Hw 37- Cool Paper

Introduction:
What is the point of being born, if later on we find emptiness? I guess being an evolved human being is the worst thing to become. Life is a difficult topic to fully understand and planning it is even harder. In life, nothing always goes the way we ourselves want it to go. Why? Well because nothing is perfect, nothing in life is perfect even if we subconsciously believe it is. Our own personal lives hinder our own interpretation of what "Life" is because no two people are the same, so not everyone has the same motive. Now it is possible for people to have similar motives but how we get to it, is completely on our own. Is that how we fill emptiness then? Do we fill emptiness with our own individual quest or goal? I believe it is, and there are many ways of doing so. Our basic human social needs are Conformity, Desire and Popularity . We fill these needs by directing our attention to popular demand of "coolness" to help our selves fill a void of emptiness.

Argument #1:

The first way many of us seek to fill emptiness, is finding an answer to it. In many ways finding the answer to our emptiness could be on a superficial level of the popular "Coolness." We fill this void of emptiness with what being cool is, such as; being the rebel, the wealthiest, most popular, lots of friends, etc. With all these different criteria of cool, then that void of emptiness should be filled. Its many of the roles in society we try to be to fit in with every ones needs. This is where I believe being the conformist is one ultimate way of filling the empty and finding a meaning. Viktor Frankl, a theorists said that "If meaning is what we desire, then meaninglessness is a hole, an emptiness, in our lives."(Dr. C. George Boeree) People's seek out a desire to answer this meaninglessness hole that we attempt to fill in our empty lives and by the popular demand of "coolness" in our society we do this accordingly. One of Frankl's favorite metaphors to describe our consumption of finding "stuff" to fill our emptiness accurately describes conformity. "The Existential Vacuum." He explains this metaphor as "whenever you have a vacuum, of course things rush in to fill it... People go into a tailspin when they retire; students get drunk every weekend; we submerge ourselves in passive entertainment..."(Dr. C. George Boeree) We become bored with the old and so we find ourselves finding a new by focusing on something else that we find satisfaction in. Now there are downsides to becoming a full-on conformist, people will believe you are fake. People will categorize you as fake for being a conformist because you, yourself does not have a self of your own. In the "cool" societies this looked down upon because you do not bring fourth a unique and individual trait, which in the cool societies everyone wants to duplicate. So if you would like to conform, do it in a moderate fashion because almost everyone is.

Argument #2:
Another way I look at how we fill emptiness is to be desirable. To be everywhere, with everyone, doing everything. The answer to that is creating something everyone can relate too. Heroes are great examples of these characteristics because everyone idolizes them. Heroes are the type of people that are perfect and nothing could be wrong with them because everyone likes him/her. For example in the 1960's when blacks were segregated from whites, Martin Luther King Jr., a famous black activist stood up for what he and millions of other black males and females believed was right. In the black culture, they looked to Martin Luther King as a hero for ending segregation. Not all would agree, but majority would believe and even for Hitler, his near-accomplishment of taking over the world in the 1940's might of been heroic in the eyes of most Germans. Both these two individuals created a movement that captured the eyes of many, which would categorize them under heroic(depending on your belief). So I feel that they had filled most of their emptiness being the desirable ones.

Argument #3:
Popularity relates to the demand of "coolness" in our society because it is another focus we put our bodies and minds in to, to fill this entity of meaninglessness; another way to fill a void of emptiness. Popularity has always been about how an individual represents him/herself in a fashion that everyone gets some sort of pleasure or likability out of it. The many roles and characters we perform to please everyone has many identities that everyone is pleased by which gives the performer a meaning because he/she is finding popularity in it. Goffman, a great theorist said that "Everyone of us is consciously always playing a role on a daily basis. We are always presenting a personal front which is either behavioral and material...As performers we want to create the most positive impression possible to the point of being ideal."(Goffman'sPresentationofSelfinEverydayLife) This idea of being ideal is great way to fill a emptiness and by being the most popular, in every one's eyes you have accomplished being ideal.

Opposing Viewpoint:

Finding an emptiness is a question that happens early in our lives when we find our trends, desires and anything else that we can relate to "cool." So is cool the answer to why we have emptiness? The void of emptiness that we passionately fill with "stuff" as said by Viktor Frankl is the reason to why we are drawn to making these quest(s) or goal(s) so often. Do we want to abandon the thought of "cool" then because it certainly has taken over our society like a plague? No. And that is a good thing because "cool" has become a drive to create success, pleasure and happiness. "The word Emptiness or Void should not scare us. To be empty does not mean non-existent. Emptiness is the ground of everything, thanks to it, everything is possible."(TheVoidorEmptiness) We should embrace the void of emptiness that we've acquired because we use it as a map or "vacuum" to help us understand our lives. Which in the end is shaped by our interpretation of what is "cool."


Conclusion:
In conclusion, filling a void of emptiness is endless and frustrating, but there are many methods use to surface or fill it because it is something we need. Being the most desirable, the absolute conformist and the popular ideal person has all led ways to fill a void of emptiness through the social need of being "Cool." So. How are you cool?

Sites used:

http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/frankl.html

Read more at Suite101: Goffman's Presentation of Self in Everyday Life: Our Understanding of the Idea of Self http://languagebooks.suite101.com/article.cfm/goffmans_presentation_of_self_in_everyday_life#ixzz0dCsgSPjF

http://www.plotinus.com/void_copy.htm