The concept of a fedora

So, we've seen the term fedora bandied about here frequently, but what exactly does the term entail?

We can be sure that the term has expanded past its origins as an appeal to style meant to shame atheists into silence, as it's used quite frequently in subjects not even remotely related to religion (art for instance). So we must look at the deeper traits of the idea, the basic patterns of behavior that were being mocked. Because although it was used to mock atheists in general, it did so by evoking a very specific stereotype of them; this being most observable in that iconic quote about being enlightened by one's own intelligence.

I look at the term, and I see within it a commentary on a deeper, and more pervasive pattern common among social awkward young men (though perhaps not exclusive to them). The sorts who have little social success and consider themselves to be above-average in their own intelligence. This behavior can be observed in a sort of "matter-of-fact," "common-sense," evaluation of things that refuses to consider the deeper, and ephemeral natures of things, and automatically considers a different perspective than their own to be borne of idiocy. The "fedora" has in their mind done all the growing they need to do, has shit figured out, and is now set to fix the rest of the world.

We see this among some atheists, in which they refuse to accept that the reasons for belief people experience feel very real to them and are not just wishful thinking or stupidity (to be fair, we see this with many Christians here as well, when it comes to other religions). We see this in art threads when they trot out Ilya Repin's famous work and refuse to consider that beauty does not mean strictly "pretty pictures" (or harmonious if they're particularly well-spoken) or that skill does not have to go into creating photorealism.

Is this really history or even humanities?

We can even see this among the trend towards authoritarian politics (traditionalism, fascism, Marxism-Leninism) among such individuals. Who see a society driven by values that to them are rooted in stupidity, weakness, or just plain moral degeneracy, and think the obvious solution is to force others to accept their own.

Now. in recognizing this tendency, I believe a betterment of our intellectual culture can be achieved. We've seen it happen before, when the Internet first exploded due to social media and the rise of smart phones, forcing geekdom to collectively look at themselves and see that their shit did indeed stink. An example of this can be found in the decline of the "Nice Guy" concept on the Internet.

Is examining ideas, personality traits, and sociological tendencies humanities?

shut up cuck

>when the Internet first exploded due to social media and the rise of smart phones
Do you seriously think it's a good thing?

Absolutely. Geek culture being forced to examine itself has been nothing but a boon. I miss the sense of honest sincerity that you could find in the pre-social media internet, but the fact is, betterment requires self-criticism and the Internet wasn't facilitating that.

it means being an edgy pseudo-intellectual.
That's what i love about the internet.
It may tolerate your stuff for a while, but once you start acting all "i'm better than you" in everyone's face, you get mocked ruthlessly, from sjw's, to /pol/tards, to uber-patriots, to an-caps.

how come anime girls are an exception this this rule and can be as smug as they want?

Because posting smug anime girls is the highest form of argumentation.

>Implying the Rise of Faux Nerds is a good thing

Absolutely. Being forced to defend your identity from poseurs forces you to actually consider what your identity entails.

>So, we've seen the term fedora bandied about here frequently, but what exactly does the term entail?
Lack of awareness of dated social signalling. People give out various social cues to other people to signal ideas they want other people to have about them.

This isn't strictly speaking, dishonest or a bad thing. People want to signal aspects of their personality to attract like minded people, and everyone likes having information right in front you there. A dude bro wears a popped coller to signal to sloots exactly what he is, and to signal me not to hang out with that guy.

The problem is when we have a quality that is almost universally desirable, and in limited supply, such as being 'cool', smart or kind. Signalling methods for this are highly complex, because as soon as they're figured out, they get massively overused, and the signal gets degraded.

The fedora is an example of a massively outdated signal, that the only users of it have a total lack of self-awareness. People who wear fedoras think they make them look cool, because they've seen people in media wear them, and look cool.

They fail to realize that wearing a fedora in 2016 makes them look like a jackass, and instead signals that they are probably physically weak and socially inept.

