What does it mean to be cool?

Central argument: To be cool is a paradox, you should do something but not too much of it. Its almost as if you must find a balance in everything you do. Do too fun much and you are uncool, too little and you are uncool, it’s all about finding that balance.

Being a junior in Woodstock school, the word “cool” is common in our vernacular. I agree with Dr Thorsten Botz-BorNstein when he says that to be cool is to find a balance in life. In my perspective someone who studies too much and has no social life is not cool, similarly someone who doesn’t study at all and has too much fun, his image in my mind in the “cool” aspect depreciates as that person risks their future. I think being cool is to study, and do your work when you have to and have fun in all the free time that you have.

The definition of cool has transformed quite a bit since the African Americans used it as a tool to avoid oppression. In the modern school system, most children pursue to be given the status of the “cool” kid. In my school the kids given this title are usually student who excels at several aspects of school life such as sports, academics, music etc. Students who concentrate too much on one thing for example academics are given the title of “nerds”, while if a kid is good at only sports and does poorly in his studies is usually given the stereo type of a “jock.” It is also a common misconception among many adults that only kids who smoke, drink and do drugs are considered cool, that is untrue, they are often given titles such as potheads or weeders. The title of cool is given to kids who can do several activities relatively well, they can correctly balance school, friends and extra extracurricular activities.

Giving the title of cool to someone also depends on their views, for example “A president is uncool if he clings to absolute power, but becomes cooler as soon as he voluntarily concedes power in order to maintain democratic values”, or “A CEO is not cool, unless he is a reasonable risk-taker and refrains from pursuing success in a predictable fashion. Coolness is a nonconformist balance that manages to square circles and to personify paradoxes.” Basically to be cool is in the middle, all the time. Do I agree with this concept, personally no but is it true, absolutely. If everyone in this world was “cool”, then most revolutions for independence, or movements for freedom wouldn’t have taken place. Only when people excel and concentrate at one thing can the world move forward, if everyone was “cool” and moderately good at everything we would still be in the stone ages right now.