Coefficient of coolness

Despite the title the post has nothing to do with thermodynamics (although I must say that thermodynamics is an interesting subject, which I hope to cover in some later post). No sir, this post is about society.

One of the more remarkable aspects of human behavior in modern age is this fetish with “coolness”, alternatively called “hotness”, “hepness” etc. Having never been cool (or hot), I have no in depth knowledge of this phenomena. Yet what is remarkable about this is its superficiality and hypocrisy.
Don’t get me wrong I have nothing against intellectual fads and fashions of the society.
From Plato to Aristotle, from Voltaire to Thomas Paine and onto Nietzsche, every epoch had its heroes.
History has seen every thing from Age of belief to Age of reason, even Age of Superman. Nothing this age is witnessing has not been seen earlier. Any idea in currency today has its precedence hidden in long shadows of past.
But this modern pretension is different from earlier fads. What is the credo of “cool” citizens? Non – conformity. Zeitgeist of this age is independence, contrariness, speaking “truth to the power”.
The motive behind this is to emulate the heroes and martyrs of bygone eras, long dead and buried, noble indeed! But this nobility has feet of smoke, so as to say. Because it is all prentension, no substance.
People are contrarian not because they have an argument to back them up, but just for sake of being; in the manner one wears his or her hair. It is not the content of the debate which has relevance but the posture one makes.
Since we live in a relatively benign era, we can not find many villains, dilemma for the profession of heroism. Therefore we invent villain where there aren’t any, we go on our knees and look in all the difficult corners of the human civilization to find any pretense of a cause, which merits martyrdom.
The independent stands with puffed chest to fight off a monster and save the maidenhood of civilization. Only he doesn’t fight monsters, he tilts his lance against shadows, shadows of deceit that he himself has created.
It is immaterial what the issue is, or whether there is merit, the standard operating procedure is to make a show of swimming against the current. This sham act merits Cub Scout badges of tired intelligentsia. There need not be any point; the mere act is the whole point.
So if you are a cocaine smoking (is cocaine smoked? Or snorted?) Rock star living a self gratifying life style you are a hero, a champion of this age. There is no goal but pleasure. No higher virtue other than self indulgence. Any mention of morality or purpose is worse than blasphemy, it is “irrational”. Freedom of speech has been confused with the worth of speech and any attempt to inject circumspection or intelligence is resisted.
So anything is cool, anything goes as long as it is against conventional, no demand at all for acumen, or thinking for that matter.
We do not say this is good or bad, the adjectives are cool and uncool. Coolness rules on its own with no relevance to scrutiny and is worthy of acclaim and emulation.
The only measure of worth is popularity in a self appointed circle of dissimulators of modern wisdom.
As one wag said this non conformity is all gothic.
This is not hedonism; this is morality of new age.


And hence I bury my seven year grudge.