM