The bone I have to pick with modern day Society, is that the ideology is so loser oriented. What that means is that I think humans don’t believe in their own self agency as much, we seem to not think that we have that much control over our destiny our bodies our souls etc.

The will to ERIC?

Ever since I was a kid, ever since I was a fat 1112-year-old kid in New York, my mom was working two full-time jobs, my dad was a deadbeat, just watching TV and movies at home all day, and I was a fat kid. I remember having a triple chin in the humid York summers, not being able to fall asleep because all the chins stacked on top of each other, and I couldn’t fall asleep until I rub some Vaseline under my chins. I think I even recall weighing myself as a kid, maybe at around 11 years old, I think I was 120 pounds, and pretty short? This was before puberty.

I think the issue was way too much orange juice, hot pockets, sugary stuff, without knowing it. Also lots of barbecue sauce, ketchup etc.

Anyways, at the age of 11, I made a vow to change things. Our friend Spencer laughs in warm recollection of how I started putting rocks in my backpack, running around Bayside queens, trying to get fit. I asked my mom to buy me some weights, some dumbbells, and I still recall, her purchasing me 15 pound dumbbells, and eventually I got strong enough that I could stack 215 pound dumbbells on top of each other, and lift them as 30 pounds. Then later, Getting 50 pound dumbbells etc.

So one thing that a lot of people don’t know about me, which even predates Tarpy, is my passion for a diet health fitness working out muscles etc. I’ve literally tried everything. High fat low-fat, high carb low-carb, intermittent fasting, 7 to 8 small meals a day, bodybuilding etc.  More recently powerlifting, now it is tending more towards strongman style. 

“Realistic” vs “unrealistic” body goals?

So this is a big differentiation between men and women; men want to get super jacked like the terminator, and look like the Incredible Hulk or orc, which is typically done by doing steroids, artificial testosterone injections and consumptions, etc. Women on the other hand seem to want to look slim, Have a big butt, big breast etc.; and a certain facial structure which is predicated on make up, plastic surgery and Botox, breast and butt augmentation.

So this is the difference:

1. For women, the ideal body look and facial look is achieved through plastic surgery
2. For men, the ideal body look physique and composition is achieved through steroids

---

Simple

OK I have a super simple suggestion for both men and women;

1. First, 100% carnivore diet both for men and women. Plants are for cows.

 a diet which is predominantly organ meat, grass fed meat, bone marrow etc. If you live in LA, just go to Gelson’s and ask them to cut you some bone marrow in the back. Or if you just go to the local markets or organic markets, the often have frozen beef liver in the fridge or whatever.

For men and women, liver might be one of the most nutritious food items on the planet.

Therefore, if you’re just out and about with your kid and you see some organ meets at Whole Foods or wherever, just buy it and deal with it later.

2. Being outside and physical fitness

So there are a lot of people who have therapist and mental things they want to deal with etc.; I was asking my friend Jeffrey about this, who is now a young therapist, studying to be a psychiatrist, and I asked him:

as a therapist, are you allowed to prescribe exercise or physical activity for your patients?

 he said no. Because in America, we have a strange relationship with our bodies. On one hand, I think a lot of people desire to just become like a vessel, a brain in fishbowl. People are fools; they don’t seem to understand that the truth is I wonder if 99% of our “mental illnesses”, or actually physical in origin. 

For example, being outside, direct access to the direct sun and UV radiation, I would rather get skin cancer than be miserable and be inside all day.

Second, some sort of physical activity or exercise. This is both critical foreman and women. In ancient Sparta, I believe the girls trained as hard as the boys.

Also in ancient Sparta, they predicted correctly that one women were physically fit, they would get stronger children. 

“Do you do CrossFit?”

One of the best low-key compliments that I’ve been getting from people is this:

“Do you do CrossFit?”

It seems that this compliment is mostly from women — which is a low-key way of saying “I think you look good and sexy”.

In fact, my personal pro tip is all of your clothes should be sleeveless. Just wear a tank top, and a sleeveless down vest on top, always show off your shoulders you’re trapped in your bare arms; let everybody know how jacked you are. 

Make yourself the object of fascination 

So this is another weird bias; it seems that modern-day society, we are not allowed or permitted to be into ourselves. There is this weird duty to become like somebody else?

For example, typically the choir says “You must be like Jesus”. But, we forget that Jesus was not a pushover. He went to the temple, the Jewish temple, saw all of the money changers inside the temple, and cattle, brought out a whip and whipped them all out and said “how dare you do commerce inside my father‘s house!” Let us also not forget that Jesus was Jewish. 

Also, being here in Culver City, which is essentially the new Hollywood, you see a lot of people personalities and individuals who look like they’re in media. Attractive interesting looking people. But funny thing is that a lot of them are actually very short in real life. Even a lot of these rappers, Kanye West I think is only 5 foot seven, even Jeff Bezos is only 5 foot seven! also people don’t know that Kim Kardashian is short; she might only be 5 feet tall?

What is the will to power? 

For myself, I have always believed that “If you really want it, and you set your mind to it, you can get it.”

For example body goals. It is very very very very easy for all human beings to become more beautiful, by lowering your body fat percentage, even without exercise. The simple thing is this:

1. Quit all sugars starches dairy cheese lactose, nuts, legumes, pasta rice etc. even the “good ones“.
2. Quit all bread, fiber, etc.
3. Quit alcohol all of it, even red wine; new studies are showing that even two alcoholic beverages a week, even red wine can actually increase your chance of getting cancer 
4. Quit smoking marijuana or taking CBD stuff
5. Quit fruit, vegetables etc. 

So what do we eat instead?

1. Organ meats: beef hard, beef liver, beef kidney, also bone marrow. A super simple thing to do is when you have a bunch of bones, beef bones etc., just toss it into a pot or instant pot, add some water, boil it, and you could drink the broth!
2. Eat lamb, beef, beef neck bone, red meat. The redder the better. Don’t eat pork because pork is white meat, don’t eat chicken or turkey and certainly no breast.
3. Eat 100% grass fed beef, short ribs, ribs, beef neck bone, etc.
4. four “vegetables“, don’t eat vegetables… Only dark leafy greens. This is colored greens, kale, anything bitter. Bitter is better. 

Beverages?

Beverages are simple: just drink water, tapwater, filtered water whatever, and black coffee, nothing added to it.

Don’t drink milk, real or fake, it is all just sugar in disguise with a good conscience.

Exercise

The thing with exercise that it should not be some sort of weird moralistic duty. Rather, we should think of it like play, pure joy. Autotelic exercise means the exercise and you do stuff and you move around and lift weights for fun! 

For example, a very interesting thing that I’ve observed about Seneca is that he never stands still; he is always moving around! He stands, he sits, he crawls around on his knees, he squats. Also a very interesting thing:

Whenever Seneca wants to pick something up, he always squats all the way down, full sumo style squat, ass to grass, every single time.  

And now that I think about it, because he’s playing with toys all day, he might do this, what– a 1000 times a day? 

Same thing goes with him picking up rocks and throwing around rocks! He’s not rewarded for throwing rocks nor does he do it for “exercise“, in order to “build muscle“, or “get fit”. Seneca throws rocks because it is fun, funny, and interesting to him! I wonder if it all is just like a physics experiment for him.

I think this is also my passion for weightlifting, one rep max lifting, always increasing your personal records. To me it is just a physics exercise and experiment;

How far can we push the human body, how strong can we become, without the use of steroids?

400 pound sandbags, and 2000 pound lifts 

I was randomly on Google and YouTube, and I saw this thing like  on the history channel, history of the worlds strongest man something like that, and it was centered around the idea of seeing whether the strong men could lift 2000 pounds.

Essentially Brian Shaw, the strongest of them all, also it seems that he is the best of taking steroids, was the winner. Apparently the other guy who attempted the same, an older guy with knee reps, was he able to do it, but tweaked something in his upper shoulders? 

I think one of the protest moments of my life was when I was able to successfully lift 1000 pounds, which I coined the “Atlas lift“. And now that I think about it, seeing those other guys do it, I’m sure if I kept my training up, I could eventually get to 1100 pounds, 1200 pounds, 1300 pounds, 1400 pounds, 1500 pounds and beyond. Maybe I cannot do 2000 pounds, because I don’t take steroids, but still… It is all achievable without steroids. Also I do it all while fasting. 

Anything and everything is possible

Another thing that I’ve been doing quite religiously the last seven years or so is intermittent fasting, no breakfast no lunch, only one insanely big dinner a day. I aim for at least 4 to 6 pounds of meat for dinner every sitting. During the day, I just drink water and black coffee, and I’ll wait until dinner time.

To a lot of people that seems impossible, but obviously it is not. In the beginning obviously you get some hunger pangs, but, my solution is simple: 

If you want to start intermittent fasting, the night before, eat 5 pounds of beef short rib, bone marrow, beef liver; the trifecta. I can guarantee you won’t be hungry until dinner time the next day. 

In fact, almost want to become like a food diet fitness exercise advisor to some of my favorite heroes, Elon Musk, Kanye West.

Elon musk looks terrible. I think he should start doing some sort of hot sauna, spend more time doing meetings outside in the sun, get into weightlifting, eating more organ meats, bone marrow etc. I’m still convinced; bone marrow, which Achilles was raised on, is the most superior and supreme steroid of all time. 

Just do some research with Google and ChatGPT; the majority of the diet of Achilles as a young child was bone marrow, and organ meat; heart, bone marrow, etc.

Scientism

Do not trust any food diet health science from any of these skinny fat loser academic scientist types. First of all just look at them; they are all pale and sickly, no muscle mass whatever. They might be into running or at worst — rock climbing– which is bad because it is all indoors typically.

This insidious idea that “a calorie is a calorie”, and the notion” calories in, calories out.”

Let us do a thought experiment. Let us say that you lift weights every single day, and you had two options:

Consume 2000 cal of Twinkies versus 2000 cal of bone marrow and beef heart.

Let us just think; at the end of it, who is going to look better? Who’s going to get fat? Certainly the person eating Twinkies. 

Also, another thought experiment; this one is in regards to “protein”, which I think is also a bit of a scam. If you’re a bodybuilder weightlifter or whatever, and every day you eat 500 grams of protein via  P protein powder versus beef liver, who is going to get more jacked, whose testosterone is going to be higher? Of course the guy eating beef liver.

Increasing your testosterone

Very very simple guys; and also women, the goal is to get your testosterone up. And the best food items to get your testosterone up is beef hard, beef liver, beef kidneys, bone marrow etc. The more cholesterol the food has, the better.

Experiment more with your diet, less with your technology?

OK now the new high watermark at least for mainstream devices is the Apple Vision Pro, $3499. Just think to yourself:

How many packets of bone marrow, beef liver, beef hard, beef kidney etc. can this buy me? 

Read ancient

The only thing I trust is ancient literature on things food health diet etc.

For example, the Iliad, the odyssey, etc. Why? This is before they had all of this nonsensical “woke“ or “politically correct” BS. The Greeks the ancient Greeks, were the highest men and humans of all time; no weak feelings, they delighted in cruelty and joy in humans, the human body. 

---

Make the body sexy and beautiful again

The biggest complaint or the biggest rebuttal against eating meat, being a carnivore etc. is that “it is bad for the planet“. This is a bunch of BS. What else is bad for the planet? Your Tesla, your Prius, your iPhone, your iPhone Pro, your AirPods, Amazon prime, through Netflix, etc. And also your dog.

Therefore, put zero trust or turn a deaf ear to anybody who invokes all this nonsensical thoughts on environmentalism; they are all fake.

Why do people buy Teslas? Not because they are “good for the environment“, but because they are sexy!

---

Now what?

1. So speculate yourself via your diet, what you eat and what you don’t eat, as well as weightlifting equipment. Go to Titan.fitness, and allow yourself to buy a bunch of weightlifting equipment and toys. Some things I recently ordered and got the mail, insanely fast, I think it literally came within a day or two, was the “loadable farmer carry hack bar, farmer’s carry walk bar”, easy loadable farmers carry handles, attachments for my T3 independent squat rack for dips and chin-ups, and also something I’m very excited for; a 60 pound weight vest, which I might just take with me on my daily walks, or even hiking, or when I’m hanging out with Seneca.
2. Give yourself a $1000 food speculation fund: load it up with bone marrow, organ meats, grass fed beef etc. 
3. Quit media: quit your Netflix, cancel it all. No Hulu, Apple TV, Apple TV+, Disney, Disney+, HBO, HBO Max etc. If you want to watch something, just buy it on the Apple store, Apple TV store, and just watch it.

---

other things

Other things and suggestions include spending more time being a nature! I think for anybody who is in a poor mood, assuming that the sun is out, go to the beach, go on a hike! Find some easy nature hike trails close to your place, you don’t need to drive more than 20 or 30 minutes.

And also suggestion: turn off your phone, all the way off, and just keep it locked inside your glove compartment. Or if you take your phone with you, turn it off 100%.

---

What else?

My secret to happiness is simple; 30,000 steps a day, and spend at least eight hours a day outside!

ERIC

---



Quick thoughts:

First, happiness it is a physiological phenomenon. What that means is happiness should not be seen as related to money, external goods and objects, cars homes etc. Rather, climate, sunlight, exposure to the sun, I wonder if a lot of these people who experience seasonal affected this disorder is just this bad Modern day phenomenon in which everyone is just stuck indoors, or at home all day.

The problem with working from home

Observing some of my apartment mates, and other people I witness working from home, or just the modern day office worker, the big problem in issue here is that when you work from home, people become strange.

For example, I know one of my apartment maids, spending too much time at home he becomes strangely weird, suspicious, almost like the typical scared person who lives in the suburbs.

Also, just peering into the apartments of others, they spent too much time sedentary, too much time sitting on the couch, on the laptop, long back on the couch on their phone, watching baseball and hockey and football, essentially, watching other people be active.

The panacea

My intervention and idea is very simple: perhaps everyone should just have an iPhone Pro, an iPad Pro, with some sort of 5G connection, preferably Verizon, and everyone should just work off the grid. This means people could just work in the great outdoors, at the local nature center or park, And also I think people should have the courage to do boring zoom calls while going on a hike.

I was at the Baldwin Hills overlook hike path on the top, and actually saw a girl walking her dog and practicing her lines for some sort of actress script. Very good idea.

SAD?

Essentially seasonal effectiveness disorder is a phenomenon in which one is lacking contact with the direct sun and UV rays. The strange bias in two days world is that somehow, we are all afraid of the sun, afraid of getting sunburnt, skin cancer, all these harmful UV rays etc. But I think these concerns are over warranted; certainly you spend 12 hours in the direct sun, in subsea in Africa, totally naked, that is probably not a good idea. The visual I get is the emperor in the Apple TV series foundation, in which he does his funny pilgrimage, in the desert planet, and his body totally becomes all red and toasted.

My practical thoughts; maybe it is better to live a shorter life, get skin cancer or whatever, and be happy during that duration, rather than living a long and miserable life. 

Natural vs not natural?

I am still a little bit suspicious of sunblock and sunscreen. Maybe it is good when you spent all day at the beach, but for typical every day activities, maybe not a good idea. I wonder if the downside of sunblock and sunscreen is that it actually positively prevent your body from absorbing positive UV radiation from the sun.

I suppose if one is really really concerned you could just buy one of those funny hiking hats from REI, put on a facemask and totally cover up your whole body.

Skin face?

Another bias between men and women; traditionally in a lot of cultures in the world, especially Asia and Korea, whiteness is perceived as superior. Why? It was a status thing; the poor peasants had to work in the fields, while the royalty were able to stay indoors out of the sun.

In fact, many cultures around the world see the same; in India and south Asia, the elite area Indians on top, more light skinned, and seen as more more good. The darker, untouchables… were seen as bad, evil, base.

If you read the book of man who, the way that he talks about the untouchable; pretty bad. The idea is that  they are only permitted to bathe in unclean waters, they could only eat with their left hand, and they are only given rotten food, onions to eat. In ancient Hindu text, and the cast system in India; they are very mercurial about it, no hard feelings.

Aryans are on top, untouchables on bottom.

---

Back to the sun

Being here in LA, I find that the happiest people are the “beach buns “. What is a beach bomb? Somebody who lives in Malibu, and just spend all day surfing at the beach. Even about a week or two ago, we saw a bunch of students, Undergraduates girls and guys, all at the beach, having a great and jolly time, and all eventually stripping down to their swimwear and running into the water together. It was actually a very beautiful sight. 

LA people can be happier

One thing I love about LA is for the most part, the sun is up all year round. I suppose the upside of LA versus Arizona and Nevada is that while LA has a lot of sun, it never gets too hot. Apparently in Arizona and Nevada during the summer months, it is literally untenable to be out in the sun. Therefore you become the more people, staying indoors with air-conditioning.

Why were the ancient Greeks so productive and happy?

I think the ancient Greeks were so productive and happy because their climate was perfect. With a mild Mediterranean weather, it never gets too hot nor too cold. Apparently in the mountainside it could get pretty cold, but never like Minnesota.

If you think about it, all of the barbarian races from the past, the goths, visigoths etc — there are barbarism comes from the fact that they had to deal with such cruel weather. Also think about the Germans, the dramatic tribe; if you have ever spent a winter in Berlin, you will know how miserable it is. That is why the rent is so cheap.

How to live happy in LA

I think Peter Thiel moved down to LA, and actually one of my great gratitude and life was moving to LA, getting into UCLA as an undergraduate. Why?

First, students are just way happier. I still remember when I was maybe a freshman or a sophomore, walking around and down Bruun walk, in the middle of December, and you see all these girls and booty shorts and tank tops and spaghetti strap tank tops.

As a guy, this is great! And also, typically when the sun is out, people are happy and in a good mood.

Why are college students so happy?

My theory on why college students are so happy is that for the most part, most undergraduates don’t own cars, and their lifestyle is 100% pedestrian. Being in university is like a pseudo Utopia; you meet new friends, you hang out, you feel unhurried and unrushed, and you are also not yet corrupted by the external world, no concerns about making money and paying rent, etc.

***

***

HOW TO BECOME HAPPIER

Simple — mostly via negativa:

1. Quit reddit– I actually wonder if reddit is worse for you than porn. Funny thought — don’t quit porn, quit reddit instead.
2. Quit alcohol and weed: just drink black coffee — EK 100% fine robusta. Also another pro tip — don’t drink arabica, just drink 100% robusta. Why? Less sugar content and sugar molecules and sweetness flavors — robusta also has more caffeine!
3. For coffee — only drink it first thing in the morning — a lot; allow yourself unlimited coffee first thing waking up in the morning. But for the rest of the day… strict abstinence.
4. Don’t go to the club, the mall, the strip club whatever. Just go on a (free) hike and start your own home gym instead! Titan fitness independent squat rack— I love it. Also rogue fitness 400 pound sandbag. Texas power squat bar.
5. Visit the local museum — LACMA, THE GETTY, GETTY VILLA IN MALBU ETC. The Getty in LA is free!
6. Read the classics — Plutarch, Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, Diogenes, Epictetus, Heraclitus, the philosophers who came before Socrates.