*tips fedora* relies on a subconscious connection the viewer sees between these behaviors. Atheism is a prime target of this, because at some point, back in the early 2000s, aggressive atheist rhetoric was a fairly new phenomenon. Now it is, quite literally "old hat." The people who band about this rhetoric continue to act as if they are exposing profound insights and radical, anti-doctrinal thinking, but mostly they're just loudly declaring what most people believe, and stifling meaningful discussion with the ones who disagree. Thus, the signal disconnect: They imagine this makes them seem clever, avant-garde, and intellectual, and it instead makes them seem childish, small minded and above all, boorish.

Good analysis.

This rule is why *tips fedora* is applied to seemingly contradictory positions as well, such as both MRA proponents and male feminists. Aren't those the same thing?

No, because MRAs believe they're dropping truth bombs no one else can handle, and don't realize that everyone can see that they're extremely poorly socialized and projecting their own internal fantasies everywhere.

And outspoken male feminists imagine they are presenting themselves as kind, intelligent, thoughtful individuals, but they are usually loudly proclaiming themselves to be narcissistic Nice Guys.

It goes for all fedorable positions:
"Might makes right, the weak should fear the strong" indicates that you're probably a deeply sheltered suburbanite.

Similarly, loudly proclaiming the violence you'd like to do to terrorists/criminals/whatever usually signals that you have a great fear of and limited experience with violence.

The *tips* meme also is popular because it shuts down and short circuits part of the fedora wearers fantasy. If you argue with them, you are usually playing a role preset for you: a small minded bigot, a libcuck, a closet mysoginist, whatever. Years on the internet makes you very familiar with the pattern, and realize that arguments are what these people want.

All of these positions are, in one was or another, a Fedora. Something the owner puts on and believes will create one impression to the world, blithely unaware that he's created the opposite.

I didn't think anything good would come out of this thread, but you proved me wrong

Aren't those total opposites*

Fuck.

Damn dude. That sounds pretty spot-on. You blew my own attempt out of the water.

Very good

Well played good sir. I've got upvotes to spare for such a cutting diatribe *tips fedora*

(I'd like to add here that using fancy words incorrectly also seems to be a common thread with fedora tippers)

Your analysis is great, but I think you've focused perhaps on the wrong point. You're working on what they're expressing and what they're seeking, but I think the term fedora itself can be used as a shorthand to express the idea of this sort of person, their essence, because I believe there is a common thread among these people. You acknowledge it as well by pointing out their absence of self-awareness.

>origins as an appeal to style meant to shame atheists into silence
It was never meant to shame atheist into silence. It was born out of people bing sick of a particular brand of nu-atheist (who may be exemplified by the amazing atheist and his followers) who had oversaturated discourse in the early and mid 2000s with their repetitive views.

My first encounter with it was over on /pol/ back when I first remember it rising to prominence, and I remember it being used mostly against garden-variety atheists who didn't consider Christianity a necessary component of some sort of idealized "degeneracy-free society," so my opinion on it may be skewed.

>*tips fedora* relies on a subconscious connection the viewer sees between these behaviors. Atheism is a prime target of this, because at some point, back in the early 2000s, aggressive atheist rhetoric was a fairly new phenomenon. Now it is, quite literally "old hat." The people who band about this rhetoric continue to act as if they are exposing profound insights and radical, anti-doctrinal thinking, but mostly they're just loudly declaring what most people believe, and stifling meaningful discussion with the ones who disagree. Thus, the signal disconnect: They imagine this makes them seem clever, avant-garde, and intellectual, and it instead makes them seem childish, small minded and above all, boorish.
This so much

Is any non beanie/baseball cap hat basically fedora tier at this point?

Any fashion article is mostly a matter of how you wear it. The fedora became so maligned because it became associated with geeks who considered a hat to be a replacement for a sense of style.

Some hat ware never goes out of style.

>Faux Nerds
>not Nu-Nerds

M'lady

no

Cool thread, OP.

the fact that an aesthetic matter is so stretchedly connected to a whole behaviour and way of 'thinking', or lack thereof, is because it is all based on appearence.
The fact that they dress a certain way just because they think a certain way is laughable. Not sure if i'm making any sense.... it's hard to explain