The first rule of cool is don't care about cool. The second (for experts) is that you can care if you don't show it. The third is that you can read research about cool and yet not care (God level cool)
That said, I think coolness research can help uncool people fight uncool shit like this
well, you said "minimal", so not strictly empty right? ;)
"""
But Bezos was dissatisfied with that simplistic conclusion and applied his usual analytical sensibility to parse out why some companies were loved and others feared.
Rudeness is not cool.
Defeating tiny guys is not cool.
Close-following is not cool.
Young is cool.
Risk taking is cool.
Winning is cool.
Polite is cool.
Defeating bigger, unsympathetic guys is cool.
Inventing is cool.
Explorers are cool.
Conquerors are not cool.
Obsessing over competitors is not cool.
Empowering others is cool.
Capturing all the value only for the company is not cool.
Leadership is cool.
Conviction is cool.
Straightforwardness is cool.
Pandering to the crowd is not cool.
Hypocrisy is not cool.
Authenticity is cool.
Thinking big is cool.
The unexpected is cool.
Missionaries are cool.
Mercenaries are not cool.
On an attached spreadsheet, Bezos listed seventeen attributes, including polite, reliable, risk taking, and thinks big, and he ranked a dozen companies on each particular characteristic. His methodology was highly subjective, he conceded, but his conclusions, laid out at the end of the Amazon.love memo were aimed at increasing Amazon's odds of standing out among the loved companies. Being polite and reliable or customer-obsessed was not sufficient. Being perceived as inventive, as an explorer rather than a conqueror, was critically important. "I actually believe the four 'unloved' companies are inventive as a matter of substance. But they are not perceived as inventors and pioneers. It is not enough to be inventive-that pioneering spirit must also come across and be perceivable by the customer base," he wrote.
"I propose that one outcome from this offsite could be to assign a more thorough analysis of this topic to a thoughtful VP," Bezos concluded. "We may be able to find actionable tasks that will increase our odds of being a stand out in that first group of companies. Sounds worthy to me!"
"""
from B. Stone. The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon. Little, Brown & Co., 2013.
According to my experience, cool people put in an absolutely inordinate amount of research, time and effort in order to appear as if they don't even have to try.
It’s something I realized a long time ago about humans. Resources and opportunities go where they are least needed. Want high social status? Your best bet is to need absolutely nothing from anyone.
Coolness, in its original sense, is about never caring too much because you will never need to. People are drawn to what doesn’t care about them; they assume the response they get will be objective.
This makes a ton of evolutionary sense. Success begets success. Those that don't need outside help are successful; those that cooperate and build on it are more successful. Unfortunately, it also leads to local maxima- those that are good at gathering from neighbors and happen to have good neighbors reach highest success, regardless of their own intrinsic ability.
Neither "Attempt to split success equally so everyone gets the same results" nor "Give all the resources to those that have the most" are good ways to run a society, or good long term evolutionary strategies.
> Two very rich and eccentric brothers spot him and give him an envelope with no information. Seeing money inside the envelope, Henry immediately heads for a cheap dining house and eats a meal; afterward, he discovers that the money is a single bank note for one million pounds sterling, the equivalent of $5 million in United States currency. Without knowing it at the time, Henry has become the subject of a £20,000 bet between the brothers. One believes that the mere possession of the bank note can enable a person to survive even with no other means of support, while the other feels that the holder will be unable to use it without drawing the authorities' suspicions.
I would say that adventurous, open and autonomous are three qualities that make a person interesting, as opposed to boring. They likely have entertaining stories and an approach to life that repels dullness.
And extroversion, though it doesn't have much bearing on being interesting, makes it a little more likely that I'd encounter them and get to know the three other qualities.
I think he's riffing on the essential meaning of the word, e.g. a candle or a bright incandescent bulb cannot be cool- they're literally emitting heat.
Scientifically analyzing a phenomenon to break down its underlying principles and optimize it is a sign of capability, the one attribute found to be equally cool and good. And can be quite cool in some contexts.
I've found in my life cool people generally have something to offer, be it inspiration, insight, other otherwise, I feel like cool is often aspirational and differs depending on where someone is trying to go in life. It seems to me cool people have some unique degree of "Culturedness" - this lines up with the traits they found. If you are Extraverted, Hedonistic, Powerful, Adventurous, Open and Autonomous, you're likely ending up in situations and experiences that have a different venn from the other folks around you.
From the paper:
"Our method does not let us test the extent to which coolness was
valued or prevalent in a culture, but historical analysis suggests that
cool people were first recognized and admired in countercultural
niches, such as mid-20th century African American jazz clubs and
beatnik coffee shops that valued improvisation and creative
expression (Belk et al., 2010; Heath & Potter, 2004). The desire to be
cool spread as societies shifted their focus from industry to information, and coolness continues to play a larger role in cities (San
Francisco, New York, London, Tokyo, etc.) and industries (fashion,
entertainment, technology) where economic success depends on
creativity (Florida, 2012; C. Warren et al., 2019).
