I define a hipster to be someone who, when given a choice between different musics or haircuts or cars etc, tries to choose the least popular option. A community with at least 10% hipsters has advantages over a community only of people trying to make the best decisions for themselves.
In Hipster World, every musician gets discovered and gets at least a little support. Sometimes artists that seem terrible or too weird become very important and make music history richer and more varied. If a once weird artist becomes popular then the hipsters may drop off, but that doesn’t matter because the artist has already made a dent in everyone’s minds.
In Normy World, every song has some catch at the very start that convinces people it is worthwhile to hear the entire song. People usually listen to what their friends recommend as a safe bet of something nice for your ears. New and different artists have trouble getting footing.
Our Hipsters don’t try to pick the most innovative seeming option, they just pick what others have not done. When zippers first come out they are ugly and abtrusive, but hipsters try them out, giving enough time for zippers to be practical and useful. Many of the things in your closet started out as strange,] gawky clothing.
The same argument goes for most useful modern technologies. Anyone who had an IPhone in 2007 was certainly a hipster. Today around two billion people use a smartphone, and most of them consider it essential.
Right now, go to BIRP.FM and listen to the latest playlist. If you need even weirder then email some of those artists asking for recommendations.
Next time you are at a restuarant ask for their least popular dish. It may be very tasty.
Public Domain Dedication.