cool people

I don’t have a degree in psychology and was surprised to find that that fact didn’t directly stop me from making sweeping generalities of all mankind.  The first is that people are terrible.  The second, and more important, says that anything a person sees being done increases the odds of that person doing it too.   In other words every action is contagious.  If you whisper to someone, they are likely to whisper back.  If you punch someone in the face, they’re likely to punch you right back.  And if two pieces of anecdotal evidence isn’t enough to establish a general rule, then let it be said I’ve learned nothing from political debate.  

If people see something being done enough, eventually they want to try it themselves.  Why do you think sex is so popular?  Of course a lot of it depends how much the person doing the action is admired.  If your favorite band all has purple hair, then you're more likely to dye your hair purple than if your boss had purple hair.  People are constantly looking up at cooler people to see how they should act.  Those people in turn look up to even cooler people.  And so on.  

This system has been a part of every  major society for centuries.  Take ancient Egypt.  The pharaoh was the coolest guy in town.  He had all the latest gold hats, and an army of slaves.  Plus his dad had a huge pyramid and was dead so the pharaoh probably threw sweet parties all the time.  The pharaoh had a whole system worked out where even after death, he would remain pretty cool.  Egyptians looked to him and thought "Man, that guy is cool! I want my brain pulled out from my nose too!"


Being cool is great, but climbing the social ladder can be difficult.  The key is to quietly just do what the cool people are doing.  Eventually people above you will make a mistake and demonstrate individualism, dooming them to obscurity.  If you remain steadfast in your goal to follow the cool people, you will rise as more of these "individuals" fall.  Eventually you will have achieved coolness.  You can use your coolness to dictate the actions of those below you.  Your minions so to speak.  But be careful!  If you start using your minions in a way that is too different than the way the other cool people are, your cool power may be called into question, and then you'll be back to square one.