Someone needs to do a serious study of 'cool' because the social implications are huge.
Ashbrook First School near Milton Keynes in the UK is a big user of my work in teaching 'thinking'. The Headmistress, Mrs Newman, runs a very impressive school. I was invited there to see what was going on and to address a number of educators from the surrounding area.
As I was being shown around I saw a drawing which some youngsters (four to eight years old at this school) had done of Guy Fawkes night. One youngster had written that Guy Fawkes was 'wicked and cool'.
Now I am aware that 'wicked' is used in the sense of 'splendid'. Assuming that the children knew that Mr Fawkes was trying to blow up parliament the use of 'wicked' might have been in the more normal sense of 'bad'.
The key question is: does 'cool' also apply to bad guys?
In films and television the bad guys do often seem 'cool' and hence admirable.
The term 'cool' probably originated in Afro American culture. At the time when Afro Americans did not have commercial power, political power or authority power, the only power came from 'personality'. So 'cool' meant someone who was in charge of himself or herself. It meant someone who did his or her own thing and did not care too much about other opinions or fears of others. There might also have been a rebellious streak which was somewhat anti-authority. There is also a strong component from the jazz world.
Today, 'cool' seems to be a highly admirable quality for youngsters. This is understandable as most youngsters lack confidence and 'cool' means confidant.
The danger is that as a personality characteristic 'cool' can equally apply to bad guys. This would make crime attractive.
You are invited to take part in this exploration. Ask six youngsters under the age of fifteen what they understand by 'cool'. Ask them whether 'cool' also applies to bad guys. You might even give the youngsters a list of mixed good and bad guys and see which ones can be labelled 'cool'.
Send in your findings to edwdebono@msn.com subject 'COOL' - the finding may be published on this site.
Edward de Bono nmt
17th November 2002
South Africa
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