James,

Sorry for posting so late on this. Your article started me thinking about why people try to be cool in the first place, and the only thing I was able to come up with during all this time was mating call.

Human beings are animals. All animal species have their mating customs - many include showing off plumage, strutting or whatever - you know, being cool so they can get it on when they're hot (sorry, I couldn't resist that pun on your title). Well, human beings strike poses, adopt attitudes and phrases, and use volatile attire - and not so volatile when they start poking permanent holes in their bodies. Really cool, dude.

"Cool" based mating probably explains why your "Eve" audience reacted as they did. (1) Indifference. Many people go to the movies on dates. They are mating. It really doesn't make any difference what is on the screen. (2) Ridicule. Once again, they are mating. Human interaction, like in the story on your screen, is always the same regardless of generation. What changes is fashion, vocabulary and so forth. In the preliminary throws of mating, seeing other people do normal things so differently comes off like hearing a real sour note in a piece of music. It gets funny after a while. You know, it's get-down time and then you see all these these weird people doing stuff differently than you do.

This is only speculation, but I would bet that many of the people who laughed at the "wrong" places at your movie would not do so when they are not mating or showing off to others in the herd (essentially manifesting that they are available for mating).

You advice at the end about embracing life is really quite inspiring:

Laugh heartily. Experience wide-eyed amazement. Love totally. Believe in things intensely. Cry easily, in joy and in sadness. Listen deeply. Trust in the sincerity of your emotions. Make joy your goal, not the absence of pain.

To tell you the truth, I see nothing wrong in being cool if you do these type of things too. What is pathetic is when a person makes a simple mating call a substitute for being in touch with reality - both interior and exterior.

The solution for those who are overcome with a need to be “cool” is simple. Throw away your “shades” and, while you are at it, that look of indifference. Stretch all the muscles in your face, just like you stretch the muscles in the gym in order to have a “cool” body. Laugh heartily. Experience wide-eyed amazement. Love totally. Believe in things intensely. Cry easily, in joy and in sadness. Listen deeply. Trust in the sincerity of your emotions. Make joy your goal, not the absence of pain.

And if all of the above evokes a comic reaction from your friends because of the depth of your feelings, don’t worry about it. You now have a real soul. You are ready to find some real friends.