A company called YouGov did a survey. They asked people about school. One third of people said they were not cool at school. Only ten percent said they were cool. But cool people are still important today. People want to be near cool people. People buy things that cool people sell. They hope they will become cool too. But this does not work. You cannot buy coolness. You cannot say ‘I am cool’. When you try to be cool, you become uncool.

Scientists did a study about cool people. They published it in the Journal of Experimental Psychology. This is a science magazine. The study found six things. Cool people are extroverted. This means they like being with other people. They are open. This means they try new things. They are hedonistic. This means they enjoy life and pleasure. They are adventurous. This means they take risks. They are autonomous. This means they are independent. And they are powerful. This means they are strong and confident. Six thousand people helped with the study. They were from twelve different countries. Each person described a cool person they knew. The results were the same everywhere. Age did not matter. Gender did not matter. Education did not matter. Location did not matter.

Can people become cooler? The scientists say yes, but only a little bit. Some people are born introverted. Introverted means quiet and shy. These people will find it hard to seem confident. Coolness must be inside you. It must be real.

Having the six things is not enough. You must show them in the right way. James Dean was a cool actor. Anna Wintour is a cool fashion editor. They do not smile much. This works because they work in competitive jobs. But if you do not show feelings in normal life, people think you are cold. Cold is different from cool.

The study does not explain everything. Cultural historians study culture and history. They say coolness is more than six things. Cool people rebel. This means they break rules. They have personal style. They have special confidence. They have charisma. Charisma means people like them naturally. Most important: cool people do not care what others think.

Cool started in the 1940s. It started in New York. Young Black musicians played jazz music. They created cool as resistance. Resistance means fighting against unfair treatment. Most cool people in the twentieth century were poor or working class. They did not want to join the mainstream. Mainstream means normal society. Selling out was bad. Selling out means doing things for money, not art. This changed in the 1960s. Advertising changed everything. Now commercial success makes you cool. Commercial success means making money. Today, cool and celebrity are connected. Celebrity means being famous. The influencer industry is worth twenty-four billion dollars. This was in 2024. It depends on coolness.

But young people today have a problem. They cannot name a cool person they know. They only know cool celebrities. They cannot imagine a quiet life being cool. Experts do not think you can make yourself cooler. Coolness comes from two things. First, obsessive artistic vision. This means caring deeply about your art. Second, family dysfunction. This means problems in your family. You cannot plan these things. If you try to become cool, you look fake. Fake means not real. You look try-hard. Try-hard means trying too much. This is worse than being uncool.