---

Happy exercises and activities

1. Buy vibram 5 finger shoes, just black. I like the EL-X model. Just make this your everyday shoe. Wear it to the gym, to work, grocery store, go hiking whatever. Theory — there is more intelligence in your (bare) feet than your hands?
2. Intermittent fasting: no breakfast no lunch, only one insanely massive dinner a night. I prefer 100% carnivore diet — aim for 5 pounds of beef/lamb a night. Costco Kirkland boneless lamb leg roast only $5.50 USD a pound, the new Costco wagyu American ground beef also very good– only $5USD a pound.
3. Get a Costco membership: buy all your meat, clothes there.
4. Stop using Google (free service)– also stop using Gmail. Register your own email (like eric@erickim.com) and no more Gmail. Use the Apple Mail client on your phone or laptop. Better yet,,, uninstall email from your phone. Remember once upon a time it was seen as insanely strange to have work email on your personal private phone?
5. Get paid premium ChatGPT — only $20 a month– I get at least $10,000 USD a month of metaphorical value from it every month!

---

Finances

1. Stop buying USD DOLLARS, buy Bitcoin instead. Coinbase.com is easy or the Cash app– owned by Square and Jack Dorsey. Block.xyz as parent company.
2. For clothes buy lululemon we made too much clothes — maximum quality, minimal price. Men’s shorts. Also this new ten thousand brand seems cool. Surplus sale.
3. Quit going to the gym, go on hikes or just workout at home instead.
4. Watch the movie FIGHT CLUB— Tyler Durden — “I don’t have a car!”

---

Thinking

1. When in doubt, delay. Obvious decisions are obvious and should habe ZERO ounces of hesitation! For example with life, lifestyle things, finding a place to live and home — or investing speculations etc — you should have .00000 hesitations before doing something.
2. Quit social media, medium, reddit whatever — publish all your comments, reviews etc to your own personal blog!

---

Simple — mostly via negativa:

1. Quit reddit– I actually wonder if reddit is worse for you than porn. Funny thought — don’t quit porn, quit reddit instead.
2. Quit alcohol and weed: just drink black coffee — EK 100% fine robusta. Also another pro tip — don’t drink arabica, just drink 100% robusta. Why? Less sugar content and sugar molecules and sweetness flavors — robusta also has more caffeine!
3. For coffee — only drink it first thing in the morning — a lot; allow yourself unlimited coffee first thing waking up in the morning. But for the rest of the day… strict abstinence.
4. Don’t go to the club, the mall, the strip club whatever. Just go on a (free) hike and start your own home gym instead! Titan fitness independent squat rack— I love it. Also rogue fitness 400 pound sandbag. Texas power squat bar.
5. Visit the local museum — LACMA, THE GETTY, GETTY VILLA IN MALBU ETC. The Getty in LA is free!
6. Read the classics — Plutarch, Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, Diogenes, Epictetus, Heraclitus, the philosophers who came before Socrates.

---

Happy exercises and activities

1. Buy vibram 5 finger shoes, just black. I like the EL-X model. Just make this your everyday shoe. Wear it to the gym, to work, grocery store, go hiking whatever. Theory — there is more intelligence in your (bare) feet than your hands?
2. Intermittent fasting: no breakfast no lunch, only one insanely massive dinner a night. I prefer 100% carnivore diet — aim for 5 pounds of beef/lamb a night. Costco Kirkland boneless lamb leg roast only $5.50 USD a pound, the new Costco wagyu American ground beef also very good– only $5USD a pound.
3. Get a Costco membership:

Come and get them!

Show me Greek transliteration, letter by letter

The Greek phrase “Μολὼν λαβέ” can be transliterated into the Latin alphabet as follows:

• Μ (Mu) – M
• ο (Omicron) – o
• λ (Lambda) – l
• ὼ (Omega with a rough breathing mark) – ōn
• λ (Lambda) – l
• α (Alpha) – a
• β (Beta) – b
• έ (Epsilon with an acute accent) – é

So, “Μολὼν λαβέ” is transliterated as “Molōn labé.”

All news is fake news!

”Content marketing”— Google, Google Adsense, YouTube as a platform is the bad guys here NOT Donald Trump or these weird alt right guys.

In today’s fragile uncertain world… What’s real? What’s important?

The first thought is you are real, you are important. You are the most critical thing in the world.

One of the big issues in today’s world is that nobody is allowed to posit themselves as an end into themselves. What that means is this:

typically what people believe is that you must sacrifice yourself, all of your resources whatever for the sake of humanity and other people. One is not allowed to invest all your time resources energy and money into advancing and elevating yourself.

For example, venture capitalists. The goal and purpose and telos is to invest money, seed capital or whatever into these foreign, non-human companies. 

However, companies are not real. Even the notion of company companion is somebody you share bread with.

Why not invest in individuals — real life human beings?

Or better yet, why not invest in yourself?

You is the goal

My personal take is that the problem here is religion, ethics, modern-day religious thinking. Most of the planet is governed by a form of Christianity, Catholicism, Judaism, Islam etc.… Even a lot of these “atheist“ people are essentially still in line with the Benjamin Franklin, protestant work ethic mode of living and thinking.

For example, if you look a lot of Caucasian Americans, whose family have been here for several generations, even though they’re not religious, they don’t go to church, they don’t believe in “God”, they still have protestant work ethics; they work hard, they save money, they spend a little bit money on themselves here and there, but for the most part they invest towards their kids their families their communities etc.

Even Fernandinho Galliani on his treatsie on money, DELLA MONEYA; he talks a lot about God, the creator, the deity whatever. So even we should take the opinion of Galliani with a grain of salt, because anybody who tries to justify their position by invoking God or whatever– it is typically a sign that their opinion is a bit feeble.

But it’s written in the Bible!

And yes, the Bible is just a mishmash of different early Christian father writers, and if you think about critical theology, or philology… You must understand and realize that this was all written by fallible men. 

How to advance

Honestly, I think the number one critical skill in today’s world or in general is critical thinking. Critical comes from Greek KRITIKOS, which essentially means judge, to judge, to weigh. 

So for example, we often get words a little bit confused. We misconstrue different words like “critic”, “criticism” with hate etc.

For example, we talk about criticism, typically we think of criticism like people just saying bad things about us or concepts etc. But, I think you could be a critic, a loving critic. The art of critique is to simply look at something, more objectively, without any hate or vitriol, and to just judge something for what you think it is. 

For example, somebody who is buried in the annals of history; Tacitus on the Jews. Tacitus, one of the early Roman historians, I think reading him is interesting because honestly, he just states his opinion, gives credit where it is due, gives pros and cons, but also speaks his mind. 

For example, when he is talking about the people of Judea, and is trying to outline them their cultures etc., he says both the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly. He praises Jewish people for their industry their courage their power, but also Obviously is diametrically opposed to their customs, their beliefs, which were weird foreign and anti-Roman.

In fact, I think if we critically think about Judaism, Jewish people, the descendants of Judea, it seems that the only historical thing we could really understand is that these people were the descendants of Moses. So the best way to think about Judaism as a religion, or even thinking about Christianity is to think that it was essentially a religion invented by Moses, to solidify his people, to strengthen them, And for them to persist.

Think Moses.

And also, Islam. Yeah yeah yeah we are all politically correct and whatever, but I think the critical thing is to understand Mohammed as a real life human being, the visions that he got from God were probably just some sort of hallucinations he had while in a cave, and think that the religion of Muhammad, Islam, is essentially a religion invented from a single man, Mohammed.

Religion and politics?

I remember the kid, I was bit confused; growing up Roman Catholic, Korean American, in the Liberal Bay area… I was a bit confused that if there was one God, how is it that there were other gods in the world?

Also things which were very confusing to me; Jesus was Jewish?

Also something that I’ve been discovering and rediscovering more recently, learning that in fact, the Bible starts off with the Jewish Hebrew tour Bible, I think the first three chapters of the typical Christian Bible is just Genesis and the ones in the original Jewish Bible?

Critical thinking

 so the reason why we have so many thinkers who are Jewish Jewish American Israeli etc. is that the Jewish culture is slated towards critical introspection, thinking. For example if you’re curious, whenever you see a famous author writer influencer or whatever, just open up ChatGPT, the premium one, and ask whether they are Jewish or not, or the history of their last name.

In fact in one of these anti-Semitic texts which was sponsored by Henry Ford, and Henry Ford was overly anti-Semitic, there is this article titled “the subtle art of changing last Jewish names”, and in fact, studying the genealogy of last names is super interesting because in fact, a lot of these “Jewish” sounding last names are changed in order for Jewish people to assimilate into America, American culture, different countries etc.

For example, John Stewart I believe is Jewish American, and change his last name to sound more “American”. The same thing goes with Dr. Kirk Douglas, whose family immigrated from I think Eastern Europe, Eastern Europe Jewish people, and also changed his name to sound more “American”.

Also a weird fellow, Bob Dylan, I think his original name is Andrew Zimmerman, he is Jewish American. 

Even things that I didn’t know and understand is that Jerry Seinfeld, the whole Seinfeld show, which I watched a lot as a kid of reruns and stuff like that is essentially a story about Jewish American culture in America?

Unchaining yourself from religious, ethical, or moralistic thinking

Who are the best thinkers? The ancient Greeks, the ones who came before Socrates. But still… we should take the opinion of the ancient Greeks with a grain of salt because even them, were greatly influenced by the “gymnosophists“ – gymnos in ancient Greek means naked, essentially imagine these weird hippie naked Indian people from India, who would share their sophistry or their philosophy and thinking with others.

I think a lot of early Greek thinkers like Heraclitus, Democritus etc. their thinking was hugely inspired by the gymnosophists, from India… that is why a lot of these pre-Socratic thinkers have philosophies which sound very Buddhist in nature.

1. You never step into the same river twice – Heraclitus
2. Even a hair cast its own shadow – Publius Syrus
3. The path up and down is the same – Heraclitus

---

Why is our thinking still so basic? 

OK, it is 2024– we live in insanely advanced world, how is it and why is it that we still think so basic? 

For example, it’s still befuddles me that people still take religion literally — don’t people understand that religion is all just a metaphor?

Assuming that there are no gods, no afterlife, no “immortal soul”, whatever, then the simple question is how do you wish to live your life? 

And also, what are you doing with your life? How are you using your energy time and metabolic resources, to build something beyond yourself?

Health

Health, wellness. How does it matter and what does it mean? 

The first simple thought is the quality of your thoughts, your ambitions your hopes and your dreams, your entrepreneurial spirit is rooted in your health, your body, the physical. No no no, the “mind “, doesn’t exist, it is just a fiction.

> In mens sano, alma sano.

The “saw “, is simply an offshoot of your body. When your body dies, your soul also dies.

If your body is healthy, your bodily composition your health is healthy, your mind will be healthy. People who have mental disease, whatever, the big issue is that their body is sick.

For example, I think about my father and my dad, and he was a very sick man. I have a low-key suspicion that maybe he caught syphilis somewhere? I actually recall that he had a lot of anal issues, and I still remember when I was pretty young, maybe I was 11 years old or 10 years old or nine years old? Then my mom bought him a douche, to clean out his bowels?

A lot of people who have bodily and physiological disease, end up getting mental disease. I think ultimately, I’m not 100% certain, but ultimately my dad I think either God or advanced his schizophrenia? Seeing fake images ghosts and visions, etc?

What is schizophrenia?

Schizophrenia I think in Greek just means split mind. This is an overly simplistic way of thinking about the mind because the mind cannot be “split”, according to these basic notions.

My personal theory is when one catches some sort of disease, syphilis, other ancient diseases whatever, it does weird stuff to your mind. Even Friedrich Nietzsche towards the end of his life descended into madness, he lost his mind his body his soul, was taking care of by his sister until his death.

There are some competing theories on how and why Nietzsche went mad.  One theory was he was gay and caught syphilis from another guy, and apparently there is a spurious connection or correlation, not causation, of being gay, syphilis, gay sex and syphilis?

I think this is probably false because apparently Nietzsche was madly in love with this one woman, who did not requite his love, and therefore if you look at his writings, he is very very salty about it… therefore a lot of his anti-women misogyny thoughts maybe is because he couldn’t get the girl of his dreams? 

Philosophers acting badly

The reason why it is important and critical to think about, and consider the personal life of thinkers, their physiology, their muscle mass composition, their body fat composition, their height and stature etc. is that ultimately, the question we must critically think about is this:

The philosopher as a human being… how does his physiology body and mind soul affect his writings? 

For example, Nietzsche apparently had quite poor health his entire life, and I think a lot of his personal writings is for him to personally grapple with his poor health. He apparently traveled around a lot in Italy, Europe, to find an ideal climate for his poor bodily constitution.

Even NASSIM TALEB – the only modern-day thinker philosopher worth following… apparently he always grew up as kind of a fatty boy, and I think a lot of his thoughts on diet health physical exercise etc. should be taken with a grain of salt, because I think he is still addicted to carbs, squid ink pasta? 

Tell me what you eat, how you eat, how frequently or infrequently you eat, and I will tell you who you are

One of the +1s that I give to Jack Dorsey, apparently he is like me! He just eats one meal a day, maybe the difference is that I eat 100% carnivore diet, only beef and lamb, aiming for 4 to 5 pounds of meat every single dinner, and if you look at Jack Dorsey, it doesn’t seem like he lifts weights. 

Look inside their fridge

Bad thing that I love to do whenever I visit peoples homes is always love to open up the fridges and look inside. Sometimes ask for permission, sometimes I just do it; because… If you see what is inside the fridge or freezer, you get to know a lot about about them.

For example, for the most part, I put zero faith in anybody who shop at Trader Joe’s. Why? Trader Joe’s is just snacks with a good conscience.

Also, I put zero trust in anybody who drinks Coca-Cola, Coke zero, or talks about “calories”. They obviously have no idea about any human physiology. 

Also in terms of how the exercise, how frequently the exercise etc.; I’ve learned to distrust anybody who goes to the gym, or anybody who uses Reddit, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube etc., because… Any fitness influencer who uses Instagram, or any social media platform, what they are trying to do is maximize their followers and views, and sooner or later, they’re going to dip into the gummy bears, a.k.a. steroids.

Becoming the ideal version of yourself

I have certain ideas for myself. Essentially I want to look like a Greek demigod, Achilles in the flesh. I think I’m there.

For example, I look like Brad Pitt in fight club but on steroids. Much more muscular, with the same lean low body fat percentage. I’m not sure what my body fat percentage is at right now, but I could definitely see my suspect. This is where measuring body fat percentage is Inaccurate, just pinch your belly fat and see whether you could see your abs.

The secret of getting a six pack?

Very simple. Intermittent fasting, no breakfast no lunch, only a 100% carnivore dinner. Quit vegetables, starches, carbs, fruit and fiber, fake sugars real sugars milk dairy etc.

No no no, you don’t need a “balanced diet”. This is just a basic line of thinking for mediocre people who don’t have the courage to experiment and try out the extremes.

The faucet of this notion of calories is propagated by the Coca-Cola corporation, who wants you to keep drinking more their diabetes water, even let us reclassify all timers as type three diabetes, purely something that you get infected with according to what you eat and what you drink.

Real men drink tapwater

Another really big scam that I’ve discovered, especially living here in LA, is this ridiculous notion of “alkaline water“. Anyone who believes in that nonsense is a fool.

Also talking to a truck delivery driver, he told me that apparently, bottled water is actually more expensive than gasoline?

A very simple thought, for this year or the New Year’s or in general… Only drink tapwater or filtered water! And don’t get one of those loser Hydro flask things, I think a simpler solution is to just drink out of the water fountain, just drink tapwater at the house, and if you want a portable bottle get the path water bottles, they are very cheap, Think maybe only $2.50? And you could reuse them! They are very lightweight, I like it in matte black.

Elon Musk drinks tapwater, and so can you!

The reason why I think it is important to read biographies of people you are inspired by, or learning more about their eating living habits is that a lot of who we are is predicated on what we put into our bodies. 

For example, I am very inspired by Elon musk but I also take him with a green assault because he is too addicted to alcohol, and Red Bull. Also it seems like he is a fatty boy, he thinks too “scienticism-y”– which means he doesn’t understand hormones, and that drinking Red Bull and drinking alcohol is a bad idea. I think a real entrepreneur, a true innovator should be quite sober. This means no drugs no alcohol no Red Bulls.

I also love Kanye West, and also Jay Z, but both of them are out because both are alcoholics.

Alcohol is the worst drug?

When I was in Providence Rhode Island, I randomly met one of my fans on the street, and he told me that he recently returned from Afghanistan the front lines or something, had some sort of PTSD, and street photography was his therapy. He told me he was also addicted to all the drugs, all the bad ones and I asked him… “Which drug is the worst”? He told me: the worst drug is alcohol.

I think the big problem in today’s world is that now in today’s world, anywhere you go besides maybe the Middle East, drinking alcohol is the standard. To not drink alcohol, for some reason you’re the weirdo?

This is why if next time somebody tries to pressure me to drink alcohol, I’ll just tell them I’m Muslim. And also a lot of people ask me about how I’ve been doing my intermittent fasting so religiously the last seven years; I just joke and say for me it is Ramadan every single day!

Let us consider all the people who die from alcohol, either from alcohol overdose, or drinking while driving. I think the reason why alcohol is still legal is because for the most part, people have a good time with it, there’s a lot of advertising money behind it, think about all these fat guys with beards and tattoos who watch Football and basketball, drink beer and get fat, and jerk off to other guys being physical and masculine.

Also, the ancient Greeks. Dionysus, Baccaus was the Greek god of drunkenness, and wine.

It seems that wine was a critical part of ancient Greek society, as it was for the Romans. And in modern day times, wine is considered the peak of luxury and success. But don’t forget, wine will make you fat, wine is just sugary grape juice with alcohol with a good conscience. And no no no, all that fake science about reservatrol and one glass of red wine being a healthy thing for you is fake; it is centered around fake science and statistics which I think, was bankrolled by an individual who was trying to sell reaervatrol supplements? 

Why I am anti-vegan anti-plant-based diet

If people want to be vegetarian or vegan for ethical reasons, I think that is fine. But all this fake nonsense about eating meat or being a carnivore as being “bad for the planet”, or “unethical”, I find as nonsense.

 For example, all of these fake virtuous begins to go to Trader Joe’s and buy all this vegan candy and microwavable food; that is so much trash and pollution for the environment, and I don’t even care about the environment that much, and also I’m a Boy Scouts eagle scout. So don’t get at me with all this fake virtuosity of saving the planet and whatever.  

Environmentalism is the new moneymaking scheme?

Al Gore, didn’t he make a bunch of money from saying that an inconvenient truth and that the polar cats are going to melt and we were all going to die? 

also, I believe James Cameron, the guy who produced avatar and the titanic and made a bunch of money is also best friends with Arnold Schwarzenegger, and is peddling all this fake propaganda about eating plants is good for the environment whatever, in order to pedal his billion dollar P plant protein powder company?



In today’s fragile uncertain world… What’s real? What’s important?

The first thought is you are real, you are important. You are the most critical thing in the world.

One of the big issues in today’s world is that nobody is allowed to posit themselves as an end into themselves. What that means is this:

typically what people believe is that you must sacrifice yourself, all of your resources whatever for the sake of humanity and other people. One is not allowed to invest all your time resources energy and money into advancing and elevating yourself.

For example, venture capitalists. The goal and purpose and telos is to invest money, seed capital or whatever into these foreign, non-human companies. 

However, companies are not real. Even the notion of company companion is somebody you share bread with.

Why not invest in individuals — real life human beings?

