What are some things people think are cool but really arent?

Drinking. It's one of the more damaging drugs but it's completely normalized because it's legal. Even people who don't have drinking problems per se, Ares still harming their health way more than they realize.

Driving dangerously.
You are not in fast'n'fourious, you are just a piece of shit endangering every one around you

Being able to identify adult videos/actresses on sight. Like, multiple. I can understand someone having a favorite or something, but some people are like walking porn IMDBs.
- Not sure who thinks this is cool but, yeah, that's not a convo I'm jumping in on.

War.

illicit drug culture.

Being part of a marginalized or oppressed group.
- Am a member of 3. Can confirm it's shit.

Not wearing a seatbelt and not wearing a helmet.
- My pet peeve is people cycling with a helmet but not doing it up. It's so blatantly stupid- you get none of the benefits, and all of the negatives.

Vaping/smoking.

Loud cars. So fucking lame.
- And loud motorcycles.
  And the ice cream truck playing jingles. I am not a fan of people driving trucks into neighbourhoods and playing loud music to advertise.
- Another reason to look forward to electric vehicles! Imagine a world 20 years from now where the noise is vanishing, the gasoline/deisel smell is only for the diehards going to that one remaining service station that still sells it, no more visible emissions from cars or rolling coal!
- Or motorcycles in the city.
  
  Or motorcycles in the street in front of your house/apartment. It's so fucking annoying.
- The resonator on my old car blew out and sounded obnoxiously loud for like a month, I felt like such a dork commuting it to work. I genuinely felt so happy to have it quietened again.
- I don't think these people necessarily think it's cool either. They want attention and to annoy people, which is what they get.
  
  I’m a semi car guy and I made my car “louder” on purpose. It wasn’t for attention or to make girls wet. It was literally because I liked the sound, and it’s less restrictive, which means more horsepower.
  I get that some are obnoxious, and I’m not saying they’re not doing it for attention. But, some of us just want to enjoy our car.
- I'm about two months into owning a fully-electric vehicle (not a Tesla, thank goodness), and I have a hard time getting over how wonderfully quiet it is. And it's one of the qualities I couldn't wait to experience.
- Even worse with motorcycles. Seems like most people own motorcycles specifically for "fun" (waste fuel and make noise).
  And just generally being loud. Even regular cars can be loud if you drive like an asshole.
  
  Motorcycles I can kind of understand. Some people believe that making their cycle loud makes it more “visible” to other drivers, helping to prevent accidents. I don’t think there’s been any studies to prove this, but I can understand why people buy into it.
  
  For real. Every time my partner and I go on a walk and some jackass roars by I sarcastically yell "Oh my God, I'm so wet now!"

Calling yourself "Alpha". If you have to say it out loud, you are definitely not the Alpha.
- Sounds like something a beta would say
  
  Sounds like something an alpha would say

Weed.
- Reading a study today saying that it's being linked to dementia. Personally I can't wait. I want to know what its like to be able to listen to trump without it feeling like someone is beating you in the head with a hammer.
  
  Had to look that up quick!! ER visits for marijuana linked to dementia diagnosis within 5 years. Such an odd qualifier.

I’m gonna sound like a boomer but cigarettes and not using PPE, including with recreational activities such as motorcycling and hobby crafts.
Becoming a meat crayon isn’t worth “looking cool.”
- Around here it's the boomers who are smoking cigarettes!
- I think you just sound like a rational human being that doesn't consistently use their emotions for decision making.

Cryptocurrency and AI
- I've got a close elderly family member who's recently gotten fixated on investing in crypto, watching all the YouTube videos on the subject.
  I don't know enough about it to confidently say they're going to lose all their money, I've never looked into it because it just screams get rich quick scheme, but I don't have high hopes for them.
  
  I don't know enough about it to confidently say they're going to lose all their money
  It happened to my relative. They didn't lose everything, but they lost enough that they're shopping for a mobile home for retirement, when they previously could have bought a small house.
  
  I put $50 out of random paychecks into BTC.
  It’s done pretty well and I’ve bought a few toys with the profits.
- Monero and LTC are pretty cool. I don't care about the scam/meme coins. AI is also super useful if you're using it correctly.
  
  I like monero. Privacy is important and there really isn't another way to pay online anonymously.
  I wish there was an easier way to do it though and more places accepted it.

