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Thursday, September 23, 2004 - 5:39amSanction this postReply
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If you see that what you have said is naïve, laugh at yourself along with those who point it out. But never let it kill inside you the capacity to experience being profoundly filled with sincere feelings.
 
The solution for those who are overcome with a need to be “cool” is simple. Throw away your “shades” and, while you are at it, that look of indifference.
 
James,

If ever there was a statement that people (and especially intellectuals) need to take to heart, it is the ones you expressed above.

George
 





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Thursday, September 23, 2004 - 8:09amSanction this postReply
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That was beautiful, James.  Cool is something bland like the proverbial cucumber.  Hot, however, is more like a chili pepper -- full of spice, leaving a profound impression on the senses.

Jennifer


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Thursday, September 23, 2004 - 8:18amSanction this postReply
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This reminds me of the time I was at the checkout of a supermarket and a "cool dude" of about 16 years old (wearing shades) was ahead of me. He dropped a two bit piece on the floor. He looked at it, looked around to see if many were looking at him — and ignored it — it wasn't cool to stoop to pick up 25 cents. I have wondered how much it would have taken to make him pick up his money. A dollar, two dollars? Who knows? But the veneer of his coolness was apparent to all. A really cool guy would have picked up his twenty-five cents with aplomb.

Sam  


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Thursday, September 23, 2004 - 9:18amSanction this postReply
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Awesome article! There's cool, and then there's ~cool~. Hairstyles, fashion, dialect. Pah! REAL cool is having enough self-confidence to be truly benevolent (shout out to Glenn Lamont) and having a hierarchy of values properly in place so that the little things really DO roll right off of your back! That's Sense-of-Life Objectivism, and THAT is COOL!

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Post 4

Thursday, September 23, 2004 - 11:13amSanction this postReply
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A hearty hoorah for James! :)

Living life fully requires constant sincerity--even when you make mistakes. New Objectivists especially should take to heart your message and never fall into the trap of repression and constant second-handed questioning of appearance.

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Post 5

Thursday, September 23, 2004 - 11:22amSanction this postReply
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Lady and Gentlemen, thank you all. Solohq is my home because so many of you don't need the message in this article, but appreciate it, anyway.

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Thursday, September 23, 2004 - 4:49amSanction this postReply
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Thanks, I really needed that.

Post 7

Thursday, September 23, 2004 - 11:25pmSanction this postReply
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But I'm already HOT! What more could you want?

Beautiful article, one of the best I've seen lately. Articles like these will always keep me glued to this site. Thank you.

Adam

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Post 8

Thursday, September 30, 2004 - 10:21amSanction this postReply
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James,

 

Sorry for posting so late on this. Your article started me thinking about why people try to be cool in the first place, and the only thing I was able to come up with during all this time was mating call.

 

Human beings are animals. All animal species have their mating customs - many include showing off plumage, strutting or whatever - you know, being cool so they can get it on when they're hot (sorry, I couldn't resist that pun on your title). Well, human beings strike poses, adopt attitudes and phrases, and use volatile attire - and not so volatile when they start poking permanent holes in their bodies. Really cool, dude.

 

"Cool" based mating probably explains why your "Eve" audience reacted as they did. (1) Indifference. Many people go to the movies on dates. They are mating. It really doesn't make any difference what is on the screen. (2) Ridicule. Once again, they are mating. Human interaction, like in the story on your screen, is always the same regardless of generation. What changes is fashion, vocabulary and so forth. In the preliminary throws of mating, seeing other people do normal things so differently comes off like hearing a real sour note in a piece of music. It gets funny after a while. You know, it's get-down time and then you see all these these weird people doing stuff differently than you do.

  

This is only speculation, but I would bet that many of the people who laughed at the "wrong" places at your movie would not do so when they are not mating or showing off to others in the herd (essentially manifesting that they are available for mating).

 

You advice at the end about embracing life is really quite inspiring:

 

Laugh heartily. Experience wide-eyed amazement. Love totally. Believe in things intensely. Cry easily, in joy and in sadness. Listen deeply. Trust in the sincerity of your emotions. Make joy your goal, not the absence of pain.

 

To tell you the truth, I see nothing wrong in being cool if you do these type of things too. What is pathetic is when a person makes a simple mating call a substitute for being in touch with reality - both interior and exterior.








Post 9

Thursday, October 14, 2004 - 8:46pmSanction this postReply
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This afternoon I treated this topic in a small way via a respone article.  Hopefully it's posted to the site soon while everyone's still fresh on this article.
 
I enjoyed the article James.  :)


Post 10

Thursday, October 14, 2004 - 10:11pmSanction this postReply
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Enjoyed the article!

To be cool is to command respect from others. The alpha-male thing. Can women be cool? Some are but cool girls are less feminine and feminity attracts men. Cool girls are tom-boy types who don't bother with makeup; they get dirty and swear like sailors. They don't command men's attention. The women who command attention are the beautiful ones, also known as the most dangerous beings in the universe. It seems that "cool" has to do with masculinity.

I think there is a mature, educated coolness in some men that is very attractive to women. Cary Grant had it. He's my model. Rhett Butler in Gone With the Wind also. It's pretty rare. Roark and Francisco were certainly cool. And then there's the rampant, immature, awkward attempts at coolness displayed by high skoolers. This has as much to do with being accepted by your peer-group as it does anything else. If smoking lots of dope, or playing varsity sports will win them friends than they're all for it.

The only way I know of to guide youngin's toward an educated coolness is to use Aristotle's model of self-development. That is, treat them as individuals early on.



Post 11

Friday, October 15, 2004 - 7:01pmSanction this postReply
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Another bass-playing Moore.  We must be multiplying.  :)

Post 12

Saturday, October 16, 2004 - 2:26amSanction this postReply
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Michael Moore plays bass?

I bet he only started, because he thought someone meant "pan-seared sea bass".


Post 13

Saturday, October 16, 2004 - 7:34pmSanction this postReply
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*Thumbs up to Jake! ---- "Heeeeeeyyyy" - The Fonz*

Post 14

Saturday, October 16, 2004 - 8:38pmSanction this postReply
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This really choked me up:
The solution for those who are overcome with a need to be “cool” is simple. Throw away your “shades” and, while you are at it, that look of indifference. Stretch all the muscles in your face, just like you stretch the muscles in the gym in order to have a “cool” body. Laugh heartily. Experience wide-eyed amazement. Love totally. Believe in things intensely. Cry easily, in joy and in sadness. Listen deeply. Trust in the sincerity of your emotions. Make joy your goal, not the absence of pain.

And if all of the above evokes a comic reaction from your friends because of the depth of your feelings, don’t worry about it. You now have a real soul. You are ready to find some real friends.


What wording.



Post 15

Saturday, October 16, 2004 - 10:19pmSanction this postReply
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Orion, what does Michael Moore have to do with anything?  I was referring to Lance and myself.

Post 16

Sunday, October 17, 2004 - 1:40amSanction this postReply
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Orion, what does Michael Moore have to do with anything?  I was referring to Lance and myself.
I know... I was just joking.


Post 17

Sunday, October 17, 2004 - 9:44amSanction this postReply
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I guess it was an unfunny joke in a left-field comment's clothing.  :)


Post 18

Sunday, February 13, 2005 - 5:02pmSanction this postReply
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This message is for Michael Stuart Kelly.  If you are the same person I knew in the 70's, please respond to me.

Lynn Ann Curtis aka Suki Jantzen


Post 19

Monday, February 14, 2005 - 4:55amSanction this postReply
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Thank you very much James for this inspiring article

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