Or better yet, why not invest in yourself?

You is the goal

My personal take is that the problem here is religion, ethics, modern-day religious thinking. Most of the planet is governed by a form of Christianity, Catholicism, Judaism, Islam etc.… Even a lot of these “atheist“ people are essentially still in line with the Benjamin Franklin, protestant work ethic mode of living and thinking.

For example, if you look a lot of Caucasian Americans, whose family have been here for several generations, even though they’re not religious, they don’t go to church, they don’t believe in “God”, they still have protestant work ethics; they work hard, they save money, they spend a little bit money on themselves here and there, but for the most part they invest towards their kids their families their communities etc.

Even Fernandinho Galliani on his treatsie on money, DELLA MONEYA; he talks a lot about God, the creator, the deity whatever. So even we should take the opinion of Galliani with a grain of salt, because anybody who tries to justify their position by invoking God or whatever– it is typically a sign that their opinion is a bit feeble.

But it’s written in the Bible!

And yes, the Bible is just a mishmash of different early Christian father writers, and if you think about critical theology, or philology… You must understand and realize that this was all written by fallible men. 

How to advance

Honestly, I think the number one critical skill in today’s world or in general is critical thinking. Critical comes from Greek KRITIKOS, which essentially means judge, to judge, to weigh. 

So for example, we often get words a little bit confused. We misconstrue different words like “critic”, “criticism” with hate etc.

For example, we talk about criticism, typically we think of criticism like people just saying bad things about us or concepts etc. But, I think you could be a critic, a loving critic. The art of critique is to simply look at something, more objectively, without any hate or vitriol, and to just judge something for what you think it is. 

For example, somebody who is buried in the annals of history; Tacitus on the Jews. Tacitus, one of the early Roman historians, I think reading him is interesting because honestly, he just states his opinion, gives credit where it is due, gives pros and cons, but also speaks his mind. 

For example, when he is talking about the people of Judea, and is trying to outline them their cultures etc., he says both the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly. He praises Jewish people for their industry their courage their power, but also Obviously is diametrically opposed to their customs, their beliefs, which were weird foreign and anti-Roman.

In fact, I think if we critically think about Judaism, Jewish people, the descendants of Judea, it seems that the only historical thing we could really understand is that these people were the descendants of Moses. So the best way to think about Judaism as a religion, or even thinking about Christianity is to think that it was essentially a religion invented by Moses, to solidify his people, to strengthen them, And for them to persist.

Think Moses.

And also, Islam. Yeah yeah yeah we are all politically correct and whatever, but I think the critical thing is to understand Mohammed as a real life human being, the visions that he got from God were probably just some sort of hallucinations he had while in a cave, and think that the religion of Muhammad, Islam, is essentially a religion invented from a single man, Mohammed.

Religion and politics?

I remember the kid, I was bit confused; growing up Roman Catholic, Korean American, in the Liberal Bay area… I was a bit confused that if there was one God, how is it that there were other gods in the world?

Also things which were very confusing to me; Jesus was Jewish?

Also something that I’ve been discovering and rediscovering more recently, learning that in fact, the Bible starts off with the Jewish Hebrew tour Bible, I think the first three chapters of the typical Christian Bible is just Genesis and the ones in the original Jewish Bible?

Critical thinking

 so the reason why we have so many thinkers who are Jewish Jewish American Israeli etc. is that the Jewish culture is slated towards critical introspection, thinking. For example if you’re curious, whenever you see a famous author writer influencer or whatever, just open up ChatGPT, the premium one, and ask whether they are Jewish or not, or the history of their last name.

In fact in one of these anti-Semitic texts which was sponsored by Henry Ford, and Henry Ford was overly anti-Semitic, there is this article titled “the subtle art of changing last Jewish names”, and in fact, studying the genealogy of last names is super interesting because in fact, a lot of these “Jewish” sounding last names are changed in order for Jewish people to assimilate into America, American culture, different countries etc.

For example, John Stewart I believe is Jewish American, and change his last name to sound more “American”. The same thing goes with Dr. Kirk Douglas, whose family immigrated from I think Eastern Europe, Eastern Europe Jewish people, and also changed his name to sound more “American”.

Also a weird fellow, Bob Dylan, I think his original name is Andrew Zimmerman, he is Jewish American. 

Even things that I didn’t know and understand is that Jerry Seinfeld, the whole Seinfeld show, which I watched a lot as a kid of reruns and stuff like that is essentially a story about Jewish American culture in America?

Unchaining yourself from religious, ethical, or moralistic thinking

Who are the best thinkers? The ancient Greeks, the ones who came before Socrates. But still… we should take the opinion of the ancient Greeks with a grain of salt because even them, were greatly influenced by the “gymnosophists“ – gymnos in ancient Greek means naked, essentially imagine these weird hippie naked Indian people from India, who would share their sophistry or their philosophy and thinking with others.

I think a lot of early Greek thinkers like Heraclitus, Democritus etc. their thinking was hugely inspired by the gymnosophists, from India… that is why a lot of these pre-Socratic thinkers have philosophies which sound very Buddhist in nature.

1. You never step into the same river twice – Heraclitus
2. Even a hair cast its own shadow – Publius Syrus
3. The path up and down is the same – Heraclitus

---

Why is our thinking still so basic? 

So you know how you can more or less indefinitely increase your total amount of $USD dollars in your bank account ,,, can you also do that with health?

For example you can make your bank account go from $0 to $100, $1000, $10,000, $100,000 to $1,000,000 to $10,000,000 to $100,000,000 to $1,000,000,000 etc…

Maybe health ain’t a spectrum from 0-10, but can be increased indefinitely?

For example your health can be like debt — -$10,000 in health, or -5,000 in health, or 0 health, or positive — $1,000 in health, $10,000 in health, or $100,000 in health or beyond?

Or you can become worth $1M, $10M, $100M, $1T, $100T in terms of health and beyond?

The grand vision.

Health 101

Health is the Ultimate Wealth

• Not Beauty, Health
• Why Do We Like Hiking?
• Is This Better for My Health or Worse for My Health?
• Health is the Ultimate Luxury
• Our Gut is Our First Brain
• Diabetes is the Enemy
• How to Quit Sugar
• How to Improve Your Health
• Biological Health and Happiness

• Health Over Money
• Health is King
• Health is Wealth
• Digestion
• The Art of Health
• What if Mood Originates in the Stomach and Gut? Digestion Health
• MY WORKOUT, FITNESS, POWERLIFTING PHILOSOPHY, METHOD, AND THOUGHTS: BEAUTIFY YOUR OWN BODY
• How to Grow Your Muscles
• Overweight vs Overfat
• How to Add Muscle and Subtract Fat at the Same Time

Become the best version of you

1. Metabolism
2. Diet, Health, and Fitness for Photographers
3. My Experience Eating Only One Meal a Day
4. How to Get Cut.

PODCAST

AUDIO

The text titled “Bitcoin Thoughts” presents a wide-ranging, personal exploration of various topics, notably focusing on Bitcoin, its key players, and the cryptocurrency world, while also touching upon broader themes of wealth, investment, lifestyle, and philosophy.

1. Bitcoin and Key Players: It begins by discussing the rebranding of Square to Block.xyz and its involvement in Bitcoin. The author highlights the significance of Jack Dorsey, former Twitter CEO and a major proponent of Bitcoin, and his investments in Bitcoin-related ventures. It delves into the rapid transaction capabilities of the Lightning Network and the potential future viability of Bitcoin, backed by influential figures and major corporations like Tesla.
2. Bitcoin Investment and Market Dynamics: The text touches on large Bitcoin holdings by entities like MicroStrategy, Binance, and individuals like the Winklevoss twins and Tim Draper. The author shares their personal journey with Bitcoin, from an initial investment at $6000 per Bitcoin to witnessing its significant rise in value.
3. Philosophical Insights and Fallacies: The author draws from philosophical ideas and fallacies like the Lucretius fallacy and the turkey fallacy (referencing Nassim Taleb’s “Antifragile”) to caution against overreliance on past trends for future predictions and the dangers of complacency.
4. Critique of Statistics and Personal Lifestyle Choices: The author questions the reliability of statistics and shares personal anecdotes about diet and lifestyle choices, challenging mainstream dietary advice and celebrating individuality and outliers.
5. Bitcoin’s Branding and Market Position: The narrative praises Bitcoin’s branding, its recognizability, and its position as a leading cryptocurrency, while expressing skepticism towards alternative coins and the myth around Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin’s mysterious creator.
6. Reflections on Wealth and Status Symbols: The author critiques certain status symbols like luxury cars, suggesting that real wealth and success are not always reflected in such external displays. They express skepticism about the value and authenticity of luxury car brands.
7. The Future of Bitcoin and Wealth Philosophy: Looking ahead, the author speculates on Bitcoin’s long-term prospects, considering factors like the ‘halving effect’. The text concludes with reflections on the true nature of wealth, emphasizing health, family, and a child-like approach to life as the ultimate forms of richness.

Overall, “Bitcoin Thoughts” is a blend of personal finance insights, philosophical musings, and lifestyle reflections, centered around the evolving landscape of Bitcoin and the broader implications of wealth and success.

---

Bitcoin Thoughts

Back in the bitcoin game: 20 bitcoins, Matte black. 

---

Block.xyz

So Square, the company that you see at every single hips or coffee shop with the iPad and the little white square payment thingy, the company company is called block now, their website URL is block.xyz

So certain things which are quite interesting:

First, block, which is now the parent company they own the cash app, which is very popular in the African-American community, they own square, which essentially runs all small coffee shops and boutique places, and also, they are heavily invested in bitcoin. The head honcho Jack Dorsey, Probably one of the most underrated entrepreneurs of all time, who is also the founder of Twitter… Is really big into bitcoin. Even the last time I checked his Twitter profile, I think his biography signature was just a bitcoin icon, and maybe a lightning bolt, which signifies the lightning network. The lightning network for bitcoin, lightning.network,  is essentially an additional layer or innovation, I think it may be came out in 2014, that makes bitcoin transactions insanely fast, near instant, and also, for you to buy a very very small fraction of a bitcoin, .00000001 percent of a bitcoin or whatever. 

Bitcoin is the best money? 

First and foremost, bitcoin is not real money. It is fake money. Now that we got that out the way, what can we extrapolate from this?

First, if Jack Dorsey, the head honcho of block, which owns square the cash app etc.… And also they have a partnership with Coinbase, and I think they have connections with Gemini a popular crypto platform, I think what that means is then, bitcoin has viable future.

For example, ChatGPT 4, the paid premium one, only 20 bucks a month, might be one of the best financial research tools.  Why? It is very good and effective at scraping financial data, in seconds, without having to click fucking Google content marketing ad advertising spam bullshit.

for example, do you member for a minute Tesla was accepting bitcoin to buy Tesla cars? Doing some research, apparently Tesla owns 9,720 bitcoins — $300 million dollars USD roughly of bitcoin.

The plot thickens

It gets even more interesting, other entities which own more bitcoin than Tesla: 

Micro strategy, which is based in Virginia, apparently they own 189,000 bitcoin, under the CEO Michael Saylor.

Binance, the infamous CZ who took down FTX, and also Sam Bankman Fried – their total holdings are over 580,000 bitcoin. That is roughly $18 billion worth of bitcoin. Not only that, but, apparently the largest wallet on their platform holds close to 250,000 bitcoin, which once again, might be worth roughly 9 to $10 billion USD as of this writing. Assuming bitcoin is roughly $32,000 a bitcoin. But, if and when bitcoin pops higher, breaks at $50,000 a bitcoin mark, the $65,000 bitcoin mark, and I am pretty certain it’s going to break the $70,000 or $75,000 bitcoin mark… Once again this number will balloon like crazy.

Bitcoin whales 

Apparently the Winklevoss twins own an estimated 70,000 BTC — that is a lot. Around $2 billion worth of bitcoin.

Or, Tim Draper who owns around 30,000 bitcoin. Even crazy is when Tim Draper bought all of those bitcoins, which was seized by the US government, I think bitcoin was somewhere at the range of $300-$800 USD a bitcoin? Shame on me for being a fool, I’m not going to be a fool twice. 

When did I get in the game? 

I personally got into the bitcoin game at around $6000 a bitcoin, which was funny enough considered high at the time. I rode it up 10X, all the way up to 60,000, $65,000 a bitcoin. 

Ironically enough, bitcoin is actually a very safe investment 

The tricky thing about bitcoin is that it will be more difficult for it to go up 10 X, 100 X, or 1000 X in price. The price increases will be more steady and gradual, you’re not going to see a pop like crazy like a Dogecoin or any of those other meme coins.

The Lucretius fallacy

The fool believes that the highest mountain that exists in the world is the highest mountain he has personally witnessed or climbed himself. – Lucretius, Roman poet philosopher thinker

One of the big problems that we cannot use the past for future predictions. Nor can we use our current position to predict the future.

For example, these fucking idiots who text while driving. The thought is this: “I have successfully driven while driving and text messaging for the last 10 years, and therefore I shall never die.”

But the funny thing is this, one day later, there could be a drunk 18 wheeler, and while you are distracted for half a second, boom you dead.

Once you’re dead, you cannot regret texting while driving.

Also, the big issue is that you could be the worlds best driver, the world’s best texting while driving driver, the best driving while slightly higher or drunk driver or whatever… But even if you were 100% sober and focused, you can still get into a car accident that will kill you, and even potentially kill your kid.

Therefore as a consequence, it is critical to consider and think, don’t do nothing that will potentially cause your own personal death, or the potential death of your own kid.

The turkey fallacy

Once again, to quote TALEN and his insanely insightful book “antifragile“, let us consider the turkey fallacy. Let us say that the highly esteemed turkey economist, with double PhD is from Yale and Harvard school economics and business, shows a graph in which the farmer has been steadily feeding him and all the other turkeys well for the last 30 years, and my following this graph chart, will continue to Feed the turkeys well. What the turkey doesn’t know, and the turkey clan doesn’t understand is actually the next day on Thanksgiving, they will all be slaughtered for a delicious Thanksgiving feast.

All statistics are fake statistics

Perhaps one of the most useful things about studying sociology as an undergraduate at UCLA was statistics, my statistics class. Even my high school, Castro Valley high school in California, I remember my senior year I had the option of taking AP calculus or AP statistics, AP statistics seemed a lot easier, and I hate math, and it seemed to involve less math, so I decided to do statistics instead. In fact, it was surprisingly one of my most fascinating Classes and moments, even as a highschooler. Why? I remember I learned about this notion of a “outlier”, in that in fact, if there was an outlier in the data, what some sneaky people would do is just subtly erase it, or get rid of it.

The reason why I found this a bit weird, unethical or strange was this; what if you, you as individual were an outlier, should a statistician just rub you out? 

Or for example, all of this nonsense about diet health physiology etc.; they say that you have to eat carbs and starches and all this other BS in order to gain muscle, but I have been 100% carnivore for the last five years, making immense gains. No protein powder, no creatine, 100% beef, top sirloin pecan Anna, beef ribs, ground beef, lamb leg roast from Costco etc.; not only that but I don’t consume whey protein powder, and I exercise and lift weights while fasted, I never eat anything before lifting weights. The only beverages I drinking include tapwater, filtered water, and just straight up black coffee. No other BS.

As a result, this is the most Demi got my body and physique has looked, at the age of 35. I look far sexier and more beautiful today than I was in my 20s.

And also stronger. I pause it, I might be the strongest person in the world, who doesn’t take steroids, 100% all natural all natty, once not even protein powder!

1,000 pound atlas lift.

Back to Bitcoin 

What I love about bitcoin is that it is legible. Everyone knows what a bitcoin is, even Cindy‘s mom knows what it is! It is easy to remember, it rolls off the tongue easily, and the icon is great; the big ass bright orange icon, with the B and two stripes through it. I guess spot the logo from a mile away.

How and why marketing matter matters

What about bitcoin is that it is cool and sexy. All of these other crypto losers want their fake alternative coin to become the next bitcoin; but why not just buy bitcoin instead?

Things I don’t trust

I am extremely wary of any alternative coins, coins which are not bitcoin. Why? What I find so interesting is the mythology of Satoshi; yes, a real human being, probably not like Binsky in which he is a distributed entity of several people. It seems that Satoshi is just a real life person, I don’t think he is Japanese because his English is too good. Just look at the email list server email correspondences that he wrote, his English is too good. Having spent some time living in Japan abroad, no real life Japanese person is that fluent in English.

Who is Satoshi? 

I don’t think it really matters. Why? His original bitcoin white paper is so elegant, I think it is only six or eight pages long. This is the simple heuristic:

a good paper must be a short paper.

For example, Thomas Pikkety’s “CAPITAL”– mix for a great doorstop, not a good book. Why? When a book is too long, full of all these fixed statistics etc., it is typically assigned that the author their argument is actually not very strong or robust. Why? Most fools think that the more pages, the more information, the more graphs etc. means for a better idea. This is not true. Would you rather have 1000 Honda Civic, or one Ferrari?

Or would you rather have 10,000 Corolla, or one Lamborghini Aventador with the scissor doors?

Economics, finance, etc.

The reason why I put no faith in any economist or constipated thinker is that their theories have zero to no connection in real life with their real life lifestyle or mode of living. 

For example, whenever I meet anybody, whether an economist, business school person, professor etc., I always like to ask them, “what car do you drive”? why? I find this information to be insanely critical, because your car actually says a lot about you.

 For example, I put zero to no faith and give no respect to anybody who drives an Audi, either a baselevel Audi like an Audi Q3, or an Audi A3, anybody who drives some sort of SUV, Mercedes SUV, etc. Even anyone who drives a Mercedes car or any German car Porsche etc.

Also, no faith in anybody who drives or owns a Lamborghini Huracan; if your Lamborghini doesn’t have the scissor doors, you’re just driving an expensive Honda Civic.

Why? Real successful people I Found Dr., Ford fusions, if they have a family a white Honda Odyssey, or individual successful people and Doctors Dr., Honda Civic, or even seeing the $150 million mansion in Holby Hills across the Holby park, just a simple white Toyota Prius. 

In fact, if you really wanted the supreme luxury car, and to be super low-key, the best car is probably a Hyundai Genesis G90; maximum luxury, and nobody has any idea what it is.

Or even more simple, I met  a private security guard who does private security for one guy he quoted as “having more money than God“, and said that he just drives a BMW 7 series. 

Fake rich people in LA

In Los Angeles, car culture of the world, fake rich people seem to drive these cars: mercedes-benz AMG G wagon, all matte black, murdered out, all black everything.

Also, any sort of Mercedes or BMW SUV. 

What is a bitcoin worth?

The tricky thing is that we evaluate the value of a bitcoin based on the price of the US dollar. But this is the tricky thing; if the price of bitcoin goes up or down in ratio to the US dollar, is that a sign that the US dollar is getting stronger or weaker?

And I suppose ultimately the question is this; in the future, what will be the more valuable acid to have? Bitcoin or the US dollar?

8 years from now

There is this phenomenon in bitcoin called the “halving effect”. The idea is that every four years, the mining difficulty to mind bitcoin becomes astronomically more difficult. As a consequence, every four years there is a big shift.

Thinking eight years from now, that is two more halving effects, technically Seneca will only be 11 years old, still very young, I am very certain that the price of bitcoin is going to be higher than it is today.  

