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Awesome. On a side note, I wonder why this culture of popularity has to be the default in our schools?

by jwingy 14y ago

roguecoder 14y ago
Mirror neurons: http://dspace.learningnetworks.org/bitstream/1820/1858/1/VanGog-etal_EPR_2009.pdf http://dspace.learningnetworks.org/bitstream/1820/1858/1/Van...
EliAndrewC 14y ago
Paul Graham explores this question at great length in his essay, "Why Nerds Are Unpopular": http://www.paulgraham.com/nerds.html http://www.paulgraham.com/nerds.html
chris_wot 14y ago
Wanting to be popular is a popular topic in high school.
Tooluka 14y ago
Because kids are uncontrolled there (in varying degrees), so they tend to self organize. PS: this is default culture in any school.
kingkilr 14y ago
Do you think it's just limited to schools?
mattgreenrocks 14y ago
Status-seeking behavior is not restricted to teenagers. Adults grovel at similar idols: money, beauty, fame. They just employ a bit more mis-direction to not make it seem so obvious.
personlurking 14y ago
Always odd to have always realized that the 'cool' kids are popular because they can successfully mimic styles and behaviors pushed on them by corporations and style-makers. Shouldn't they instead be called 'mindless drones'? Merchants of Cool http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/cool/view/ http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/cool/view/
- re_todd 14y ago
  And it's the wealthier kids that can afford the stuff that makes them cool. It's all about getting the wealthy to feel superior to the rest of us and pretending that wealth had nothing to do with it.
japhyr 14y ago
I think a good part of it is the fact that most schools don't really do a good job of meeting the needs of all students. There are so many students who are bored and frustrated because the work they are asked to do is either too easy or too hard. Make a good portion of the student body bored and frustrated, and the pursuit of popularity becomes a focus for many students.
tomjen3 14y ago
Basically because they have to organize some form of hierarchy and if there is no shared goal they will organize it around popularity (PG made this observation back in one of his earlier essays) I am betting that if they end up on a primitive island they would organize with special respect for those who where the best trackers/hunters.

Awesome. On a side note, I wonder why this culture of popularity has to be the default in our schools?

by jwingy 14y ago

Awesome. On a side note, I wonder why this culture of popularity has to be the default in our schools?

Mirror neurons: http://dspace.learningnetworks.org/bitstream/1820/1858/1/VanGog-etal_EPR_2009.pdf http://dspace.learningnetworks.org/bitstream/1820/1858/1/Van...

EliAndrewC 14y ago

Paul Graham explores this question at great length in his essay, "Why Nerds Are Unpopular": http://www.paulgraham.com/nerds.html http://www.paulgraham.com/nerds.html

chris_wot 14y ago

Wanting to be popular is a popular topic in high school.

Tooluka 14y ago

Because kids are uncontrolled there (in varying degrees), so they tend to self organize. PS: this is default culture in any school.

kingkilr 14y ago

Do you think it's just limited to schools?

mattgreenrocks 14y ago

Status-seeking behavior is not restricted to teenagers. Adults grovel at similar idols: money, beauty, fame. They just employ a bit more mis-direction to not make it seem so obvious.

personlurking 14y ago

Always odd to have always realized that the 'cool' kids are popular because they can successfully mimic styles and behaviors pushed on them by corporations and style-makers. Shouldn't they instead be called 'mindless drones'? Merchants of Cool http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/cool/view/ http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/cool/view/

re_todd 14y ago
And it's the wealthier kids that can afford the stuff that makes them cool. It's all about getting the wealthy to feel superior to the rest of us and pretending that wealth had nothing to do with it.

japhyr 14y ago

I think a good part of it is the fact that most schools don't really do a good job of meeting the needs of all students. There are so many students who are bored and frustrated because the work they are asked to do is either too easy or too hard. Make a good portion of the student body bored and frustrated, and the pursuit of popularity becomes a focus for many students.

tomjen3 14y ago

Basically because they have to organize some form of hierarchy and if there is no shared goal they will organize it around popularity (PG made this observation back in one of his earlier essays) I am betting that if they end up on a primitive island they would organize with special respect for those who where the best trackers/hunters.