Cool People [pdf]
65 points
6 hours ago
| 8 comments
| apa.org
| HN
neom
6 minutes ago
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neuroplots
4 hours ago
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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.

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GauntletWizard
2 hours ago
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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.

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wredcoll
24 minutes ago
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Million_Pound_Bank_Note

> 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.

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xnx
4 hours ago
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mttpgn
1 hour ago
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This submission links to the actual paper. The other submission is the NY Times' summary of it.
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rriley
3 hours ago
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It's a kind of status jiu-jitsu: the less you want, the more others want you.

Good summary of this paper: https://unrav.io/#view/f1604fd7b327f48a9920f4d2561b9626

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sitkack
44 minutes ago
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You can be funny, or cool, but not both. -- The Rock
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whall6
4 hours ago
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Trying to figure out how to be cool by going as far as to write an academic paper is decidedly uncool
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apt-apt-apt-apt
3 hours ago
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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.
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zeroCalories
3 hours ago
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Just as the blind will never understand color, the nerd will never understand cool.
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whall6
20 minutes ago
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Well put
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SethMurphy
3 hours ago
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I think the term for this would be "poser", the not cool sub segment of the cool kids.
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sitkack
46 minutes ago
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That doesn't make the scientists posers unless they are pretending to be something they aren't. Poser has a specific meaning.
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BMc2020
5 hours ago
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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.
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helloplanets
2 hours ago
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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.
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kevindamm
4 hours ago
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This seems predicated on a false dichotomy of "cool" and "good" -- surely some are both.
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amelius
4 hours ago
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Maybe this could discriminate between the two: good people can be taken advantage of; cool people are too smart for that.
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flkenosad
4 hours ago
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Aura farming 101
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