But I don’t want to wait! I want to buy the Lamborghini right now!

Lamborghinis are for losers!

Let us note that the word Lamborghini and loser will start with the capital L.

I think the sex and allure of  Lamborghinis is simply from the suicide scissor doors, or the Lamborghini billionaire doors.

Essentially the Lamborghini Countach.

Therefore, the Lamborghini Urus is a fake Lamborghini, it is just an Audi Q8 with a body kit.

The Lamborghini Huracan is also a fake Lamborghini, it is just an Audi R8 with a body kit.

Even the Porsche 911, Porsche 911 GT3 RS whatever, it is essentially a Volkswagen beetle turbo on steroids.

Also Ferrari; even now today, I don’t really understand the appeal. The cars are not designed that interestingly, but it seems the only reason people want it is for the chrome prancing horse icon?  

You will never see a Ferrari without the Ferrari emblem in the back. I would maybe only ever respect a Ferrari owner or driver if they intentionally debadged their car, and really really really tried to make it look not like a Ferrari. 

So ultimately, what is the purpose or value of wealth?

Well, wellness. Health. I think it is actually all the same word in ancient Greek (-hwelh*)– or something.

Dimitri wealth is sleeping 8 to 12 hours a night, having a happy family, good bowel movements, maximum time outside in the direct sun, bright and cherry moves, a beautiful muscular body with low body fat percentage, smiling a lot, shooting the shit with random people, joking around, being like a big kid!

Kids don’t care about money

Kids care about playing, having fun, physical exercise and adventures, they have little interest in money they don’t even know what it is. Only society indoctrinates them to care about it. 

Ultimately then, perhaps ultimate goal is to just become like a kid, become like a child! A life of fun, adventure, conquest, bright blue seas, beautiful yellow light, beaches, Malibu, Cabo, Mexico and beyond.

ERIC

---



For example, consider how insidious overdraft fees are, credit cards, credit card debt, APR, almost everyone I know in LA has a large amount of credit card debt?

Also, a really big problem is that banks finance homes and cars and other things, which once again, further enslave people into debt.

Economics by KIM

1. 
   THE PROMISE OF FUTURE MONOPOLY PROFITS?
2. High gas prices are good
3. What is Capitalism?
4. Pride in What You Paid For
5. On Making Money from Nothing
6. Save Money Towards What Ends?
7. No Regret Investment

Money thoughts:

1. DONT BUY IT, BUILD IT!
2. Silver US Dollar
3. THE PHILOSOPHY OF MONEY
4. THE FUTURE OF MONEY
5. Price Insensitive
6. WHY JOBS?
7. The Future Economy
8. What is Money?
9. Individual Economics

---

The Philosophy of Money

1. How to Become Economically Independent
2. Economic Dependency
3. It’s the Economy, Stupid
4. ERIC KIM PHILOSOPHY OF MONEY
5. Debt is the Devil
6. Capitalism is Cruel
7. In Praise of Capitalism and Consumerism
8. Capitalism as the Road to Tolerance
9. DIGITAL CAPITALISM
10. Capitalism 2.0
11. In Praise of Capitalism
12. CREATIVE CAPITALISM
13. ZEN CAPITALISM
14. Universal Basic Income

The joy of speculation:

The limits to money, the limits to wealth

So the first thing I find really interesting and fascinating is thinking about money, the limits of money, wealth, etc.

For example, Seneca once said, “Nobody ever thinks to themselves, what if I am already too rich?”

Simply put, my thought of the proper limit of money is once you have enough money to pay rent, utilities, and trips to Costco to buy meat, then, the positive utility of money diminishes. That is, sometimes having too much money is a positive distraction and burden; a lot of people who are too rich have issues diversifying and investing their money because they have no idea what to do with it.

A simple crypto hedge fund idea

If you want to invest in my fund, just shoot me an email at eric@erickim.com

So a very simple crypto hedge fund idea is this: 90% of your money in bitcoin, 10% in chainlink, or the opposite; 90% of your money and chainlink, and 10% of your assets in bitcoin.

The reason why I find this to be such an interesting and dynamic hedge, to quote TALEB is this –

How can you take a maximally risky and speculative bet, that is both “safe”, reducing risk, and also maximizing upside?

The first thought that NASSIM TALEB had was never put more than 10% of your life savings into one single investment or acid. For example, I heeded his words of wisdom, and when Cindy and I had around $250,000 of savings, I only put 10% of that into Digibyte and Bitcoin — around $22,000, I bought some bitcoin at $6000 a bitcoin, and I think I bought some digibyte at one cent or two cents a digibyte — and eventually I rode it all the way up to around $250,000 worth of investments, one bitcoin hit an all-time high at around $60-$65,000 a bitcoin. I did some swapping here and there, consolidating my digibyte back into bitcoin, a good move, I speculated and played around a little bit with Dogecoin, rode it up, eventually consolidated it back into bitcoin, etc.

More recently, I wired $125,000 back into my crypto account, and bought more bitcoin.

Why?

People seem to hate the volatility of crypto, but I love it. Why? Perhaps for myself, I thrive off of high intensity, and adrenaline.

Also one of the upsides of growing up poor, seeing my mom go through bankruptcy twice is that actually… I have almost close to zero anxieties when it comes to money. I’ve lived super poor before, on the brink of being homeless, as a kid, and that is what naturalistically made me so stoic.

The reason why I don’t trust or give any heed to people like Tim Ferris or Tony Robbins is that it seems that once upon a time, both of them were super depressed, fat, losers, planning ways on how to commit suicide and kill themselves, and how to do it gracefully. Tony Robbins was the fat depressed one, Tim Ferriss was the suicidal one.

I think it is very courageous that Tim Ferriss outlined the story of when he was an undergraduate at Princeton, he actually took out books to plan his own death, reading books on suicide and how to kill himself, and how to do it in a graceful manner, but fortunately somebody found out, had an intervention, unfortunately Tim didn’t do it. I don’t think anybody should ever commit suicide, under any costs.

Anyways, I think the reason why it matters is that when people try to commit suicide, or have been severely depressed in the past, in high school middle school college elementary school etc.… that trauma stays with them.

For myself I am a unique case; I experienced severe and potentially destroying trauma as a kid, for some reason, those experiences actually made me stronger. How and why?

First, think I was fortunate because of random life things. For example, a formative time in Bayside queens in a very safe community, hanging out with my friends Spencer, Aditya, Jonathan etc and living like free range kids, at the ripe age of 11 to 12 years old, and also some great mentors along the way, Troop 11 in Alameda California, my Boy Scouts troop leaders, my coach Greg Lowe who essentially became my Mr. Miyagi private tutor and father figure guide, who taught me life lessons through tennis.

Good schools

Also fortunately, the good timing; my mom moving our family out of Alameda, which was bordering Oakland; even though Alameda is a nice town, it borders Oakland, and so even Alameda high school was full of a bunch of these ghetto kids, gangbangers and bad influences. I went to high school at Castro Valley High, a very nice school with no drama, good teachers and good AP classes, eventually I was able to get to UCLA as an undergraduate, which helped accelerate my roadmap to success.

---

Think long

Along the line, meeting Cindy, then just another person I met my freshman year, at our Korean American Catholic club called Kyrie — later traveling the world with her, dating her, marrying her, and now having a kid with her, Seneca at age 3 years old.

Anyways, I have a lot of people to think, especially my uncle, who essentially helped my mom so much financially, and also my sister, for her private art school lessons, in order to get her into fashion school at Otis in LA, my sister eventually dropped out, but randomly through an apartment party, met her then future husband. Fortunately my sister‘s brother‘s family is very prosperous, opening up a fine art gallery in LA (VEFA)– will keep you updated with this, but anyways, our family is pretty set.

In the long run, everything works out just fine!

---

Just do what you believe to be righteous

I think it is critical to have a good dose of criticality when it comes to the opinions of others, even your spouse. I think we should always respect and lend an ear to the opinions of others, but ultimately, it is you who must be staunch, and perform things and your life in accordance with your own personal beliefs.

When people say “you’re not listening to me!” what they really mean to say is “how dare you not obey me!”

The funny retort is people who get angry at us for not listening to them… aren’t they committing the same critical flaw of not listening to us?

My New Year’s resolution is actually to become MORE close minded, more staunch in my beliefs.

---

Speculation in the market

People don’t know but I’ve been trading stock ever since I was around maybe 15 or 16 years old, my sophomore junior year in high school. I remember actually investing really early in Adobe stock, because I used Photoshop and I found it to be a good tool. I actually made some money in high school, investing my life savings which was maybe around $1500 USD, maybe I will also get Seneca into trading at a young age.

Anyways, it was good learning and education because it taught me how to deal with ups and downs, and also losing it all.

Bitcoin will never go down to zero

The reason why I am so bullish about bitcoin is that I have a strong faith That you’ll never go down to zero. The reason why I would never put my money anymore into “alternative coins” [ALT COINS], or coins is that there is a high likelihood that a lot of them will go down to zero.

For example, I think when the biggest scams in the cryptocurrency space, is Ada Cardano. They have set up a fake foundation with the .org website, with a bunch of fake people, fake talking heads and suits, nobody has any idea what they’re going to do or what their product is, I think a huge profit can be made by shorting it. I’m pretty sure that Cardano will go down to zero.

Also, all these other weird alternative coins, only things that even have any nominal value include bitcoin, Ethereum, chainlink. 

Why chainlink? First and foremost, chainlink isn’t really a crypto, it is like a new technology. I think of chainlink more like the next Google. Even the ex Google CEO ERIC Schmidt is on board. 

Bitcoin is fascinating because ultimately, everybody knows what it is. To quote Galiani, on his treatsie “on money“, Galiani once said that the word “ducat”, rolls off the tongue quite beautifully, I also see that the word “bitcoin“, also rolls off the tongue quite beautifully. 

Ultimate test: even Cindy‘s mom, a Vietnamese refugee immigrant can pronounce bitcoin in her “broken English“, and knows what it is. She says “I know what bitcoin is! It is the fake money!” Haha — true.

---

So why does this matter?

I think the reason why this matters is you don’t want to be sitting on your butt, 10 years from now, Seneca will only be 13 years old still very young… and kick yourself in the butt for not taking a bold risk, and something you believed in, a decade ago. Jeff Bezos calls this the “regret minimization framework“. 

For example, some moderately regretful things I’ve done the last two years is selling some bitcoin, converting into worthless US dollars, in order to “alleviate“, some financial concerns. But, moving forward, 2024 and beyond, I think the goal should be to become more staunch, more unyielding, More close minded. 

MOAR BITCOIN!

20 BITCOINS; MATTE BLACK!

Being close minded is a virtue?

People say that being open minded is a virtue, but I’m starting to think, maybe not. Why? Do you want to be open minded about Adolf Hitler and Nazis? Or the new Nazis? Or alternative right wing weirdo conspiracy theorists, who want to hijack the American government, and promoting anarchy?

Also, I’m very close minded for these weird anti-fascist, loser skinny fat, fakeass woke, anarchists; they all have iPhones, watch YouTube, jerk off to porn on Google incognito late at night on their laptop or their phones, use piratebay and private VPNs– no capitalism, no consumerism, no pornography.

Trust no man who secretly watches porn.

---

Anti men

The really big issue at hand is that a lot of these people, men specifically, I don’t think we should trust most men. Why? A simple thing; it is true, the behavior of men and women is polar opposite. 

For example, women do not start gangs, or become gangbangers. This is reserved to only men.

Or another example, the difference between a woman bathroom and a male bathroom; in any bathroom, for example let me quote Galbi King — my new favorite Korean barbecue place in Los Angeles, only $26 a person, look at the difference between the men’s restroom and the women’s restroom. The men’s restroom has all these dicks graffitid on the walls, scratches on the window, graffiti on the walls, graffiti made with knives in the mirrors etc. Go to the women’s restroom; nothing.

This is the tricky thing about sex and gender; sex is biological, gender is sociological. Therefore as a consequence,  people foolishly discount the differences of sex.

For example, I think it has to do with testosterone, testes, the male hormone. The reason why I distrust all these weird hormone replacement therapies is that why not just be natural? For example, I think it is actually normal to be LGBTQ? But once you inject hormones into yourself, not good.

For example, to inject any sort of external hormones to change your sex, is a patently bad one; we shame people for doing testosterone injections and steroids and stuff, why not the same consistency with these weird sex changing hormones?

Back to speculation

Some personal tips I recommend is stop using Google, either use bing.com, or just use ChatGPT, the premium one. Stop using Google.

In fact, I think Google, YouTube, YouTube shorts whatever is the real bad guy here. Think about all these weird conspiracy theorist people, who platform themselves on YouTube etc. And with enough wikipedia’ing and googling, you’re gonna eventually fall victim to weird conspiracy theories.

Also, put zero faith in TikTok, it is owned by mainland China, Tencent corporation —  if you’re on TikTok, or promote TikTok, you’re pro mainland China, not good.

Democracy and freedom is at odds with social media?

One thing I found very interesting about Donald Trump was he was very anti-TikTok, wise idea. Why? The way that one nation takes over another nation is through soft coercion, soft propaganda, sneaky propaganda.

For example, RIOT games which is owned by also the Tencent mainland Chinese corporation – they own league of legends, and a bunch of other games; this is essentially their low-key way of taking over the minds and the souls of the American youth.

Also the really big issue here is that a lot of these big tech companies are in bed with mainland China, this includes Apple, all of her phones and products are produced by Foxconn in mainland China, I think Google is trying to dip more into the mainland Chinese market, compromising their ethics by censoring the Tiananmen Square incident, And I am certain that Mark Zuckerberg wants to get into Maitland China as well; his wife is Chinese American, and I think Mark also taught himself Mandarin.

The new oligarchs?

I think a big issue at hand is that this New World, this New World order is not about nations or nation states anymore, but rather, individual rich oligarchs. What that means is individuals, doesn’t really matter your nationality, just trying to augment their wealth. Their private wealth.

I find this to be very greedy, and also, unpatriotic. Anyone who tries to dodge taxes, I find this to be very bad behavior.

---

Now what?

OK all these weird theories aside, what now? 

First, think digital real estate, not physical real estate. I think still nowadays, the internet is still a massive untapped market. Let us consider, to own a .com domain is only maybe $12-$20 a year, which is less than one dollar or two dollars a month. Let us consider that even if you buy a $3 million house in all cash, your property taxes will still look like around $12,000 USD a month.

The reason why it is so difficult to think digitally is that we disdain the digital, we prefer the physical. But, if you think about the greatest drivers of wealth created the last 10 or 20 years, it is all technology, digital, internet.

For example, Amazon web services, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

So the first very simple thing you do is build your own website, blog, or web platform. My simple suggestion is try to enter a field or market in which you could do all the work and labor yourself. For example, I do not know how to code, and honestly speaking I have zero aspiration to learn how. But, writing and blogging and vlogging is second nature to me, I don’t even have to think about it. Therefore, it seems that perhaps the most intelligent strategy is to identify your archimedes lever, and maximize your leverage intelligently rather than trying to get good at something you’re not that good at.

---

How do I identify what my Archimedes lever is?

I would say the simplest strategy is first figure out what your passionate about what you love, and what you’re really good at, which others find difficult. Then, doubling down or 10X’ing down on it. 

Then, the best way to move the world or change the world is to exploit your leverages to the maximum!

ERIC

---

Weather & Investments?

I have a funny theory; I wonder if the weather or climate of a certain day and time and place influences and effects investing behavior?

For example, when I bought or consolidated a lot more of my assets into bitcoin and back into bitcoin, I ensure to do it when the weather was insanely good, lots of beautiful light on my face and my naked body, that good mood was a good inspiration for making a big bet and a big trade.

So just think, when you’re about to make a big trade, how is the weather? Is it better to invest when the weather is good or bad, or something else?

---

That new new shit

THOUGHTS

1. 7 Lessons Elon Musk has Taught Me
2. Introduction to Stoicism

PDF

1. LEICA MANUAL PDF // MIRROR
2. TRAVEL NOTES
3. ZEN OF ERIC
4. MASTERS VOLUME 1 // MIRROR
5. Photography Composition Manual v1
6. Zen Photography
7. STREET PHOTO CONTACT SHEETS
8. STREET PHOTO CONTACT SHEETS VOLUME II
9. Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Mastering Street Photography
10. The Street Portrait Manual
11. 100 Lessons From the Masters of Street Photography

ERIC KIM NEWS

Don’t be left behind: ERIC KIM NEWS >

EK MIND STREAM.

THOUGHTS

1. THE PHILOSOPHY OF RISK TAKING — PDF
2. Why I Bought Chainlink — PDF
3. How to Become a Philosopher
4. How to Become a Stoic

ART PHOTO BOOKS

1. SUITS

ERIC KIM PODCAST

EK PODCAST ALSO ON SPOTIFY

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MODERN PHOTOGRAPHER

• DOWNLOAD FREE // PDF DOWNLOAD // MIRROR

STOICISM

Delve into the mind of EK:

BOOKS

1. THE PHOTOGRAPHER

NEW CHATGPT BOTS

1. COMPOSITION CHECKER
2. WHY APP?

Crypto

1. BACK TO CHAINLINK, EVERYONE SHOULD OWN *AT LEAST* ONE BITCOIN, AI IS NEXT $100T, 1000T INDUSTRY?
2. Bitcoin Babe

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 ERIC KIM CHATGPT BOTS

1. BITCOIN BABE
2. ZEN OF ERIC
3. ERIC KIM BOT

---

STREET PHOTOGRAPHY STARTER KIT

Open source:

0. What is Street Photography? (2.4gb) / Download
1. Black and White (2.3gb) / Download
2. How to Shoot Street Photography (2.2gb) / Download
3. Street Portraits 101 (1.9gb) / Download
4. Conquer Your Fears (430mb) / Download
5. Composition (460mb) / Download
6. Masters (107mb) / Download
7. Editing and Post-Processing (1.3gb) / Download
8. Photography Projects (1.4gb) / Download
9. Motivation (3.7gb) / Download

View all >

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PHOTOLOSOPHY

What can you become as a photographer-visual artist?

0. Introduction (830mb)
1. Street Photography (2.6gb)
2. Personal Photography (1.8gb)
3. Entrepreneurship (1.5gb)
4. Motivation: HAPTIC BOOKS (20mb)
5. Audio (100mb)
6. Presets (40mb)
7. Transcripts (29kb)

DOWNLOAD FULL COURSE (7.4GB)

See the full course here.

You don’t gotta focus so much on doing stuff which is “useful” to others:

Rather… do things which you feel like doing for the sake in itself!

