Understanding ‘Awesomeness’

Philosophers have a nice skill of taking a random emotion or a word and then analyzing it in the form of a book. The Oxford University Press has a seven-volume series covering the Seven Sins, Agnes Callard wrote about Aspiration, Annie Duke on Quitting, de Botton on Love and so on and so forth. Nick Riggle’s work on Awesomeness was a quirky read and made for some interesting observations.

When I raise my hand to give you a high-five, what I’m doing is engaging in a ‘social opening’. When you refuse to play game, you’re rejecting or thrashing the social opening I made. That makes you suck. And had you responded to my overture, my initiative would have made me awesome! For Riggle, being awesome is all about being contextually aware, breaking social norms playfully and constantly creating situations of social openings to give others the opportunity to not suck and to allow each other’s individuality to bloom.

Suffering a toxic boss, a bragging colleague, a lethargic partner or a sarcastic neighbor? Blame it on her disdain for social openings! Awesomeness is about nurturing a community, about allowing all to thrive and just ‘be’. Even an inside-joke between a couple or friends can thus be ‘awesome’, for it plays a role in appreciating the individuality of the other. A lot of the lexicon of everyday appreciation – being game, up for it, you rock etc – and that of everyday irritation – being a bore, douche-bag, braggart, killjoy etc -can thus be neatly categorized under the rubrics of Awesomeness and Suckiness.

To create a culture of awesomeness, it’s helpful to understand what culture could refer to. For Riggle, culture:

is what we seek when we have the time and peace of mind to cultivate our individuality…

culture is something we seek and create to occupy our “free” time in pursuit of personal and social enrichment. Through culture in this context we amplify our individual and collective quality of life.

So, environments and spaces that help us realize our potential and encourage social openings can all of a sudden become awesome – an office, a well-designed urban space, a gated community or an art studio.(I’m not sure if the Vodka-guzzling culture of Russia or the Qat-chewing culture of Yemen could be called Awesome? If they promote a culture of bonhomie and individual thriving, probably yes, right?)

So ask yourself, when was the last time you created a social opening? What was the response? When was the last time you faced a social opening? How did you respond? When was the last time you broke social norms? Do you have an awesome role model? Are you surrounded by a community, culture or society that sucks?