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Why be hip?

MyDoorsAreOpen

MyDoorsAreOpen

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Aug 20, 2003
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I define hip as being in-the-know about new and cutting edge trends (in anything), and having the uncanny ability to tell the difference between new and fringy trends that will become big and influential, and ones that will always be marginal, and to adopt early those former ones before the masses do. I liken it to lesson number one of surfing, which is being able to jump on your board in anticipation of a wave that hasn't yet broken, at just the right moment.

I am a comfortable inhabitant of the fringes. But I am also comfortably unhip. I can't count the number of times someone has mistaken my wanderings in things lesser known for a desire to be seen as trendy. Usually this takes the form of someone taking a dig at me for not knowing something they think someone like me should have known, or gloating over something they know that I don't know. Worse, I've known people with the audacity to try and tell me, "I don't know why you're into that, be into this instead." Clearly they don't get the point. My wanderings and likings for things have nothing to do with their social caché, and I'm not telling you about my passion for them because I'm trying to one-up you or impress you. I like what speaks to me, and see no need to justify it on any external basis. I couldn't care less if anything that brings me joy is uncool, and will always be uncool.

Interestingly enough, this problem tends to come up for me when I accidentally stumble upon something I really like which happens to be an up and coming trend. Then I'm "supposed to" be into a whole lot of other things that people who are into that are too (not necessarily), and am "supposed to" lose interest in it when it peaks and declines in popularity (but what if I still enjoy it?)

I know there's no point in arguing about taste, as some famous dead Roman guy said. But what I'm after is, is there any real practical advantage to be had in pursuing hipness? Does one's quality of life truly stand to improve if one is always there ahead of the crowd. I'm not convinced it necessarily makes one either happier or more materially secure. I have a feeling hipness is one of those things that might have carried a real survival advantage in our hunter-gatherer past, and that the dangerously Schadenfreude-like joy of being savvy to something great before everyone else is just an evolutionary holdover that some people like to indulge, similar to why we enjoy sports or gossip.

Of course, any true hipster will probably just call "sour grapes" on me. :|

Any thoughts?
 
faux competition. an additional challege to overcome when one is lacking in any substantial satisfaction. we are all susceptable for it to degrees. some of us actively try not to, but i still tell myself "i like nice things" and "it is regardless of what is popular". i believe it most of the time.

but sometimes it isn't true.
 
I find myself being "hip" to a lot of things, but it's all based, like you, on my personal interests. It has nothing to do with social expectations or fitting in. I have a few of the new devices, but it's because I'm extremely fascinated with and interested in cutting-edge technology, not because my friend got one and I had to have one too. Some people are like that though. I think L2R said it well. If one has their own set of interests and pursuits, it's probably less likely to happen because you're filled up with things you are genuinely interested in. But we've probably all done it at some point too.
 
You don't try and be hip, you just are. Sometimes the things you do create a crowd who want to join in, other times uncool people assume that they will never be able to pull it off themselves and think it is simply a fad they can't enjoy too.

A more interesting question is why do more people judge the hip for simply following their own beat?
 
I've never been good at trends, even when I tried way back when. Now I just do my own thing. It's funny though because beards are really in right now, and I've always had one. In recent years people have given me all kinds of looks... some think I'm cool, some think I'm lame for following a trend, some think I'm attractive, etc. There's always some kind of commentary that takes place about my facial hair, but the truth is that I just prefer how I look with a beard and it's been that way for about 10 years now. I find it silly that suddenly beards mean something more just because you have one, when the reality is that men have always had beards. I don't get it.

I find trends to be impractical and a waste of money. I tend to go for looks that are universal and never go out of style because they cater to my budget. People who spend exorbitant amounts of money to accommodate recent trends are, in my view, wasting their time and money. But... I know it really depends, because some people are in industries where being up to date is important, like fashion, marketing, media, etc.

It seems to be some kind of competitive herd mentality. I agree with OTW that some people just are hip without trying -- those people tend to be eccentric to start with yet have good taste. A rare breed. But they still don't fit in with the herd for the most part. The ones who try so hard are usually dullards, IME. I suppose from a reproductive point of view, being able to keep up with style and trend advertises your resourcefulness. *shrug*
 
Growing up in the South I could never be trendy,
cause by the time the trend made it to me it had already been replaced by another one.
Hell, we just got that colored picture box a few years ago. Beverely Hillbillys are much better in color. Cant wait for new season--

Heard lumberjacks are making a coming back.
"Metrosexuals" out, "Lumbersexuals" in.
Beards, flannel, tattoos, and being able to handle a skill saw---check
All you have to do is be yourself trendy will come to you.
My suggestion,
Leave the fedoras with grandpa and tight pantyhose to women.
 
Deliverance - Banjo Duel: http://youtu.be/Uzae_SqbmDE

Yep, nothing to see here but a bunch of inbred banjo playing hillbillies.
YEEEE-HAAAAWW
I'd sugest you stay far far away from the south.
Wouldnt want to get tied to a tree and forced to squeal like a pig or something like that.

I love southern sterotypes, they keep our lakes and rivers cleaner.
 
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On a timeline spectrum trend is temporary. What's hip today isn't tomorrow, or hip to me isn't to you… Follow your Bliss. Be who you are and that is the hippest thing one can do for themselves… Others will see who you truly are… and it doesn't matter anyway if confident in yourself … :)
 
People feel the need to belong, but unfortunately, we have reduced everything to it's material value--so people try to fulfill their need by conforming to social norms like clothing, music, art, etc.. It has an advantage to those who can't get into Thoreau, but on a broader spectrum, it's more detrimental to the well being of the individual, and system they operate in.
 
^
To expand,
The is no need to sacrafice faith for the sake of novelty.
One's got to be careful sking down the slippery slope of trying to use the secular to explain theology.
We are not robots. I can experience a different
outcome than "you".
Makes finding universal truth tricky.
Doesnt mean there isnt universal truth however.
Just means you have to search a little harder "fer" it,
And use that dam pesky thing called faith.
?
Ok " time for sweet potato pie"
 
Hip is not following trends. Or to put it another way, 'trendy' and 'hip' are very different things that sometimes converge.
But they can also be mutually exclusive.
 
be hip -> social success -> higher chance of your DNA getting passed on.

if hip is defined as to follow a codex or maybe dresscode, call it what you will, parameters which value your position and social status.
its one of the options to rise in the hierachy, like "chopping the leaders head off" or things like that. Or writing a holy book to enslave your beliefers, like in ancient sand-jew-tribe times.

also it is a very widespread term. as example:
wear a hugo boss shirt: general social status+1

but beware! burning churches: general soc. status -10
black metal scene +10


also, why did start a theology debate here again? fuck you.
 
YeDunwichHorror said:
be hip -> social success -> higher chance of your DNA getting passed on.

if hip is defined as to follow a codex or maybe dresscode, call it what you will, parameters which value your position and social status.
its one of the options to rise in the hierachy, like "chopping the leaders head off" or things like that. Or writing a holy book to enslave your beliefers, like in ancient sand-jew-tribe times.

also it is a very widespread term. as example:
wear a hugo boss shirt: general social status+1

but beware! burning churches: general soc. status -10
black metal scene +10


also, why did start a theology debate here again? fuck you.
Click to expand...

I feel like your telling me that humans have an innate lust for power and superiority, constituted by an evolutionary desire to reproduce.
 
trying to be hip just for the sake of being hip is actually something that i find to be, paradoxically, an extremely "uncool" trait in people. i think that you should follow your interests in a genuine way, not just latch onto things because they're trendy.
 
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