ETHICS by KIM

Your own personal code of ethics:

1. “Rules” & “Regulations”
2. Stubborn Geniuses
3. Avoid Misery
4. What We Hate
5. HOW I DEAL WITH RACISM
6. How to Become a Great Man
7. BETTER TO FOLLOW YOUR GUT AND BE WRONG THAN DISOBEY YOUR GUT AND BE RIGHT
8. “I CAN’T BE FUCKED.”
9. Carte Blanche Ethics
10. Toxic People
11. Why Are We So Into Other People
12. Just focus on yourself and your own life
13. Perfect morals and ethics is following your own gut
    WHY ETIQUETTE?
14. NO BLAME, JUST CAUSE AND EFFECT.
15. Ignorance Takes Courage
16. TREAT OTHERS CARTE BLANCHE
17. Don’t give people what they want or what you *think* they want, give them what you think they *should* have.
18. Anti Small
19. Disdain or Admiration?
20. Beware Those With Good Intentions
21. STUBBORN x FLEXIBLE
22. ETHICS ARE VIA NEGATIVA
23. OBEDIENCE & DISCIPLINE
24. The Motive of Criticism
25. Ethics are Social
26. Anti Role Models
27. What is Greed?
28. On Having the Courage to Make Your Own Decisions
29. How *NOT* to Get Duped or Suckered
30. Why Help Others?
31. The Duty of the Strong
32. Why I’m So Intolerant Towards Intolerance
33. The Ethics of Criticizing Others
34. Consult Your Own Conscience
35. The Ethics of Shit Talking
36. The Ethics of Personal Enrichment
37. I’m Easily Distracted
38. On Forming Your Own Opinion
39. ERIC KIM Philosophy of Tolerance
40. Tolerance
41. Aesthetics are Ethics
42. Morality and Ethics

The best way to change the world, reality everything is first, with thought. Your ideas, you were thinking etc.

How do I start thinking? 

First, start walking in order to think. 

I find this to be such an interesting idea because what we typically believe is that for some reason, we think we could just use our mental power or “willpower”, to stimulate our thought and thinking?

However this is not true. Thought, thinking, thoughts only arise in us in the process of walking and moving around.

Physiologically speaking, the only thing that really exists is our body. Our body as in our cranium, caput, head, brain, eyes, ears, chest and legs and hips, feet, arms, the blood in our bodies, the electrical impulses in our body etc.

The mind doesn’t exist 

The “mind“ is just a fiction. All of the mental ailments we get are simply an offshoot of bodily, physiological issues.

For example, any mental health is simply a body health issue.

For example, anyone with chronic migraines, headaches, tension headaches, etc.… I think the origin of these issues is bodily, skeletal, muscle. If your chain to a desk all day, staring at zoom for eight hours a day, not moving around much, certainly there will be unnatural attention in your neck your jaw and your spine, and because that is all connected to your head and your brain, it might be a trigger for headaches and migraines.

Solutions then include yoga, hot yoga, massages, acupuncture etc. And no, don’t do chiropractors, it is the world’s biggest scam. 

The upside of acupuncture?

Trippy told, acupuncture is a pseudoscience which means all of these nonsensical notions of “meridians” are not critical. However what is interesting is that it works.

Having done acupuncture with Cindy a bunch of times, especially when we were in Providence Rhode Island, half of the benefit of doing acupuncture is that you just take a nap, lie down and do nothing, don’t use your phone or listen to anything, just lie down, in the heated room, with a heated blanket, a chance to do nothing. It is difficult to do anything if you have a bunch of needles sticking into you.

Also, I have a theory about acupuncture is that it is almost like hormesis;  I know that in terms of my bodily physiological response, when people stick those acupuncture needles in certain parts of my legs and my body, I can actually feel my muscles twitching and release. My theory is that a very very small “harm”, is actually stimulating to our bodies? Just like coffee, coffee is a poison, but in certain doses, the poison is a stimulus to us.

The great man is stimulated by poison. 

---

Why does thinking matter? 

Something I have had a difficult time finding or discovering is a critical line of inquiry in regards to thinking, thought, the philosophy of thinking. 

Why think, what does it mean to think, why does it matter?

First and foremost, thoughts govern the planet. For example, almost everything in life and in the world, is predicated on notions of thought and thinking. No thoughts, no future. 

For example, it looks like Tesla is about to conquer the planet. The new redesign Tesla model 3 is mind blowing. They made the steering wheel more beautiful, they made the interior design supply me beautiful; an integrated curve, Steve Jobs and Jony Ive would be proud!

Also I think that ambient lighting thing inside the car is super cool. Some people might think it is gimmicky, but I think it is awesome! I remember when I first saw the integrated lighting dash board thing in some Mercedes cars, and I think there is something to be said about light, light therapy; colors affect our mood. Is it James Turrel who does the light art stuff?

For example, anyone who says that colors don’t matter is a fool. Would you want the interior of your house to have bright red walls? Probably not if you don’t want to scream bloody murder inside your home.

Or, for people who say that color don’t matter, would you want to wear an all green outfit, with bright pink fuchsia accents and shoes? Probably not.

Cars run the planet?

Still in 2024, I am still shocked; it looks like cars run the planet. What this means is that it seemed that maybe 60% of our economic activity is around producing cars, selling cars, buying cars, design cars etc.

For example I look at Hyundai, it is insane… also the new Genesis Berlinetta concept car — also, the new Hyundai Grandeur and AZERA— like a futuristic Rolls-Royce for the future!

Genesis X

ART

The other day, it was free! The LACMA, LA Center for modern art, had this really insanely epic art exhibition, imagine like Legos and hot wheels on steroids; it was titled metropolis II, and imagine like a K-NEX erector set, 1100 custom designed mini matchbox hot wheel cars, with this perpetual machine moving all of the cars in traffic and buses and rails, stacked on top of one another. Conjured ideas of that old-school 1920s metropolis film, in the future where everything is that, flying cars etc. or also, a vision of a utopic-dystopic science-fiction future, kind of like Blade Runner, or that one futuristic movie that Bruce Willis was in.

Cinema by KIM

I love this exhibit so much because it’s stimulated my mind, and also, Seneca’s mind was blown! I think I rated as the best art exhibit of all time. I could probably watch it for hours, and not get bored.

If you’re in LA, Southern California whatever, I think it is a critical experience you must go to in person. Also what makes it a great exhibit is that it can be enjoyed by both children and adults, all ages. It is essentially a microcosm of cities, urban living, traffic and cars. The ultimate takeaway point: 

We all think we are so unique and individual, and special, based on superficial things whether we drive an orange sports car or whatever, but in fact, we are all just the same! A bunch of lemmings!

Sociology is great

So I was born in 1988, and I attended UCLA as an undergraduate, I started in 2006, graduated 2010. I wish I got into Bitcoin earlier in 2009, when my roommate Kevin told me about it, I think when he first saw it on Reddit. He said that we should both put about 100 bucks into it and see what happened. I shrugged my shoulders and said “Meh — nah, probably a scam”. If I do the math, 100 bucks, I think at the time somebody spent 20,000 bitcoin to buy a pizza on Domino’s or whatever, the infamous $500 million pizza, basically… What would 100 bucks times a penny be? How many Bitcoin could that have purchased me? And what would it be worth today?

In life it is fine to make a mistake, and make a regret. But not twice. This is why and why I’m going back into bitcoin. Join the 10+ bitcoin club! 

No twice regrets.

Anyways back to sociology, I think the reason why I think it is such a phenomenal framework to understand the world and society is that I think all of this is just a sociological phenomenon. Society, capital, capitalism, living lifestyle whatever… I think about 80% or 85% of it is based on certain sociological principles. 

Also, to understand the market, economics, I think it is all sociology. To understand human fear, scams, fraud etc. 

Also, I think studying sociology has made me unlearn a lot of the BS. To quote Karl Popper, via NASSIM TALEB– the idea of falsification, subtraction, or the general idea that in order to become more wise, you just gotta subtract delete or get rid of foolishness, nonsense.

For example, conspiracy theories. Only fools believe in them. Even if they are real, it doesn’t even really matter.

Therefore a great advancement in ourselves our thinking etc. is subtracting deleting or getting rid of weird conspiracy theories from your brain and your mind. 

Pro tip: kit ChatGPT app on your iPhone iPad, and don’t be a cheapo; subscribe to the paid premium edition only 20 bucks a month, and start doing these type of searches:

Common misconceptions about XYZ

Or

Help me debunk some conspiracy theories about XYZ

For example, common misconceptions about Catholicism, Judaism, Islam etc. Or the Quran.

Or help me debunk theories that Jewish people run the world blah blah blah. Or that Hitler, according to operation paperclip, was in fact never killed or captured, but ended up being shipped to Antarctica to live in a bunker, where he really died.

My overall critique about Google the Internet YouTube, podcast, etc.… Essentially all these fools who think they are so wise… Strange fellows like Alex Jones, even people on the left or the right or the middle or the right, alt left, and anarchists all of them… All of them are fools. 

My simple tip or heuristic is this: trust no man or women on YouTube, Google, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, podcast, etc. Especially if it is supported by advertising or them trying to sell their own products.

In fact, I think the interesting thing is when you actually make your money your fortune from some other random independent thing. For example now, I’m currently building my Empire Fortune and crypto, cryptocurrency. Therefore as a consequence, I have 100% free reign and freedom and independence to just talk about whatever is on my mind, irregardless of whatever. 

***

Off the grid thinking

To me the grid is an interesting metaphor for a lot of things. The grid could be standard conventional thinking, “rules” and regulations, a lot of of the modern day BS.

I think primarily my superpower in life is my ability to disdain ignore and find ridiculous all of these “rules”. In fact, at least in real life, I don’t think I’ve ever met anybody as interesting as myself. The only other interesting people I think, or maybe Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Kanye West. To me actually they are very relatable.

The photographer philosopher

Come on… It is 2024, you’re still on Instagram? To me Instagram is like eating McDonald’s hamburgers. Not proper.

Also, I’m still a bit confused… why don’t more people photographers just start their own private websites and blogs? And no no no, do not use squarespace it sucks. Also fun dirty secret, maybe about four or five years ago I got an email from Squarespace, saying that if I converted my whole website and blogging into Squarespace they would give me $15,000 or something. It was the easiest no I ever said in my life. Honestly speaking, I don’t even think I do it for $1 million? Unless there is something the updated which is really good. Maybe I would do it for 100 million?

To somebody who says they cannot be bought out by money, you’re just not offering them enough money (TALEB)

To me the reason why I find the photography so critical is that ultimately we are visual creatures. What sells cars? Design. Design marketing, the idealized concept of something.

Design is God.

Mind blown

Once again the new Tesla model 3, I think it actually looks 500 times cooler than any other Tesla car out there. And I’m glad that I am a late adopter, and I was not one of these unfortunates who bought an early model Tesla model model 3 or any other Tesla car. In fact, a lot of the Tesla cars are already starting to look dated. For example the original Tesla model S is outdated, even the slightly newer Tesla model S cars, that don’t have the yoke steering look very outdated. I feel bad for those people who spent a lot of money on the infamous Tesla P 100 D, to only see it dated by the plaid. And now, I’m pretty certain that sooner or later the plate is going to be replaced and outdated by something else too.

Or even another basic thing; people who bought the Tesla model 3 in the early days, with the chrome trim.

Even the Tesla model X, the newer versions look far better. And have a unique color.

What design is truly critical in a car? 

To me the most important thing in a car is the steering wheel, because you look at it all the time, then the interior and dashboard, and also the back of the car. And also specifically the door side driver side entrance, and also the rear left passenger side door, where I get in and out and load Seneca into his car seat and the car.

Technically the front of the car is not that important, because if you park in a spot like a normal person, you never look at the front of the car. You almost ever look at the back of it.

Also in terms of the car, the steering wheel is the most critical thing because he used it all the time. To me for a Tesla car, either yolk steering or nothing. Even the new Tesla model three the steering wheel looks really cool. Also the new cybertruck the new steering wheel looks very cool. 

Also a subtle thing I learned when researching Ferrari, doing the 3-D modeling tours of inside the car, it is actually very interesting to me that the Ferrari logo is a bright yellow background with the prancing horse in black. Having that emblem on the steering wheel inspires confidence.

Maybe this is why Ferrari is superior to Lamborghini; technically if you think about it, the Lamborghini is just a very expensive Volkswagen Passat. The Lamborghini Urus is just an expensive Volkswagen Touareg.

The Ferrari is interesting because it is still to a certain extent, a purebred. Ferrari is Ferrari, owned by Ferrari, not some other weird parent company. And also I think it is good that Ferrari is its own stock ticker - RACE. Typically I never trust a thing which is just a subsidiary of another thing. 

Sharing your thoughts

A simple way to live life, and to make an impact or whatever is to just share your thoughts. It is funny because people say all this ridiculous things like “That is just your opinion!” The best response: “Of course it is my opinion! That’s why I said it!” Opinion, opine, just means to think.

This is where philosophy is very useful: people think that there are certain notions of “facts“, especially in the realm of statistics, but probably the most useful thing of studying sociology, is understanding that statistics is just a scam. I learned from Cindy (cindyanguyen.com), in her book and dissertation, that the notion of statistics comes from the state. The general idea is that statistics was a measuring tool invented by the state in order to track measure progress, something that the French colonists and colonial administrators did when colonizing Vietnam and her other territories, and also, what the Chinese communists did under Mao Zedong, and also the Vietnamese communists also did. The general idea was this:

In order to track the legitimacy of something and the progress of something (let us not forget that the notion of “progress“ is a feeble modern day notion)– is that we gotta track the growth of something in numbers.

Do you remember in BRAVE NEW WORLD, when in the beginning of the book they talk about how they were able to distill human birth human children in test tubes then said — Progress.

So therefore let us not forget, the notion of “progress“ is not a distinct one. It is a modern one. 

Numbers are boring

I don’t trust nobody who either has some sort of loser Apple Watch, Fitbit tracker, has Instagram, or applies any metrics to their life. The only metric I find useful is maybe increasing your one repetition maximum in your weightlifting, simply as a measure to know that you’re increasing the weight. But besides that, things which are bad include weighing yourself on the scale, because you don’t know how much of that is body fat adipose tissue, how much of that is skeletal muscle mass, and even other things that people don’t talk about… how much of that weight is bones, sinews, blood and water?  

A simple New Year’s resolution is this year, throw your scale in the trash, donate it or whatever, and never weigh yourself.

Both men and women are foolish: they track weight as a measure of their self-worth. But, the goal is to increase skeletal muscle mass, and decrease body adipose fat tissue. This is something that scale cannot do, the closest thing is either a fat caliper, or just look at yourself in the mirror. Pinch your belly fat, or look at the fat in your face, or, you want to get rid of the infamous fat rolls in the back of your neck. Something that I see that Kanye West has.

“It is simple: if it jiggles, it is fat.”- Arnold S

Why are we no longer permitted to be independent interesting thinkers?

It is weird, in today’s world, in America at least… we truly do have the greatest system for independent thinking and thought. Here unlike other countries, you will not get jailed for sharing your opinion. Even the most politically liberal or advanced countries in the world pale in comparison to America.

The problem though here is that all sides, all parties, all individuals are “nudged“ either into the left or the right, even this notion of being apolitical or being an anarchist or whatever is also just another lemming sheep mentality.

Or another words, put zero faith in anybody who watches any news, doesn’t matter if it is NPR, Fox News, Al Jazeera whatever. The simple heuristic is this: if it is being funded by advertising, Google Adsense revenue, it is not to be consumed. 

Only trust things that you are spending your real money on. This means, stop using Google. Google is a “free” service, and the way they make money is by sensationalism and banner advertising. Even nowadays I’m stopping to use Google Maps, having those annoying square advertisements that pop up when I’m driving, I almost feel like that is borderline unethical. Why? It distracts me from driving, I wonder if it will lead me to getting into a car accident one day? Google, whoever did that I google, Google Maps team whatever… Shame on you.

Apple Maps is the inferior product, but at least it is not supported by advertising. Get rid of Google maps use Apple Maps instead. 

No more Android, Samsung etc.

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First, focus on your health physiology exercise and physiological well-being and everything else will follow

The quality of your thoughts are simply an offshoot of the quality of your bodily physiological health.

For example just think; if you only sleep 30 minutes a night, for days or weeks on end, what do you think will be the quality of your thoughts? Optimistic joyful and happy? Or weird, morose, dark?

Or other thoughts, imagine like you’re in heroin addict, or hooked on some sort of meth. What will be the quality of your thoughts?

This is why I trust no thinker or individual who partakes in drugs, alcohol and weed. Although both are quite mainstream now. Why?

A lot of people are alcoholics, and a lot of people also apparently do a lot of writing and production of music and artwork when they’re drunk, which is bad. Even Kanye West, he is a low-key alcoholic on and off, I think he said all the anti-Jewish stuff when he was drunk. And on Twitter. Being drunk and on Twitter at the same time or Facebook, not a good idea.

Also weed– weed is so mainstream now, it is not really seen as a big deal. But I also think it is foolish that some people think that weed has no effect on your thinking. Even Kendrick Lamar, his only vice is maybe Froot Loops and Captain crunch cereal.

“You let the meds talk I let my soul talk ayy!” – Kendrick

The reason why we should not trust any artists, rappers, musicians or whatever who are addicted to drugs any type of drugs, and yes, weed marijuana is drug… their thinking will not be pure. Their thinking will be too overly saturated with the weird effect of drugs, anti-depressants, uppers and downers whatever.

Even Elon Musk, I rate him highly, but if you read the Walter Isaacson biography on him, he will discover that he drinks too much alcohol late at night, and just drinks Red Bull to stay awake. Not good.

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Sober thinkers?

Heavyweight since 1988 — my best man Justin Lee

Am I the only millennial I know who doesn’t drink alcohol or smoke weed or take drugs? And have never been to a concert, EDM thing, etc.?

The only concert ever went to in my life was by myself, to a Yeezus  concert at the Oakland Coliseum, Kanye performing live. The coolest thing of all time.

How alcohol is strange

A very weird trend I have discovered is this weird trend: get a bunch of tattoos, drink a bunch of craft beer, wear sunglasses and some sort of trucker hat, wear flannel, drive some sort of big truck or whatever, and to make the purpose of your life to just drink exotic craft beer?

To quote Chip Wilson, founder of Lululemon, did you go to his personal website and look at his about section, he said he was never into watching sports and drinking beer because it just made you stupid and fat and lazy.

Even the ancient Roman and Greek philosophers thought it was a bad idea to drink wine, too much wine. The Greek Dionysian
God Baccaus was the God of wine drunkenness and the dark.  he was the original Satyr; essentially imagine these weird goblins with goat horns. Or imagine the original “furry“.

Don’t trust alcoholic, drug addicted thinkers, artists, producers whatever.

No more Pollock, Basquiat etc.

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Thoughts and money?

Is the purpose or end goal is to increase the quality of your thoughts, the productivity of your thoughts in order to become richer, to earn more money? No.

I think the ultimate goal is to become wiser, more critical in order to become more powerful. Power is simple.

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Some tools to get you thinking

I have an intervening thought: in order to stimulate your mind, you first gotta stimulate your body. That means, extremely heavy weightlifting to get your blood and your mind flowing.

A very simple one is purchased weightlifting equipment on the internet (Titan.fitness), just work out at home, in your backyard front lawn, even you’re off the grid parking lot in the back of your apartment which I am doing right now.

The very very simple thoughts to exercise and fitness is do exercises and lifts which promote standing. Or walking. Upright exercises. This includes Farmer’s carries, dead lift walk, squat walk, Atlas lift etc. Also, heavy sandbag carries, just order the 400 pound heavy sandbag on roguefitness.com or on Amazon or titan.fitness

Ultimately the exercises need to aid you in your entrepreneurial thinking and your motivation  

The big issue at hand is a lot of these exercises at the gym and in traditional mainstream media has to deal with some sort of sitting or pressing motion. For example bench press, floor press, dump press, decline, seated military press, seated dumbbell press etc. But the critical flaw of these exercises is that they are all done while sedentary or lying on your back. And the big downside of this is that it doesn’t promote your walking or your posture, which might be the two most critical things.

