Jack Paar mentioned that he once had said to a young 
friend, “Why do you kids use ‘cool’ to mean ‘hot’? The friend 
replied, “Because you folks used up the word ‘hot’ before we 
came along.” It is true that “cool” is often used nowadays to 
mean what used to be conveyed by “hot.” Formerly a “hot 
argument” meant one in which people were deeply involved. On 
the other hand, a “cool attitude” used to mean one of 
detached objectivity and disinterestedness. In those days the 
word “disinterested” meant a noble quality of fair-mindedness. 
Suddenly it got to mean “couldn’t care less.” The word “hot” 
has fallen into similar disuse as these deep changes of outlook 
have developed. But the slang term “cool” conveys a good deal 
besides the old idea of “hot.” It indicates a kind of commitment 
and participation in situations that involves all of one’s 
faculties. In that sense, one can say that automation is cool, 
whereas older mechanical kinds of specialist or fragmented