[ExI] Fashion

[Giulio Prisco]

My own coolness standard is simple: I don't think about coolness at
all. I tend to buy cheap but solid clothes that may last for decades,
with simple colors without labels and decorations. When I wake up, I
wear the first clean things that I find. The message that I try to
give is "there is no message here."

On Sun, May 5, 2013 at 12:22 AM, Anders Sandberg <anders at aleph.se> wrote:
> On 04/05/2013 22:41, spike wrote:
>>
>> I want a formula for coolness.
>
>
> You are not alone. The fashion industry would love it too:
> http://smartdatacollective.com/timoelliott/50152/fashion-analytics-social-perfect-ensemble
> http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/india/article.cfm?articleid=4659
> Looks like the industry is already trying the data mining approach.
>
> The problem with coolness is that it is likely one of those things like
> "good taste" or "creativity" that cannot be pinned down. It is slippery in a
> social and subjective way: plenty of people have different coolness
> standards, and one of the best ways of being cool is pulling off something
> that shouldn't work but yet does it (case in point I have been studying: the
> exotic tie knots of the Merovingean in the Matrix sequels).
>
>
>> Regarding hacker parties and in general every gathering of geeks, it
>> doesn'
>> t matter.  Animals, proles and geeks are free.  We never need to ponder
>> what
>> to wear at any social occasion.  In fact, society has developed to the
>> point
>> where geeks are highly esteemed, a reversal from my own youth in which we
>> were disdained.  So now, ordinary people sometimes intentionally dress in
>> a
>> clumsy fashion in order to appear to be a geek.  It has gotten so that
>> now,
>> if I show up at some geek gathering wearing some geek-wannabe outfit, I
>> risk
>> having the genuine geeks point and shout "PHONY!"
>
>
> Exactly. "Dress for Success", the classic style guide for the businessman,
> has a hilarious section about dressing for interaction with engineers and
> hacker types. It points out that trying to imitate their style will fail, so
> it is better to just tone things down from the strict business style rather
> than showing up with a Microsoft t-shirt. (It also has the invaluable advice
> that the real businessman buys his clothes at sales).
>
>
> --
> Anders Sandberg,
> Future of Humanity Institute
> Oxford Martin School
> Faculty of Philosophy
> Oxford University
>
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