Having a big chest doesn’t really make sense? 

I also thought to myself, what is it that causes the most amount of injuries? Any sort of pressing motion. Once again, bench press, shoulder press military press etc. There is almost virtually no injury that happens with any lifting motion, caring motion, or walking motion.

99.9% of injuries I have witnessed at the gym, other guys including myself typically has to deal with the benchpress, which I think should just be eliminated.

Suggestions

I know a lot of guys who have had injuries, back injuries, upper back lower back spine whatever injuries, from dead lift or other traditional forms of weightlifting. I say:

No more deadlift, only rack pull.

The easiest way to do rack pulls, or any sort of elevated lifting walking exercises is using some sort of power rack, squat rack, or even getting some cinderblocks from Home Depot. Essentially if you’re tall, elevating the barbell off the floor.

Also one big thing that I’ve discovered, the great upside of not going to the gym anymore is that I’ve been exercising more in the authentic and honest way; I’m not lifting weights anymore to impress other people, I’m just there to use weightlifting as a philosophical tool to think better, to think stronger etc.

Ultimately I believe that the goal of weightlifting and all of these exercises is to become stronger, more courageous and more audacious in order to aid you in your entrepreneurial ventures. 

Once again, if we think about all this from a socioeconomic perspective, entrepreneurship is the end goal. 

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So what is the point of philosophy and thinking anyways?

The end goal of philosophy thinking etc is not to make money, but rather, to excel and exceed in life. Also happiness. Everyone wants to become happy, or happier, even Aristotle says happiness is the only thing that men seek for the sake of itself.

People always think that having more money will make them more happy, but this is not true. Often having more money can make you more miserable, as often having more money causes more stress anxiety etc.

Who will watch the watchmen? – Juvenal

The anxieties of a billionaire 

For example, let us say that you had $100 million in your Coinbase account, your bitcoin wallet whatever. You will probably end up using some sort of super secure password to lock and secure your assets. But the stress and the anxiety and the fear of having your phone stolen, your identity stolen etc. is even larger. And also the richer you get, the more you become a target to theft, identity theft, real life theft, even physical violence thread. Never forget the story of when Kim Kardashian tweeted where she was at, in Paris, and abruptly got held up at gunpoint from two mast robbers, demanding her jewelry and her pearl necklaces and diamonds, otherwise they would shoot her.

“What do you want me to do, drive around in a bulletproof car and with some tints”? – Kanye

For example, the one story of a guy who has maybe $200 million worth of bitcoin in a super secure crypto wallet, but he made the password to complicated that he already has two failed attempts, and on the third attempt, if he messes it up, he will lose his bitcoin forever?

And this is actually the funny irony: often times when we try to make things too secure, we actually end up fucking over ourselves. 

This is where I am still all about having simple passwords which are easy to remember, rather than using a third-party password app, because even though these third-party password apps are good, often there are always thinking issues. A good intervention actually is the new Apple secure strong password thing, but still… iCloud doesn’t always work seamlessly. Therefore for your truly critical things, Having some sort of practical strong that you could remember is good.

More security, less freedom?

I think this is where the ethos of being  I still Spartan warrior demigod is that it seems that the richer more successful more famous you become, the more security you end up getting, personal security guards bodyguards whatever… And as a consequence, you end up having less freedom in your life?

For example, I was randomly doing research on David Geffen, and apparently during the Covid pandemic he was just hanging out on his $10 billion yacht, chilling out. Apparently a lot of people were envious about this, but truth be told… I would prefer 1 million times more to be walking out in the real world, off the grid, rather than being stuck on a boat? Because even if you are in the worlds best boat, still, You cannot walk for three hours straight and not get bored.

Living on land is better than living on the sea.

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Empty your mind

The best way to empty your mind is to delete Instagram, delete Twitter, even delete email in Gmail from your phone. Delete YouTube podcasts etc.

Even music, modern day music. Even in music somebody is trying to sell you something. Maybe we should go back to the ancients, the ancient music, the ancient arts. Listen to dead composers, Beethoven and Mozart etc. Why? They’re not trying to sell you Lamborghinis or other nonsense.

For example, as a kid growing up, no kids, nobody in my friend group ever aspire to have a Ferrari or a Lamborghini or a Porsche car whatever. Think the only modern day trend to desire these cars are predicated on what rappers say.

Or other things, do you remember when it was really popular to get “dubz” on your car? Which are essentially 20 inch chrome rims, with spinners attached? Then it was 21 inch rims, 22 inch rims, 30 inch rims whatever. Now the trend is actually going opposite? A lot of these overlanding vehicles, taught to me by my brother-in-law John Narciso one of the head designers at Black rhino and wheel pros is actually, the new trend is for the actual rims to become smaller, and the tires bigger. And more lifted off the floor. And as John told me, Overlanding vehicles are the new rice rockets. 

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Zen the fuck out (Big Sean)

Rather than adding obligations to your life, seem to remove or delete or subtract obligations from your life. This means, don’t take on more work, more contracts, more obligations. Rather seek to subtract all obligations to close to zero, even with the promise of a lot of money.

In fact I almost feel that is easier and better and more straightforward to make the big bucks speculating in cryptocurrency, crypto, and the market rather than just seeking some sort of consulting gigs.

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What am I betting on?

For me, the big advancements I perceive in the future include AI, crypto, chainlink, bitcoin, openAI and Microsoft, ChatGPT and beyond.

What am I anti-? I am short Apple, Google. If you look at Google Bard, the Google ChatGPT competitor, it is at least 100,000x times worse than chatGPT 4. For example I asked Google Bard who ERIC KIM was, and it said that I was a landscape and travel photographer? Terrible. 

---

Why does the future matter?

To me, technology and the future is all about optimism, happiness and joy. If we want brighter more glorious future, we need optimism. The hope of a beautiful future, blue skies, clear skies, lots of sunshine, pure joy.

ERIC

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Random thoughts

I just toured equinox, and was very unimpressed. It is like an LA fitness with a better conscience. Also you know it is not a good gym because the barbells suck. 

This is how and why I discovered, ultimately, perhaps the most critical thing with weightlifting is the quality of the barbell. Texas power bar squat bar, or if possible, get the monster squat bar. This is something that will outlast you, and also maybe something you could end up passing down to your children?

My greatest joy and proud moment will be the moment in which Seneca will be able to lift my Texas power squat bar! 

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I almost died, maybe Cindy and Seneca also almost died?

A random story; the other day, now that LA is actually starting to get pretty cold during the winter time, we decided to try to figure out how to turn on the gas furnace heater thing. It is this “cozy” brand, the machine looked at least 20 years old, but we thought that it would be a good idea because our apartment could get pretty cold late at night, and especially early in the morning, considering that I’ve been waking up at weird times like 3 AM, 3:15 AM, 3:30 AM, sometimes a bit later like 4:30 AM, 4:45 AM, or 5 AM.

Anyways, we lit the gas furnace thing, the pilot light whatever and it seem to work OK, but the other day when I woke up at 3:30 AM, and turned on the gas furnace thing, I just went in to take a shower, in order to warm up the apartment while I was taking a shower. My hope and expectation was the moment I would get out of the shower, I would be greeted by a lovely warm apartment.

Then what happened next was the carbon monoxide poisoning alarm thing started screaming, which abruptly woke up Cindy and Seneca, at 3:45 AM. I rushed out of the shower, and smelled all this toxic gas in the air. We rushed to open up the windows, I turned off the heater thing, and also quickly tried to turn off the pilot light in the gas heater machine.

Anyways long story short, we ended up being OK, but still… The super scary thing was that in fact let us say that we did not change the battery for the carbon monoxide poisoning thing. Also as a pro tip, you should definitely change it right now, just order the weird battery on Amazon. It might save your life, the life of your kids and your wife.

A lot of people never change the carbon monoxide poisoning alarm battery thing. Imagine a worst-case scenario if I had accidentally kept on the gas heater thing overnight, which is actually quite common, Cindy Seneca and I would have all died in the middle of our sleep. Therefore after this fucking crazy thing, I feel like I got a second chance at life.

Or even worse, the thought that what if, I had accidentally left on the gas, the carbon monoxide poisoning alarm thing wasn’t set up correctly, and I just left the apartment for my typical walk? That I come back home to a Seneca in the Cindy Who both died peacefully in their sleep?

Anyways, thinking about it… The simple thought is to swallow all the vermin, and chew on the glass shards to avoid saying doing anything bad or harmful, especially to your wife.

Is stoicism for men or for women, or both? 

Stoicism is certainly a philosophy which is beneficial to everybody. But for me, I think ultimately, perhaps stoicism is more tailored for men, a masculine philosophy?

For example, if you’re married or in a serious relationship, a thought is that you as a man, should put on your metaphorical bulletproof vest, and take all the hits. Take all the splash damage, you’re strong enough for it. Assuming that your health points your HP is at 100%, the abuse the verbal abuse from others might only kick you down to 80%. Just think of yourself like a level 99 paladin from Diablo II; you got your legendary armor, your legendary helmet, greaves, body armor, shield, and also you have some healing potions. Apply this mentality to yourself. 

This is where I really like this Diablo II analogy to real life; playing Diablo II as a kid was very influential on me. Maybe it is a good idea that we apply this video game analogy to real life.

Now what?

Currently I am living in Culver City, which I consider the closest thing to Paradise in Los Angeles. And as a consequence, I am at the epicenter of screenland. 

Everyone thinks Hollywood is where all of the action is, but they are wrong. It is Culver City. For example, Amazon prime, Amazon prime studios, Jeff Bezos and Amazon… All of it is produced at the Culver Studios, which is owned by Michael Hackman, And the lot is huge. I walked by it, around it, and it looks like it is at least the size of 10 football fields.

Also, the culver theater, the little cute movie theater next-door, is actually owned by Amazon, Amazon prime, Amazon prime studios, Mr. Jeff Bezos.

Even Apple, Apple TV+ or whatever… They are becoming the new finance years for all of these epic movies. For example the new killers of the flower moon film with Leonardo DiCaprio was being rolled by Apple. The same thing goes with the new released Ridley Scott Napoleon film. 

Make your own media studio and films?

I’ve been randomly doing some research about David Geffen, he is probably the most successful and important figure in both the movie media and entertainment industry. I think his net worth is $10 billion? And nobody knows who he is or what he looks like?

Anyways, the reason why I think he is such a critical figure is that he made his fortune through movies, movie production, DreamWorks, Shrek etc.

Sony is here too

Also, Sony pictures, yes, the same Sony company that makes cameras and TVs and stuff. They own the whole Spider-Man franchise. Both the animated one and I think the other ones? And also the video games? 

The gym is boring?

I got a free three day trial pass at equinox, and several things I find interesting: first and foremost, there is a lot of people who go there. Like, a lot. And, I think they charge $350 a month for membership. Seems like a good moneymaking institution.

Why do people like equinox? Everyone criticizes and critiques how it is so expensive, but, the reality of the matter is that I should load of people have a membership. If you just do some basic math, let us say that equinox has 500 members or so, Maybe 2000 members, all paying $350 a month, that is a lot of money. I wonder if each institution brings in close to $1 million a month just in membership revenue?

Anyways, I think the reason why a lot of these gyms and fitness places are so popular is that a lot of people don’t really know what to do at the gym, and the reason they like to do a class or course is that they show up, and just do something. I think a lot of people lack the knowledge of how to exercise, or maybe the lack some sort of critical philosophy behind the purpose of exercise? And as a result, they just like being told what to do. However for myself, it is antithetical to my nature. I am 100% tolerant to everyone and everything, the only thing that invokes my fury is when people tell me what to do and what not to do.

Never trust a fitness person who cannot lift more than you.

Now that I have achieved my 1,000 pound atlas lift, ain’t nobody can tell me what to do. Nobody has the balls, the chutzpah, the guts to do what I have done. Or even attempt it.

Actually if I really think about it, in the whole world of fitness, the whole planet and internet; am I the one with the most courage, audacity? Even the gold gym Venice Beach, which I already conquered, is supposed to be the bastion and apex of weightlifting on the planet, but even there… all these guys were taking steroids… they’re actually not that strong?

Am I the strongest, non-steroid person on the planet? 

New Year’s fitness resolutions

Very simple ones: get a pair of Vibram five finger shoes, honestly the only reason people don’t wear them is that they look weird. But, the true act of manly courage is to wear your Vibram five fingers probably in publicly, and ironically enough… more recently, I’ve actually got more compliments on my Vibram five finger shoes than I ever did with any of my cool Nike sneakers?

The reason why I find Vibram five finger shoes so critical is that honestly, I wonder if 99.9% of foot pain, knee pain, back pain, and hip pain is simply because people are not going barefoot. Technically the best pair of shoes would just be some sort of reinforced, waterproof socks. The Vibram five fingers is not perfect, but it comes pretty close. 

The best argument I have for using the five finger toe shoes is this: you know all these stupid shoes with these very thick souls, they are essentially like condoms for your feet. And our feet are just like our hands, but on the other side. In fact, I have a theory that our feet actually might have more intelligence than our hands. Have you ever tried to text message during the winter time with gloves on? Imagine doing that with your shoes.

Also a funny thought; you know all these stupid HOKA shoes, or Adidas ultraboost shoes, with 3 inches of foam on the sole… Can you imagine having sex with a 3 inch thick condom?

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Start your own self hosted blog

Everybody is always telling me the virtues of buying a house, a single-family home, owning property, owning your own house whatever. But, I personally think this is some sort of suckers game. Why? Even if you own the property, and you paid it in all cash, you still have to pay property taxes, home insurance and other maintenance things, which could actually cost you close to $3500 a month, the same price as rent!

As of now, especially considering the fiasco that I had with the gas burner furnace thing; I have almost close to zero interest in ever buying a house, single-family house, maybe even a condominium? Why? For me, my true passion and ambition is to live off the grid, to adventure, to explore, and have nothing in my way?

Is your home your slave, or are you a slave to your home? 

As long as you think you have to renovate something whether your kitchen, open up a wall, etc.… you are not free. 

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How to start your own self hosted blog

Ionos.com or bluehost.com and install wordpress.org. I no longer recommend wordpress.com, ever since they somehow deleted my old wordpress.com account, because of some strange policy I violated which I’m not even sure what I did?

People always talk about land ownership, real estate ownership whatever, why doesn’t anybody ever talk about digital content website platform ownership? And no no no, squarespace is bad. You are still a slave to their platform.

Essentially the simple heuristic to know whether you own your platform or not is whether or not you could access the FTP server, via filezilla or any FTP management tool. Whether you could self post your own media files, your own dropbox.

Why?

The two most critical things in the planet include your time, and also your freedom. Most people don’t have access to either.

Anybody who has to be stuck in a car, doesn’t matter if you’re driving all a or Lamborghini, you’re still a slave.

Then, the goal is to unchain yourself from all obligations, all metaphorical grids.

Self-employment is the way. Sole proprietorship.

EK

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START, BOOKS, WORKSHOPS, PRODUCTS

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Things to do

1. Try experimenting with really really insanely hot scalding showers or baths — insanely hot water until you feel like you’re being boiled alive is a good idea! Or just join a LA FITNESS, CRUNCH FITNESS, or any random commercial gym and hit the hot sauna at least once a day, maybe twice a day?
2. Get a Costco membership: The most interesting thing I learned is that Costco doesn’t actually make a profit off of their products, only the memberships. As a consequence, everything you buy at Costco is truly at-cost. Buy meat, red meat; the wagyu ground beef is great, only around 5.70USD a pound, or the lamb leg roast imported from New Zealand (only $5.50 a pound).
3. Get chatgpt plus, paid premium only $20 a month. Make art works on DALL-E, and also,,, experiment with chatgpt 4; a billion times better than the free chatgpt 3.5.

Then, post your findings to your own blog, or upload your best photos to arsbeta.com

More fire incoming!

Forward the fire

EK NEWS >

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STOICISM 101

STOIC VLOG

Introduction to Stoicism 

Something I have been meaning to write or create or do is like some sort of book, ebook, pamphlet, or introductory primer to stoicism. I really think that stoicism is probably one of the most useful and philosophical models to live normal every day real life. Yet, I haven’t really found a good instructional guide on it, especially when I was self teaching it to myself.

Consider this a practical primer, cutting through the BS:

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What does stoicism mean? 

Stoicism, stoic, the stoa in ancient Greece– essentially the stoa was like some sort of portico, patio, pillar, outside, essentially a spot where guys would just hang out, talk shop, talk philosophy, etc.  

I think about the show “Hey Arnold” in which I was raised with… the notion of “stoop kid“, the notion of a stoop is that in a lot of cities, especially the east coast in New York, you have this little stoop or porch, stairs that go outside your front door… and you could just hang out there, engage in social and neighborhood life etc.

The new stoa? 

One of my happiest moments was when I was living in Providence Rhode Island, and then COVID-19 hit. Everything was closed, besides the park. I can still go to the park, hang out, workout, do chin ups– I learned how to do muscle ups, more bodyweight calisthenics stuff, and also… I had a lot of fun with this “rock toss“ challenge and workout… in the middle of the park was a huge ass rock and huge ass stone, and every single day I would go there pick it up, and then eventually work out with it; throwing it around for fun, doing overhead presses with it, clean and jerks, squats, and eventually I would just throw it around for fun. Funny enough it might have been the most fit I was in my life… this was the true “functional” fitness.

The inspiration — Hector lifting an insanely massive stone (barely 2 strong men could lift it)… using it to break down the door of the ships of the other side.

Open air, open sun concept

Anyways, the reason why that period of covid was so good is that it was in the middle of beautiful Providence Rhode Island summer, so nice and bright and warm and lovely… and one of the good things was going to the park was like an open forum, a new anatheum for a lot of really cool guys to come, hang out, talk shop, go topless and shirtless, workout and hang out.

I met some really interesting people during that period of time. I met some guys who were really cool. For example, one guy I met was in the US military Navy, I think he was training to be a Navy seal or Delta force or something. Another guy in some sort of ROTC training, another cool guy from the hood, and also I would say I probably met half a dozen friendly drug dealers there. And of course a lot of people who believed in conspiracy theories; really friendly, a little weird, but overall good guys.

Anyways, one of the biggest benefits of hanging out at that outdoor park, open air, nothing but green grass, the beautiful sun and the fitness equipment was that I think having this sort of open air environment is actually very conducive to socializing, thinking and thought, and pro social behavior. My theory about a lot of modern day antisocial behavior has to do with the structures which enclose us. For example, almost universally most guys at the gym are extremely antisocial. Why? My theory is that because most gyms have closed, cramped narrow ceilings, and do not have access to natural light, or outside space.

Cramped indoor spaces promote antisocial behavior.

The only good gym I went to which was interesting was the golds gym in Venice, which has this really big outdoor workout area. I think this is much more natural and more fun and better; to be able to work out directly outside outdoors, with your shirt off.

Who is this philosophy for?

Stoics, stoicism — it was originally I think codified by this guy named Zeno, and over time he picked up some followers. Essentially the whole thing happened organically; Zeno would first share his thinking on philosophy ethics and pragmatic ways to deal with other people and the downsides of life, he built a following, and then his followers would propagate the thoughts and start their own little schools of thoughts, their own little stoic clubs.

