[lumberjim]

when i was in junior high, i NEEDED to be cool. I copped attitudes, said " fine, be that way!" a lot, and wore bluejeans, hiking boots, a chain wallet, and heavy metal tshirts. But, i was really a soft, chubby white boy. I cared about what people thought about me through high school, until my senior year when i lost a lot of weight, and actually started to BE cool. When I started following the Dead, I stopped caring all together. That's how I knew I WAS cool.

so, my theory is that your coolness is conversely related to your desire to be cool. the harder you try, the less cool you actually are. This is mitigated by self confidence. Confidence = coolness. Arrogance is a different matter, and works the other way.

so.....to expand that, and apply it to real world examples:

Jag= NOT cool...definately trying too hard to come off as cool
UT=WAY cool....indifferent to his coolness
ME = stupid for saying something like this.