01 Oct 2025 7 min read Syllabus

Fall Syllabus Notes #2

Detroit, Michigan (2017)

It's officially fall! The leaves are turning brown, the air is getting colder, and the sun is setting way too early for my liking. As the job search continues, I am embracing my leisure time by learning whatever piques my interest and immersing myself in the virtual realities of the Sims, Sticky Business, and Dave the Diver.

Thankfully, I have some freelance gigs under my belt, which means I've been researching the creator economy, consumer trends, and marketing strategies for the upcoming holiday season. Aside from freelancing and enjoying my hobbies, I'm also in the process of getting my driver's license in New Jersey. I've been driving since I was 17, so I'm hoping this will be a smooth transition, although I must say that drivers in New Jersey are a special breed who drive not too dissimilar from Malaysians.

That's all the little life updates I have for today. Onto the fall syllabus notes:

On being cool

I have not stopped thinking about the evolution of cool since watching this presentation and panel discussion. If you're short on time, I highly recommend watching the presentation portion because it has so many great nuggets of information.

What stood out to me was how "cool" was once a mode of resistance by the Black community that signified subversive authenticity. It was a mode of expression that diverged from the status quo, building a unique identity that authentically represented themselves. This can still be seen today, as a recent study showed that despite making up small percentages in the US and UK, Black culture regularly shapes popular trends, especially with Gen Z.

Cool then evolved into an "anti-mainstream" attitude, which we saw in jazz and various subcultures. Like most things, cool was then co-opted by Hollywood, commodifying the youth subcultures. We see this in Gen Z's beloved Skibidi toilet being scooped up for a film and TV franchise with Michael Bay at the helm.

However, the definition of cool has evolved in the digital age. It is no longer a monocultural definition, but one that is niche and fragmented depending on the various corners of the internet you lurk. In the presentation, the argument is that social media has flattened cool into a trend. From cottagecore to clean girl aesthetic, people are hopping from microtrend to microtrend, no longer taking the time to build their own personal styles based on their unique life experiences and interests.

@sara.and.misc
Bit of a hot take today 🫢 #graphicdesign #moodboards
♬ original sound - Sara

I loved this creator's explanation on the importance of research before tackling a creative project. We can't simply go on Pinterest and search "fall outfits" – that narrows your frame of reference and worldview. It merely turns us into a copy of a copy of a copy.

"Coolness is a form of rebellion that's been defanged by capitalism."

Instead, we should draw inspiration from the world around us – a cool window display, the color of foliage, the texture of a pumpkin, the silhouette of a fleeting reflection. Personal style is also something we build over time. It's ever-evolving and reflects specific moments in our lives.

@jamaalburkmar
I find this so weird.
♬ original sound - Jamaal Burkmar

On the bright side, the definition of cool has shifted from power and status to authenticity, intention, and values-driven.

According to a Gen Z focus group, many of them said being cool is being yourself and being passionate about interests we hold dear, which I personally find incredibly wholesome.

The symbols of aspiration are evolving as luxury fashion's cultural influence declines. From 2025 and beyond, cultural capital can be found in a life well-lived and self-enrichment. As Jamaal Burkmar points out, flexing one's wealth through material goods is a faux pas, especially in times when the cost of living is exorbitant and the job market is exploitative. It's not surprising that anti-capitalist and "eat the rich" stories have proliferated media, such as Squid Games, Parasite, Triangle of Sadness, and The Menu.

Some quick takeaways from the panel:

Cool has shifted from institutions to individuals
How to become cool? It's a process of finding yourself through ongoing practice and learning
Brands should be purpose-driven and distill a mission to remain relevant
Cool in the next 5 years, as defined by the panelists:
- Control your attention - be very intentional in posting and consuming. This will be a skillset*
- Confidence in self-expression
- Participate in life - let the fear of IRL connections go
- Ability to focus*
- Express power and be more confrontational in artistic expressions

*A few panelists mentioned how attention will be a skill set as we see attention spans shrinking drastically. To illustrate how terrible attention spans have gotten, Gen Z prefers watching TV shows in clips and there's a burgeoning career in creating clips for socials. I'm taking this as a sign to reclaim my attention.

On amusing ourselves to ignorance

Tangentially to the above video, I'm currently reading Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman, which centers on our attention and media consumption. Despite being published in the 80s, it remains relevant to this day, if not more so than ever before.

Upon reading the foreword, I had to pause and digest what I had just read (the above link to a webcomic illustrates this perfectly):

"What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy. As Huxley remarked in Brave New World Revisited, the civil libertarians and rationalists who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny "failed to take into account man's almost infinite appetite for distractions." In 1984, Huxley added, people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we hate will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we love will ruin us."

The first two sentences capture the current BookTok discourse around the rise of anti-intellectualism. Some BookTok creators have criticized the ways in which people simplify books into tropes or skim-read by focusing only on dialogue. Essentially, some people are reading without a critical lens. To a certain extent, that is valid because reading can be purely for pleasure. However, it becomes a serious problem when we no longer think critically about the media we consume.

How can we examine and dissect the world around us or the systems we live under without critical thought?

"What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one."

Huxley's fear of people not wanting to read books is a relevant concern in our day and age, where people prefer scrolling over reading. In a poll conducted by NPR and IPSOS with a representative sample of more than 2,000 American adults, 51% of people read a book in the past month compared to 80% of people who watched streaming services, used social media, or watched a short-form video.

Reading has become more of an aspiration than a hobby that is ingrained in our daily lives.

I understand how the day can pass us by without picking up a book. Between juggling work, taking care of ourselves, and maintaining the relationships in our lives, it's a struggle to find time for our hobbies. Reading is also not a priority for many people.

Recently, I found myself in the same predicament where I wasn't reading as much as I wanted to. The solution? I decided to wake up earlier and carve out 30 minutes in the morning to read before starting my day. It's still early days, but every morning that I read for 30 minutes, I get a sense of accomplishment first thing in the day, which gives me a pep in my step. I also enjoy reading outside on my fire escape, and that has allowed me to get some sun and fresh air too.

"Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance."

TikTok is the perfect example of this quote. In between news clips of floods, protests, and war footage, we are fed videos that spike our dopamine – Jet2 holiday fail clips, pets being silly, the latest pop culture discourse, and the algorithm goes on and on and on.

The truth doesn't need to be concealed because we are distracted.