thats a big negatory on that good buddy. the term cool as i understand it originated as a sort of rebellious slang. similar to the bitchin's and fresh's of our day. i think to be cool is to be somewhat outside of what is respectable. also, no one notices tact or prudence. today people seem to value doing and saying whatever the hell they want, when they want over being decent.
however i would imagine that in like, wuthering heights times (or maybe in england still ) being tactful was looked upon in a much better light than it is today.
if that answers the question at all

dem_z

United Kingdom

June 2004

JUL 15, 2004 12:50 AM

PrinceMothyMoth said:
Was common sense and tact (in whatever subjective interpretation or modality) ever directly considered to be 'cool', in any sub culture/modern social enclave wherein it would be dignified with the term 'cool'?

Why or why not d'ya reckon this is?

Sturgeon's law applies; 90% of everything is crap.

90% of society is rude and tactless and stupid, thus any sub-group has a chance of being made up of that ten percent of polite and tactful and common-sensible types.

Being an aggressive antosocial idiot is mainstream. Helping little old ladies across the road is rad.

Polite is cool. Rude is dull.

Listening and debating is cool. Ranting without caring what the other person is saying is a:very dull and b:what most tv seems to be made of.

Having an ounce of sense is super k-rad dewd. Being a mindless unthinking zombie acepting what teh media churns out, living a life imitating the shallow art of 'girls gone wild', is so totally normal and expected and mainstream that it gets a bit depressing.

I had a go, how'd I do?

unravled

Portland, OR

August 2003

JUL 15, 2004 11:13 PM

There HAS to be some culture, somewhere, that doesn't cater to the lowest common denominator.

Jeff_Fries

Humptulips, WA

September 2003

JUL 15, 2004 11:14 PM

unravled said:
There HAS to be some culture, somewhere, that doesn't cater to the lowest common denominator.

pale_blue_eyes

Santa Barbara, CA

April 2004

JUL 16, 2004 12:19 AM

well, as modern societies value these attributes so highly, they would hardly require the commisseration of a sub-culture. the closest thing i can think of would be frat boy young republicans, those guys play the tact game well, politicians in training ya know.

DrStinkypants

Saint Paul, MN

October 2002

JUL 16, 2004 12:50 AM

unravled said:
There HAS to be some culture, somewhere, that doesn't cater to the lowest common denominator.

Well, for better or worse i think thats what a society technically is.

clara

MODERATOR

Baltimore, MD

JUL 16, 2004 01:44 AM

Am I the only one who thinks that people who forgo tact generally don't have very many friends and are therefore not generally regarded as being all that cool?

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