The outside of a space station in sunlight (~121° C or ~250° F)
- Does it feel like that? I know some bits of space are super hot but there's not enough stuff there to get that energy to a person suspended in it. I guess being right next to the ISS might do it.

being a billionaire
- The thing with money is you always want more. It's never enough.
- Flashing money. Loud "notice me" logos on everything, although I don't know how many wealthy people do that.

Contrarianism. Being anti-"Popular Thing" just for the sake of being anti-"Popular Thing" marks you out as having no thoughts worth hearing out.
- As somebody who was anti for a loooong time, 100% this. It's a bad mindset, and it affects your wellbeing.
- But what if I really like Linux
  
  You wanna really be a contrarian? Use Windows. Everyone in tech is already on a MacBook or Linux
  
  Then you're not being anti-"popular thing" you're being pro-linux
- Or you're neurodivergent and you're naturally anti anything that has the potential to be remotely popular

Smoking weed in the park and dropping the N bomb constantly.
- Now that cigarettes are finally going away, it was nice to breathe fresh air for a bit, but it’s getting worse again. There are so many cannabis options that don’t ruin other people’s enjoyment of the outdoors, can’t smoking just go away entirely?
  There’s this one bench area on our town common that permanently reeks of pot smoking. It’s outside, no one around, yet it still stinks. And it stinks enough that walking g by on the sidewalk is unpleasant.
  Or that riverwalk, where we can enjoy brief experiences of nature in between all the islands of pot smoke.
- I always liked smoking weed in the park. Usually in my car or out on a secluded trail. Never felt the need to drop n bombs tho
  
  Obviously weren't cool enough
  /s
- I was going to find some extremely old racial epithet that starts with an N, so obscure it wouldn't offend anyone anymore. But I decided I don't want to Google "obscure ethnic slurs" today, so I decided to skip this comment.
- Nancy

Clever insults rather than substantial discussion or "to cut off heads in order to appear taller," rather than doing the work to actually be a better version of self.
Moaning about issues without putting in effort or taking any risks to correct issues.

Certain kinds of rightwingers. Some of them are quiet about it, but the loud ones are often extremely obnoxious and clearly think they're hot shit.

Having a car, working at some notable brand company.
Bragging.
- I hate having a car. I think it's stupid and unnecessarily expensive.

Politics
- Do people think politics are cool? It's the most toxic bullshit in existence...
  
  Imagine politics as a way to get something done, for the citizens, not has some hate and lie fueled toxic race to the bottom decimating public services, standing in the world, and the economy
  
  Politics can be really cool.
  But, currently politics is very much not cool.

Luigi Mangione.
- I agree, he's potentially killed someone because of his own beliefs. Yes, health care is awful, yes the CEO has done despicable things but no, you can't just kill someone.

Slam!
- The metal subgenre?

Personal transport vehicles of any type.
- Bicycles?
  
  Are bicycles cool? They're not bad like a loud motorcycle, but "cool"?
  
  Is a bicycle a vehicle? ...are legs vehicles? Now I'm scared.

bicycling/lists, they turned out to be douches in our area whining and complaining about certain legislation that doesnt benefit them, reduced the size of the roads just for them. you know they are one of them, when th ey have all that bicyling gear on them,
- reduced the size of the roads just for them
  Reducing the size of roads actually makes it better for everyone. It reduces the rate of traffic fatalities by reducing speed. It's especially important for pedestrians and anyone in a car that's not a giant fucking truck or SUV.
- Bicycle lanes are always a chicken/egg problem, If you build safe bicycle lanes (and not just drop some painting on the road without changing anything else) you'll drag more cyclist, which in the end let more space on the road for people who really need it. It's annoying for the car-drivers, but it's not like car aren't annoyance for the rest of the population either. Too many cities gave the priority to car in absurd proportions.
  Regarding traffic code, it's a complicated topic, there is some minor changes of rules which are really making cycling more efficient, I am thinking about the right-turn on red or the dual way bike-lane in single-way street (when technically possible). On the other hand, some cyclists indeed ignore every possible regulation, all while not having the experience to understand what's safe and what isn't
  
  the last part, they even got the city to not ticket bicyclist for running red lights.
- Ah thanks for the tip. I would never have guessed the people with cycling gear on them to be cyclists.