Stronger evidence that coolness is a status hierar"
Cool people are perceived to be more extraverted, hedonistic, powerful, adventurous, open, and autonomous, whereas good people are more conforming, traditional, secure, warm, agreeable, universalistic, conscientious, and calm. This pattern is stable across countries, which suggests that the meaning of cool has crystallized on a similar set of values and traits around the globe. We build on the results to advance a theory of the role that coolness plays in establishing social hierarchies and changing social and cultural practices and norms.
That's a strange comparison! I guess this is where the ultimate caricature of cool comes from, though: Sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll -> Hedonistic, powerful and adventurous. Crank those up enough, and you end up with a trashed hotel room or maybe a drumstick up someone's butt.
That said, I think coolness research can help uncool people fight uncool shit like this
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44478115
"""
But Bezos was dissatisfied with that simplistic conclusion and applied his usual analytical sensibility to parse out why some companies were loved and others feared.
Rudeness is not cool. Defeating tiny guys is not cool. Close-following is not cool. Young is cool. Risk taking is cool. Winning is cool. Polite is cool. Defeating bigger, unsympathetic guys is cool. Inventing is cool. Explorers are cool. Conquerors are not cool. Obsessing over competitors is not cool. Empowering others is cool. Capturing all the value only for the company is not cool. Leadership is cool. Conviction is cool. Straightforwardness is cool. Pandering to the crowd is not cool. Hypocrisy is not cool. Authenticity is cool. Thinking big is cool. The unexpected is cool. Missionaries are cool. Mercenaries are not cool.
On an attached spreadsheet, Bezos listed seventeen attributes, including polite, reliable, risk taking, and thinks big, and he ranked a dozen companies on each particular characteristic. His methodology was highly subjective, he conceded, but his conclusions, laid out at the end of the Amazon.love memo were aimed at increasing Amazon's odds of standing out among the loved companies. Being polite and reliable or customer-obsessed was not sufficient. Being perceived as inventive, as an explorer rather than a conqueror, was critically important. "I actually believe the four 'unloved' companies are inventive as a matter of substance. But they are not perceived as inventors and pioneers. It is not enough to be inventive-that pioneering spirit must also come across and be perceivable by the customer base," he wrote.
"I propose that one outcome from this offsite could be to assign a more thorough analysis of this topic to a thoughtful VP," Bezos concluded. "We may be able to find actionable tasks that will increase our odds of being a stand out in that first group of companies. Sounds worthy to me!"
"""
from B. Stone. The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon. Little, Brown & Co., 2013.
Coolness, in its original sense, is about never caring too much because you will never need to. People are drawn to what doesn’t care about them; they assume the response they get will be objective.
("Hyperbole in reverse")
https://youtu.be/hY8C3cIMR4o
Neither "Attempt to split success equally so everyone gets the same results" nor "Give all the resources to those that have the most" are good ways to run a society, or good long term evolutionary strategies.
> Two very rich and eccentric brothers spot him and give him an envelope with no information. Seeing money inside the envelope, Henry immediately heads for a cheap dining house and eats a meal; afterward, he discovers that the money is a single bank note for one million pounds sterling, the equivalent of $5 million in United States currency. Without knowing it at the time, Henry has become the subject of a £20,000 bet between the brothers. One believes that the mere possession of the bank note can enable a person to survive even with no other means of support, while the other feels that the holder will be unable to use it without drawing the authorities' suspicions.
https://archive.fo/cmP3O
(I disagree with their lists at the end of their article tho ;)
I would say that adventurous, open and autonomous are three qualities that make a person interesting, as opposed to boring. They likely have entertaining stories and an approach to life that repels dullness.
And extroversion, though it doesn't have much bearing on being interesting, makes it a little more likely that I'd encounter them and get to know the three other qualities.
Just an observation, nothing else.
I’m sure lol…
From the paper: "Our method does not let us test the extent to which coolness was valued or prevalent in a culture, but historical analysis suggests that cool people were first recognized and admired in countercultural niches, such as mid-20th century African American jazz clubs and beatnik coffee shops that valued improvisation and creative expression (Belk et al., 2010; Heath & Potter, 2004). The desire to be cool spread as societies shifted their focus from industry to information, and coolness continues to play a larger role in cities (San Francisco, New York, London, Tokyo, etc.) and industries (fashion, entertainment, technology) where economic success depends on creativity (Florida, 2012; C. Warren et al., 2019). Stronger evidence that coolness is a status hierar"
now all i think about is money
Good summary of this paper: https://unrav.io/#view/f1604fd7b327f48a9920f4d2561b9626