One has heard the phrase "Don't let others get to you" many a times. It is something that one says when implying that you need to have some self-control, whether it is over your actions or your feelings. You have to maintain your "cool," as they say. And that's exactly what a cool attitude is: the ability to control ones' emotions when one doesn't have control over the situation, just like professor of philosophy, Thorsten Botz-BorNstein, says.
Staying "cool" means not letting others, no matter how much powerful they are than you in controlling the situation, manipulate your actions. It also applies to things like non-violent protests. For example, Ai Weiwei is a famous contemporary artist in China. His sculpture and pictures reflect his dissatisfaction with the Chinese Communist Party to signify human rights. He strongly speaks against the CCP. And, consequently, the government, ruled by the CCP, has become very angry with him and has arrested him with false charges. However, he still speaks against the government, strongly, and continues to criticize it in his works of art. This example shows us how Weiwei stands uprights and "cool," even though a force as strong as the government is after him. Another example is Mahatma Gandhi and his famous, non-violent approach to the British rule in India. He carried out his protests by telling his fellow Indians to boycott British goods. Also, when the prices of salt were augmented, he told them that they could make their own salt. Hundreds and thousands of Indians followed him as he went by the beach to "pick up" salt. This example also shows us how staying cool means not letting the actions of the powerful effect your own.
Similarly, being "cool" also means controlling your feelings, but still not giving in, to something that seems unfair to you. For example, recently, as my exams finished, I spent a lot of time in chatting around with my friends. We were so engrossed in conversations about crashing a Muslim wedding, that we didn't realize how quickly the time has passed and that we now needed to head towards our own rooms for "quiet time." We also didn't realize how much noise we were making and that the dormparent would be angry because of this. She barged into the room and told us to return to our rooms. She looked particularly angry at me, and it could have been due to my loud, "obnoxious" voice. She snapped at me and angrily told me that she didn't like my behavior. At first, a deep anger arose in my chest, but, I managed to push it down and control my emotions. I nonchalantly waved goodbye to my friends and skipped down the hall, humming to myself. The whole time, I could feel her anger piercing my back, but I ignored it. Because of my reaction then, she dislikes me even more now. However, this experience shows that if one learns to control her emotions, she will have successfully managed to act the "cool" way.
These two examples clearly show us how being "cool" means not letting a higher or equal force manipulate our actions and emotions. We learn to stay in control and to stay "cool."