What is “real” stoicism?

Would I like about stoicism is how loosey goosey it is. It is kind of like zen, or taoism… it is not really quantified as a religion, or a strict moral order. In fact, a lot of the ancients stoics would meditate on random stuff like cosmology, natural sciences like Seneca, how volcanoes worked or whatever. I think nowadays in today’s world, we focus primarily on the pragmatic side; how to deal with fear, uncertainty, downsides etc.

So how did I discover stoicism?

I think I might’ve first learned about stoicism from Nassim Taleb and his ANTIFRAGILE book. I was curious, and my curiosity went to deep. To quote NASSIM TALEB and the Venetian saying “The ocean goes deeper, the deeper you wade into it.”

I literally consumed every single book I could find on stoicism, even the obscure ones. Funny enough, a lot of the stoic thinkers tried to claim other philosophers as being stoic, like Seneca did with Diogenes the cynic. 

Cynic, cynicism, actually comes from the word canine, the dog. Diogenes was considered the “dog” philosopher, first used as a pejorative, but ultimately Diogenes reappropriated that title for fun! He saw dogs as tough, almost like wild wolves, rather than seeing them as a negative thing.

Even Achilles when he was raging against king Agamemnon, he called him “dog faced“ as a heaping insult.

Who is worth reading?

First, Seneca. Seneca the younger, his dad was called Seneca the elder.

In fact, this is such a big deal because Cindy and I named our first son, Seneca, directly after the stoic philosopher. This is true soul in the game; if you name your kid after your favorite philosopher, certainly it is a sign that you really liked that philosopher, or found them impactful.

The reason why I really like Seneca the stoic philosopher is because he had real connections to real reality. What that means is he wasn’t just on the sidelines; he actually existed in the real world, engaged in real politics, was even advisor to the emperor Nero, the bad one, who eventually low-key coerced Seneca to commit suicide, in a manly, dignified manner.

I think this was because maybe… there was actually a plan to overthrow Nero, and essentially Nero found out. 

What makes Seneca so good?

I really like Seneca because his writing is accessible, practical and pragmatic, and interesting.

A lot of thinkers tend to lack connections to real reality, I have no tolerance for boring philosophers to talk about metaphysics, which is things which are not physical. Like thoughts ideas, the universe, electricity and energy, strange phenomenon and conspiracy theories on ghosts, “energy” whatever.

For a long time, I would hear the term “metaphysics” being thrown around, and I had zero idea what it actually meant. 

Meta– on top of. Or nestled within.

Physics — the physical, physical phenomenon like gravity, first principles.

The reason why metaphysics philosophers tend to be a bunch of losers is that they are all weak and anemic, nerds or geeks or weaklings who seem to have some sort of physiological degeneracy, which encourages them to opine or talk or think about impractical things, superficial things.

Personally speaking, I think philosophy must be practical. 

Practical, praxis, practice — to do!

The Spartan, Zen Stoic, demigod ideal

I have a very funny ideal; the general idea is that your body looks like a demigod, and your physiology is out of control. The general idea is one must be tall, strong, highly muscular, low body fat percentage, I’m not exactly sure what my body fat percentage is, but maybe it’s around 5%.

Also, physical fitness is critical to any stoic. My ideal is to walk 50 miles a day, eat 20 pounds of meat like Milo of Croton a day. And also, abstinence from silly things like media, alcohol, drugs, marijuana etc.

Trust no thinker who does drugs!

Even our best friend Nietzsche said that coffee was bad, because it would make people dark and gloomy. He encouraged 100% cocoa powder instead. 

You let the drugs talk I let my soul talk ayy! – Kendrick Lamar

Simple technique:

First, look at a picture or a portrait or a full body shot, ideally topless of the artist, philosopher or thinker or individual… then judge their thoughts later.

Why? My theory is this: the thoughts of an individual is hugely affected by their bodily physiology.

For example, an extreme example: if somebody is locked inside a solitary confinement cell, and not permitted to go outside for years, but, he had a pen and pad and would jot down some thoughts… Would be the quality of these thoughts? Certainly dark and morose.

Why does stoicism matter? 

In today’s world, why does it matter, what is the significance of stoicism, etc.?

First and foremost, I think we are living in a troubling time, especially with the advent of modern day internet based media and advertising. I think 99% of what is propagated on the internet is fear mongering, and what is hate? Hate is just fear.

The first thought on stoicism is that it is just fear conquering. What I discovered about street photography, is that 99% of it is conquering your fears. Conquering your fears of upsetting other people, getting in some sort of verbal or physical altercation etc. In fact my bread and butter workshop is my conquering your fears and street photography workshop, the workshop which is still interesting to me even after a decade.

Why is this so important? I think it is rooted in almost everything; conquering your fears is rooted in entrepreneurship, innovation, risktaking and real life.

Even my speculation in crypto. 99.9% of crypto speculation is just balls. Having the balls to make big bets, and when things go south, knowing how to master your emotions.

A simple extra I have is this: just imagine it will all go down to zero.

It was useful because when I was in college, my sophomore year I got really into trading stocks, and I eventually lost my whole life savings, maybe around $3500 USD, and some bad penny stock which I actually misread the financials… the whole time I thought the company was making a profit, but actually it was taking a loss. I actually didn’t know that if profits are written in parentheses, it means a loss.

It was funny because my initial start as an investor was back in high school, I bought some Adobe stock when I was a high school junior, and also some mutual funds, which both went up after about 4-5 years.

Also I remember in elementary school computer class, when I was in the sixth grade in Bayside Queens, there was some sort of stock stimulation trading game, and actually it was funny… the kids who made the most money and were the most successful just put 100% of everything into Apple, note this is when we were only 12 years old, and I was born in 1988.

Stoicism and capitalism?

Funny enough, it seems that stoicism actually plays well with capitalism. Why? According to modern day capitalist thinking, the best way to approach life is to be objective, strong, stoic, unemotional, logical and rational.

Also, with modern day media there is so much fear mongering in the news, about some sort of global armageddon, global financial ruin, etc. I call it “fear porn”.

Therefore stoicism as a mindset is useful to think and position your mind in such a way that you could consider that life is all upside, no downside.

In fact, if I could summarize stoicism in one sentence, it is that life is all upside, no downside. Inspired by NASSIM TALEB.

Sex and Stoicism

So, is stoicism useful to you if you’re a man or a woman? Does it matter?

The good thing is I think it could apply to both sexes. Conquering sexism and social pressures is useful if you’re woman, and also if you’re a man.

Also, gender is social. Lot of the expectations set on us by society is socialized and gamed to a certain degree.

Stoic strategies 

First, we got to unchain ourselves from modern day ethics and morality. I believe that all modern day philosophy and thinking and ethics and religion is bad.

For example, the notion of turning the other cheek is a patently bad one. Why did Jesus turn his cheek? It is because he lacked on army.

Also, philosophically I think we should put no trust in Socrates. I thought which has puzzled me for a long time was this “Why was Socrates so ugly?

Monster in face, monster in soul.

I think Socrates was a degenerate, and he lacked any sort of real power. Therefore he turned logic and rationality into his terrorizing weapon (via Nietzsche). Back in the day, you didn’t need logic or rationality to have things your way, you simply was able to dictate that which you wanted to pause it, because you had a military force behind you. Just think about Machiavelli and IL PRINCIPE– the reality of being a mercurial prince, king, and military leader is hard, stoic, “immoral”. But ultimately it all comes down to war, conquest, the military.

Trust nobody who uses rationality or logic as their tyrannizing weapon. 

In fact, I believe that all should have the body and strength of some sort of super soldier. Essentially look like all the guys from the movie 300, this is our ideal.

Demigod physique. 

What has helped me

1. Allow yourself to be a bad, immortal, “evil” person. When you decide to adopt an unorthodox way of thinking and living, you’re going to rub some feathers the wrong way. And truth be told, even if you act in a strange vibrant way… At worse you’re only “mildly” annoying other people.
2. For good inspirations, I think the best stoic writers and thinkers include Seneca, and Marcus Aurelius and also the humor of the cynic philosopher Diogenes. I would even posit the idea that one could consider Alexander the Great as a stoic. Why? When you’re trying to create an empire, and you always have your life on the line, certainly this takes a stoic mindset. Also, let us think and consider that Alexander the Great had a copy of the Iliad by his bedstand, it was the only book he traveled with during his military tours.
3. Imagine the worst possible case scenario, and backtrack: Apparently even NASSIM TALEB would do this when he was a trader; every single day when he would go to his trading desk, he would assume that his investments would all go to zero, and if that wasn’t the case every single day, it was just upside. Therefore for myself, I just think to myself very simple; imagine like I got zero dollars, zero money, and literally all I need is meat, a Wi-Fi connection and I’m good. 
4. Live like a poor person: The notion of “debasing“ the coin or the currency is the general idea that you are not a coward in regards to money. The best way to think about money is like a social tool; I think money is actually just codified labor. If you want people to clean bathrooms, run the cashiers stand, you have to promise them money. Even Seneca said the upsides of simulated poverty; essentially living like a poor person, or even a homeless person when you don’t need to… is the ultimate position to be in. Why? True freedom of spirit and soul; as a philosopher thinker writer or whatever… you cannot be “canceled”, because there is nothing to cancel. As long as you could pay your rent, buy meat at Costco, and publish your thoughts to your own self hosted website blog, and pay your server fee, you have 100% freedom. And also, still… America is the best place to be because there is true freedom of speech and expression, you don’t want to be a trillionaire but not be able to say what’s really on your mind. And I think this is the big issue with entertainers, actors, media people… as long as you’re signed to a contract, you don’t run your own production company, or, you’re still a slave to money… you’re not really going to see what’s really on your mind. Why is it that the Rock cannot say anything bad about China, or Tibet? Because he is still enslaved by the media corporation. New slaves by Kanye West.

And this is the true courage of Kanye West; he literally put everything on the line, and even lost his spouse and I think maybe his kids? All for the sake of revealing inequities. 

“I throw these Maybach keys fucking c’est la vie! I know that we the new slaves.”- Ye

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Stoic training

The fun thing about stoicism is that you could just make it up as you go, devise your own strategies and whatever.

“Fucking c’est la vie!” My favorite Kanye West line.

Essentially the general idea is that in life, one should not take things too seriously. Laughter is golden, I forget the philosopher who was called the laughing philosopher… Democritus?; better to laugh about the follies of human beings rather than to be dark and morose about it.

Also, thoughts from the Odyssey; if you look far enough  into the future, everything becomes comedic and hilarious.

So when you’re in some sort of bad situation, just think to yourself “Perhaps one day, 20 or 30 years from now… I will look back at this and just laugh!” It will just be humorous.

Honestly, laughter, and kind of being able to joke about things might be the best way to live life and deal with setbacks. 

Modern day ailments

Problems in modern day life:

1. Too much time spent indoors, not enough time out in the sun. Perhaps it is better to be out outside all day, and joyful, even with the risk of getting skin cancer or whatever… rather than to be indoors, scared, weak and anemic. Differences between if you’re a man or a woman, but still… the most beautiful skin has a sunkissed, olive color tone; the true privilege is having a full body tan. 
2. Get chatGPT, the paid premium one. And use the image generation AI art tool DALL-E. People pay therapists to just speak their mind, and get some sort of sounding board. I actually think it’s much better to chat with AI instead; because it will not judge you, and ultimately what is a therapist anyways? A therapist is just a mirror, a sounding board for you to verbalize and flesh out your thoughts. Often when we talk about our problems, 90% of the issues go away because once we verbalize it, we feel much better about ourselves. The next thing I’m going to do is build some sort of therapy bot. 
3. Not enough walking: I have never met anybody who walks 30,000 steps a day and is depressed. Even my friend Jimmy, who works as a US postal worker delivering the mail, he walks around 30,000 steps a day and is always bright cherry and jovial. I think this is also where people who hike a lot or walk a lot in nature are so happy; when you’re able to walk around a lot, and zen out… you just feel much better. My simple suggestion is when you go on a hike or a walk in nature or even in the city… leave your phone at home, or locked inside your glove compartment, and don’t bring any headphones or speakers or Apple watches or whatever. Just bring along your camera, and enjoy. My personal ideal is the bear lifestyle; walking 50 miles a day. 

Real stoics don’t call themselves Stoics?

A funny thing I have learned is that when you call something something, it isn’t that.

For example, if someone calls something a “luxury car”, it ain’t. For example, a true modern day luxury car is maybe a Tesla, but Tesla never calls itself a luxury car. Also the ultimate luxury technology company is probably Apple… but Apple is very intelligent and not calling themselves a luxury brand.

A pro tip is when it comes to websites, read the alternative text, the header text, the stuff that shows up in the tab of your browser window. If the website, the automotive retailer tries to market themselves as a “luxury” brand, typically it is actually a sign that it isn’t a luxury brand it isn’t luxury brand.

Thought: what are some good examples of true luxury brands which don’t overly calls itself luxury? 

In someways, we can think and consider stoicism as our new luxury. In fact, having luxury, luxury of mind and soul… and luxury of freedom of speech, isn’t this the ultimate luxury?

When somebody asked Diogenes the cynic; “What is the best human good”? He said “Freedom of speech, speaking your mind, having the power to see whatever is on your mind.”

In fact, my current joy is becoming more and more free talking, and free riding. What that means is this; I’m ain’t going to censor myself no more, even if I might be politically incorrect insensitive or whatever. 

Also, I would prefer to speak my mind and seriously hurt the feelings of others, rather than soften it for the sake of the other person. 

Similarly speaking, when people call themselves “influencers”, they are not influencers.

Stoicism as a technique and tool, not the end

Ultimately I think we should think of stoicism just like having another tool inside our tool kit. For example, if you’re a chef, you’re going to have different knives for different purposes. If you’re going to cut a big piece of meat, you probably want a big ass meat cutting knife, not something you would use to slice an apple with. Similarly speaking, if you’re going to scoop out the insides of an avocado, better to use a spoon rather than using a fork, or a knife. 

I think the problem is when some people get too into stoicism (I prefer writing stoicism with a lowercase), they think that everything needs to be consistent, and must fit into this nice little neat box of what is considered “stoicism“. This is a bad line of thinking… let us consider that Marcus Aurelius never even mentioned stoicism in his writings, his collections of thoughts, which we moderns call THE MEDITATIONS… it was just essentially his personal diary, to help him conquer his own personal fears and thoughts, I don’t think he ever intended it to be published publicly. I think he just wrote it to himself as self therapy. And I think the only stoic philosopher he even mentions is maybe Epictetus.

The future of stoicism?

For myself, I just come out with certain to work out thoughts and techniques because it helps me, and when I find these tricks or techniques or secret hacks or cheat codes… My passion is to simply share it with others. 

And ultimately, things are ever in flux and evolving and changing and adapting.

For example, I’ve discovered the quality of my thinking is different when I am in Culver City Los Angeles, compared to being in the boring suburbs of Orange County.

Also depending on my social environments… my stoic thoughts are different when I am in a gym, vs just working out by myself in my parking spot in the back of my apartment.

Also, the quality of my thoughts is different when living with family members or other people versus just living with myself Cindy and Seneca.

Stoicism is all about living with other people

Assuming you’re not growing your own vegetables and living in the middle of nowhere… you probably have some interaction with other human beings. As long as you have an iPhone, an Android phone, a smartphone, a 4G or 5G internet connection, wifi, a laptop, have to buy groceries somewhere… you’re still going to have to interact with other human beings.

And this is good. There is no other greater joy than other human beings.

In fact, modern-day society is strange because in someways, the ethos is to be antisocial and to be cowardly. But in fact, the best way to think about things is that real life is interaction with other human beings, and social conquest. One can imagine a lot of modern day entrepreneurship as simply a big dick swinging contest. He who is the most masculine confident tall and strong and stoic shall win.

More ideas

Assume that everyone is mentally insane: Have you ever been out in public, and you see some sort of crackhead or strange homeless person who acts radically, smells terrible, and is obviously mentally ill? Do you hate them for it? When they say something weird to you… do you take it personally? No. Why? They are crazy. Perhaps we should just adopt this stoic mindset towards other people; some people are actually physiologically ill, mentally unwell… don’t trust the opinion of nobody.

A lot of people are trying to actually deal with their own inner demons: For example, becoming the successful photographer and street photographer I am today… I’ve dealt with some individuals who would say anonymous bad things about me, and later I found out that their mom just died or something. I cannot imagine what it feels like losing a mother… therefore if somebody spew some hate on me because something bad happened to them, I’m not gonna take it personally.

Self-flagellation: I think a lot of people who are sick, mentally or physiologically self flagellate themselves. Essentially the way that they deal with other people or themselves is some sort of metaphorical self-flagellation.

For example… you know those strange individuals who have the whip and whip themselves, and inflict pain on themselves? I think some people do this metaphorically to themselves and others.

You just want to stay away from them.

Why so scared?

My personal theory on fear is that a lot of it is tied to morality and ethics. I think the general idea is not necessarily that we are afraid of anything… I think the true fear is that we’re afraid that we are some sort of bad evil unethical immoral person.

For example in street photography, the general ethical thought is that it is immoral to take a photo of somebody without their permission, because there is some sort of it inherent evil behind it. Is this true? No. Taking photos and not really a big deal.

Why do people make such a big deal out of small things?

I think it is because some people are just overly sensitive, which once again comes from some sort of physiological weakness.

For example, if you’re a weightlifter who could lift 1000 pounds, assuming you’re not taking any steroids or anything… are small things going to bother you? No. But let us assume that you are a skinny fat man, all you do is drink alcohol and smoke marijuana and watch Netflix, and you spent too much time on Reddit… you are 40% body fat, and have never lifted in your life. And also your testosterone is low and you never go outside. Certainly the quality of your thoughts is going to be different than if you’re a happy gay monster, lifting weights outside in the direct sun, laughing and having fun. 

In fact, I’ve actually personally discovered that the reason why a lot of people hate me is because I am so happy jovial and gay. They are secretly suspicious or envious of me? 

Weather and mood

Probably one of my worst experiences was this jarring transition; I was super happy insanely happy being in Vietnam in 2017; with a beautiful weather, the beautiful light, the happy people the great amenities etc.… and then that winter Cindy and I went to Europe, in Marseille Berlin and Prague, and maybe London… seriously the worst winter of my life. Why? I wonder if so much miserable feelings and thoughts simply comes from the darkness and lack of light. a lot of Europe is actually quite miserable; dark, unhygienic, morose.

Even Nietzsche had a thought about Schopenhauer; How much of these emo European philosophers came from the fact that it was just complaining about the cold weather in Germany etc.?

For myself, my ideal weather is Southeast Asia; I love being in Phnom Penh Cambodia, Vietnam etc. In the states, am I the only one who loves living in Los Angeles? Dr. Dre and Kendrick Lamar said that LA was the best for women weed and weather… I would definitely say the biggest upside of living in Los Angeles is the light, the sunlight. It actually does get quite cold here, but usually most reliably even in December during the winter time, the sun will always come up. As long as there is bright sunny light, I will be happy. And I think maybe for myself, considering that I am a photographer, and photography means painting with light… light for me is critical.

