“rebel instinct”, an aversion to subordination so strong it appears even in other primates. Where the status instinct climbs, the rebel instinct sidesteps the ladder entirely - sometimes inventing new measures of worth altogether.

According to Todd Pezzuti, Caleb Warren and Jinjie Chen in their study Cool People , the earliest roots of cool lie in the African diaspora, in West African ideas like itutu (Yoruba for “coolness”), which refers to a state of spiritual composure and grace under pressure. Confronting the brutal realities of slavery and Jim Crow, African Americans... See more