I also wonder how much of it is a physiological thing and a genetic trait; for example I could even recall being a young child, and my mom telling me that the most critical thing in finding a home or an apartment was light and natural light. Even now… 90% of my happiness comes from being able to have access to natural light, ideally floor to ceiling windows facing directly the sun, having some sort of modern temperature regulated apartment and home. Even living in our tiny studio minimalistic luxury apartment in Providence Rhode Island, where it was always 75° warm and cozy, and not frigid and damp and cold and dark and humid… I was always good. But moving to an older house, where it always felt damp and cold… this literally lowered my happiness by 1000%.

Therefore, if you’re feeling miserable sad or whatever… I say spend three months living in Hanoi or Saigon in Vietnam, or go to Phnom Penh Cambodia. I wonder if 90% of peoples misery is simply due to the weather.

Stoic assignments

”Better to be a gay monster than a sentimental bore!” – Fernandino Galliani, via Nietzsche

My stoic ideal is somebody who is happy, gay, smiling, no headphones or AirPods on, no sunglasses on, no hat, no facial hair, no baggy oversized clothing, no tint in their car. Somebody who makes great eye contact, laughs, stands up upright, jokes, and fools around. Like an overgrown child.

Also, lift weights at least once every day, ideally in the direct sun. Just buy some weightlifting equipment on Titan.fitness, I like the farmers carry handles, the Olympic loadable dumbbell, and also the Texas power squat bar. Just buy some cheap weights, and or buy a heavy 400 pound sandbag, and just have fun throwing it around.

True stoics are masculine

A true stoic should look something like Hercules or Achilles. Or like ERIC KIM; I have the aesthetic and the physique of Brad Pitt in FIGHT CLUB except with a lot more muscle. Like my friend Soren says, the Adonis physique and proportions.

A real stoic is sexy

I think a real stoic is sexy, happy and fun. Who doesn’t take life too seriously; and think of everything like a fun game. A real stoic would be joyful and cheery like three-year-old child without any adulteration from the outside world.

Why do adults become so dark and morose?

I don’t like talking with or hanging out with adults, uninteresting.

At what point or age do people become so emo?

Typically, highschoolers are very optimistic. Even college students. But I think at least in maybe college in high school nowadays… the bad trend is towards “over concern”, about the world the planet ethics animals etc.

I find a lot of this thinking superficial, performative, and uncritical. I think “animal rights“, “saving the planet” is this new pseudo world religion; which is just capitalism 3.0. I find the whole pet industry the whole dog industry to be insanely bizarre, and I trust nobody who talks about “saving the planet“ who owns an iPhone, owns any sort of car, or has an Amazon prime subscription. Certainly not any vegans.

A real stoic is a carnivore 

Animals are animals. They are lower on the hierarchy and totem pole on earth. Man is the apex predator, the apex bully and the apex tyrant.

Should we care for animals or “animal rights”? No. Animals are our slaves.

If you consider even dogs and pets… they are essentially our emotional slaves. People talk a lot about the virtuosity of dogs being loyal or whatever… and giving you unconditional love. This seems like some sort of emotional slavery.

The only dogs I respect are some sort of canine dogs, some sort of attack or defense dogs, or hunting dogs. For example, John Wick 3; Halle Barry and her dogs. An animal should either be a weapon, or nothing.

Why do people care about animals so much?

Essentially it looks like men no longer have a backbone. No more spine.

I trust nobody who owns a dog.

Let us not forget; they call it dog ownership, or “owning a pet”. There is no more concept of “human ownership, or “owning a human.”

End goals 

What is the end goal of humanity? To me it is towards entrepreneurship, innovation, art and aesthetics, philosophy etc. Design.

Stoicism should be considered a tool which could aid you in these things.

For example, I think 99% of entrepreneurship is courage. Stoicism could help you with that.

I also think with design, great design is also 99% courage, having the courage to attempt something that won’t sell or be received well… stoicism is all about practical courage. The only designers with courage include Steve Jobs, Jony Ive, Elon Musk, Kanye West. 

Also, weightlifting. To attempt to lift a certain weight you have never attempted before takes great courage. For example, me atlas lifting 1000 pounds; that is 10 plates and a 25 on each side, this is true stoic training. Why? The fear of injury is what holds most people back; if you had successfully conquered this fear and not injured yourself, this is pure stoic bliss.

---

The physical

I think the only and the only proper way to lift weights is one repetition maximum training. That is; what is the maximum amount of weight you’re able to successfully lift or move, even half an inch?

To me, the courage is the success. Even if you had the courage to attempt it… that is what is considered success. 

Simple exercises to do include the atlas lift, innovated by ERIC KIM, or a one repetition max rack pull.

Or, a high trap bar deadlift, heavy Farmer’s walks, or heavy sandbag carries. Or even a simple thing you could do is go to the park or to the local nature center, find the biggest rock there and just see if you could pick it up.

Now what?

If you’re interested in stoicism, and have had some interesting thoughts on stoicism, one of the most noble things you could do is start your own blog. I think blogs are 1000 times more effective than publishing some sort of static printed book; I think the problem in today’s world is that everyone is seeking some sort of legitimacy by being picked up by some sort of legitimate publisher and getting “published“, and seeing your printed book at Barnes & Noble whatever.

I say it is better to be open source, free and permissionless, decentralized. Just publish your thoughts and book as a free PDF, and just host it on dropbox, Google Drive, or your own web server. Share the link freely, and also just publish the raw text as a big blog post. 

Even Sam Bankman-Fried wisely thought; 99.9% of books could just be summarized as big blog posts.

Don’t trust any modern day published book which isn’t free, because… there is some sort of hidden clout chasing somewhere. 

Even one of the worst compromises that led to the demise of Ray Dalio was the fact that he took his Principles book, which was essentially a free ebook PDF on his website, and then took it off, because I think he got a book deal with Simon and Schuster. After he did that, he lost my respect.

If you’re already independently wealthy, and you don’t crowd source your self-esteem… why would you need to externally validate yourself by getting some sort of constipated publisher and annoying editor?

Editors are bad.

Now what?

Start your own blog and start blogging your own thoughts on stoic philosophy, and even start a YouTube channel and start vlogging on it. My generalized thought is simple: if your thought your idea your blog post your video or whatever could even impact the life of one other human being on planet earth… it is worth it.

ERIC

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What is the secret to the maximum amount of happiness in life? The maximum amount of danger. (Nietzsche).

ERIC

FIN

Become invincible:

1. SPARTANISM.
2. Introduction to Stoicism
3. STOIC FLEX.
4. Becoming Spartan
5. MAKE IT ENTERTAINING FOR YOURSELF!
6. Stoic Aesthetics?
7. The Philosophy of Ugliness
8. Bad Stoicism
9. Stoicism 2.0
10. Becoming Stoic
11. LEMONADE.
12. Why Arguments and Confrontations Are Good
13. “I’m Over It”
14. How to Deal With Miserable People
15. How to Become a Stoic
16. How to Ignore
17. Pretend like you didn’t hear them
18. Bad Stoic Strategies
19. The Stoic Way of Dealing With Unpleasant or Miserable People
20. HOW TO BECOME A STOIC
21. Stoicism Stunts Our Power?
22. Stoicism is Mental Resistance Training
23. STOIC STRATEGIES.
24. How to Become Fearless
25. Extreme Stoicism
26. Ethics are Aesthetic
27. Indifference to Pain or Suffering
28. When is Stoicism Good? When is Stoicism Bad?
29. Why Others Criticize or Insult You
30. True Difficulty
31. What if Covid Never Goes Away?
32. SUPER STOIC
33. Anti-Hedonism
34. HOW TO CONQUER FEAR
35. ANTI FEAR
36. It is the Duty of the Strong to Help the Weak
37. The Goal is to Become Stronger
38. HYPER STOICISM
39. HYPER HERO
40. TRANSFORM EVERY DOWNSIDE INTO AN UPSIDE
41. STOICISM x Child’s Mind
42. The Art of Manly Virtue
43. Resistance Makes Us Stronger!
44. DON’T LIVE IN FEAR
45. Emotions are Good
46. Conquer Your Anger
47. BLACK EAGLE
48. DIFFICULTY AWAKENS YOUR INNER-GENIUS.
49. STOICISM IS ARMOR FOR THE MIND
50. The Spartan-Stoic Lifestyle
51. How I Conquered Fear
52. HOW TO CURE FEAR.
53. LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL.
54. The Upside of Poverty
55. How I Became Me
56. THE WILL TO POWER, OR THE WILL TO FEAR?
57. ATTACK REALITY
58. Living *THROUGH* History
59. How to Fear Less
60. Fear is the Ultimate Contagious Disease
61. STOICISM FOR DUMMIES
62. Don’t Be Scared!
63. WHAT CAN YOU CONTROL, WHAT CAN YOU NOT CONTROL?
64. HOW YOU CAN CONQUER FEAR
65. YOU’RE STRONGER THAN YOU THINK YOU ARE.
66. EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED
67. WHY AREN’T THINGS WORSE?
68. My Philosophy on Masculinity
69. A Riskier Life is a Better Life #philosophy #stoicism
70. How to Creatively Flourish in Life
71. Introduction to Stoicism
72. How to Become Stronger
73. How to Conquer Depression With Photography
74. What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger
75. How to Respect Yourself
76. How to Believe in Yourself
77. How to Steer Fear
78. How to Conquer Pessimism
79. How to Conquer Anxiety
80. How to Overcome Your Fear of People
81. How to Be Optimistic
82. Why I Don’t Take My Anger Seriously
83. HOW TO BECOME MORE POWERFUL
84. POSITIVITY.
85. HOW TO BECOME SUPERHUMAN
86. How to Give a Fuck Less
87. ALL IN.
88. Why I Cut My Dad Out of My Life.
89. Your iPhone Only Has 5% Battery Left.
90. How not to give a FUCK about your REPUTATION
91. WHAT IS A HUMAN?
92. HAPPINESS.
93. The Regret Minimization Framework in Photography and Life
94. How to Be a HERO
95. Conquer Your Fears by Making Fear Your Slave
96. Rule Circumstances; Don’t Let Your Circumstances Rule You
97. How to Love Yourself
98. How to Turn Shit into Gold
99. Your Parents Fuck You Up
100. Immortality
101. What Kills You Makes You Stronger
102. How to Be Patient
103. How to Conquer Anger
104. How to Bounce Back in Life
105. How to Overcome Resistance
106. Nothing Unlimited is Good; Nothing Good is Unlimited
107. You Have No Limits
108. Can 1’s and 0’s Hurt You?
109. The Envious Moment is Flying Now
110. Tomorrow We’ll Sail the Wide Seas Again
111. How to Forgive Others
112. Focus on Your Actions, Not the Results
113. Everything Will Be Alright
114. How to Be a Stoic Street Photographer
115. How to Be a Spartan Photographer
116. How to Overcome Your Fears in Life
117. How to Stop Worrying in Life
118. How to Use Photography as Self-Therapy
119. How to Free Your Soul From Disturbance
120. 3 Stoic Techniques that Can Help You Gain Tranquility
121. Can People Weaker than You Hurt You?
122. Does a Doctor Get Angry at a Crazy Patient?
123. Own Nothing

The Stoic Masters

Learn from the master stoics:

• Seneca
• Marcus Aurelius
• Epictetus
• Publilius Syrus
• Heraclitus

See all philosophy >

---

PHILOSOPHY BY KIM

IDEAS BY KIM

1. A LIFE WITHOUT PAIN, DISCOMFORT OR (LIMITED) SUFFERING IS NOT A LIFE WORTH LIVING?
2. BIGGER IS WEAKER.
3. How to Become a Philosopher
4. Deep Vanity
5. Time Will Tell
6. What is Wisdom?
7. LOOK *BEYOND*
8. BECOMING MORE IMMORAL?
9. ‘LUCK’ VS COURAGE
10. ‘SKILL’ VS MERIT?
11. Becoming Antifragile
12. How to “Improve” Men
13. The Art of Virtue
14. How to Dominate
15. JUST SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCES AND WISDOM WITH OTHERS.
16. How to Get More Done in a Single Day – MEMENTO MORI PHILOSOPHY
17. THINK FOR YOURSELF
18. Cruel?
19. GO DEMIGOD.
20. How to Be Happy: Challenge and Danger Philosophy
21. To Become Greater, You Must Become *LESS* Productive!
22. Imperfect Beauty
23. The Philosophy of Pleasure
24. What Interests You?
25. Anti Theory of Everything
26. Become?
27. STRONGER OR NOT?
28. Carte Blanche Ideals
29. CHOOSE JOY
30. Don’t Judge Your Impulses
31. On Becoming Less Human
32. COWARDICE.
33. The Philosophy of Futurism
34. PHILOSOPHY IS VALUE-SETTING
35. PHILOSOPHY IS NOT LIFESTYLE
36. WHY STANDARDIZATION IS BAD.
37. YOUR OWN TABLE OF VALUES.
38. RETRO IS BAD.
39. INSANELY LOFTY THOUGHTS.
40. Strive to *Lose* Weight, Not *Gain* Weight
41. DIABLO II ANALOGIES FOR REAL LIFE.
42. If You Know Your *WHY* You Can Discover Any *HOW*
43. Life is Too Short to Be Miserable
44. What Consumption Takes Skill?
45. OFF THE GRID.
46. REALITY IS CRUEL.
47. Pain is Information
48. WHY REMOVE VULGARITY AND DISORDER FROM OUR EYES?
49. AUTOTELIC.
50. UNPLUG.
51. How to Become a Philosopher
52. SUBOPTIMAL IS OPTIMAL
53. THE LUST FOR MORE.
54. TO DO IS TO BECOME.
55. IN PRAISE OF AGGRESSIVE.
56. THE PHILOSOPHY OF OPTIMISM
57. OUR PHILOSOPHICAL WILL TO EXISTENCE
58. Is Hope a Vice?
59. MOVE MEAN
60. Carte Blanche Ideals
61. One Interesting Thought
62. What Lasts? What Doesn’t Last?
63. A WOUND STIMULATES THE RECUPERATIVE POWERS
64. Children & Purpose
65. Thoughts on Becoming a Parent
66. Where Does Our Desire to Upgrade Come From?
67. WE ALWAYS NEED SOMETHING FURTHER TO ASPIRE TO.
68. Self-Task Yourself an Awesome Mission in Life
69. Differentiation vs Equalization
70. My Passion to *Become* Something More
71. No Aesthetic or Ethos is Forever
72. What is Your Higher Purpose in Life?
73. IT WILL NEVER SATISFY YOU.
74. How to Decide
75. Things You *Want* to Do vs Things You *MUST* Do
76. Towards a More Beautiful Mode of Existence and Future
77. EXTREME GRATITUDE.
78. AMAP (As Much as Possible) or None.
79. Why or How Does it Matter?
80. The Philosophy of Time and Events
81. How *Not* to Resent
82. FORWARD LOOKING
83. DOMAIN FLEXIBILITY.
84. The Miracle of Human Growth
85. EXTREME ADAPTATION.
86. Why Plan?
87. You Don’t Need to Justify Yourself
88. The Philosophy of Ego
89. True vs False Passions
90. How to Achieve Tranquility
91. On Making Your Own Philosophy
92. The Purpose of Life is to Create New Life
93. Think On!
94. The Wisdom of Doing Nothing
95. Congruency
96. My Thoughts on Meditation
97. The Philosophy of Purpose
98. Emulate Yourself
99. Good Fear, Bad Fear
100. For the Betterment of Humanity or Just Yourself?
101. What you *really* believe in and care for is manifested through your actions (or non-actions)
102. Why Culture is Your Enemy
103. YOUR EXPERIENCES ARE KING.
104. LIFE IS INHERENTLY GOOD.
105. Artistic, Physical, and Philosophical Muscles
106. All New Experiences are Good Experiences
107. What is the Purpose of X?
108. UTILITY.
109. Philosophy is a Luxury
110. The Attempt is More Interesting than the Result
111. Joyfulness vs “Happiness”
112. Effectiveness Over Happiness
113. Self Actualization
114. MAXIMAL ENGAGEMENT
115. Life & Pain
116. On Living Every Day with No Regret
117. Learn as if you’re going to live forever, live as if you’re going to die tomorrow
118. Live Every Day Like it Were the Last Day of Your Life
119. Self-Determination
120. FALSE GRATITUDE vs REAL GRATITUDE
121. HOW TO LIVE MORE
122. THE UPSIDE OF TRAGEDY
123. Satisfaction is a Sucker’s Game
124. Supreme Repose
125. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF LIFE? According to ERIC KIM
126. STUBBORN, FLEXIBLE
127. EVERYTHING HAPPENS AS IT *SHOULD* HAVE HAD HAPPENED
128. Good Addiction, Bad Addiction?
129. What is the Best Life?
130. The Philosophy of Thinking
131. The Philosophy of Conspiracies
132. Conspiracies
133. Growth
134. Skepticism.
135. What Do You Really Want Out of Life?
136. Seem or Be?
137. Learn Through Pain
138. Respect Yourself
139. In Praise of Elitism
140. Why Independent Thinking?
141. I Will Never Die
142. Bitter is Better
143. The Genesis of Nihilism and Existential Dread
144. The Ethics of Personal Enrichment
145. Good vs Not Good
146. Punished by Privilege
147. Abstinence Over Moderation
148. Just Leave Others Alone
149. You Can Only Critique that Which You Truly Understand and Love
150. ERIC KIM Critique of Metaphysics
151. Only Trust Philosophers Who Deadlift
152. Heuristic: If Someone Talks Shit About Others Behind Their Back, Most Likely They’re Also Talking Shit About You Behind Your Back
153. Virtue is a Privilege
154. What Are Your Life Goals?
155. Honesty
156. Why I’m Anti Moderation
157. No Spite, No Malice.
158. Ascending Life or Descending Life?
159. Double Edged Sword
160. Ignorance.
161. Why I Don’t Trust “Nice Guys”
162. Why You Must Share Your Opinion
163. Selfish Isn’t Evil
164. Wisdom is the Goal
165. YOU ARE KING.
166. MASTER YOURSELF
167. What is “Good” for You is Often what is Bad for You
168. Care.
169. BITTERSWEET
170. ONE REP MAX
171. Morality and Ethics is the Snare
172. BY HELPING YOURSELF, YOU BEST HELP OTHERS
173. Insanity is Good.
174. Think Deep.
175. PHILOSOPHY IS THE FUTURE.
176. Open Mind vs Closed Mind
177. ENTHUSIASM IS GENIUS
178. Towards a More Critical and Rigorous Line of Thinking
179. How to Encourage and a Foster Independent and Free Thinking
180. What is the Purpose of Life?
181. WHY PHILOSOPHY IS SUPREME.
182. Elitism.
183. I Cannot Form an Opinion About Somebody Until I’ve Met Them in the Flesh
184. ALL GENETICS ARE GOOD GENETICS.
185. Happiness vs Freedom
186. The Birth of a Hater
187. My Way Isn’t the Right Way
188. Walking as an Existential Thing
189. Why I’m So Tolerant
190. Mortal Gods
191. THE HUMAN SPECIES
192. Why I’m So Skeptical
193. Just Follow the Money
194. Why Selfish?
195. WHY WE CANNOT BLAME OTHERS
196. Why Are We So Anti Elitism?
197. What Actually Interests You?
198. How to Become Yourself
199. SELF HATE
200. Optimistic Fatalism
201. Death is the Ultimate Creative Constraint
202. FLUX.
203. How to Think for Yourself
204. FLESH
205. How to Live the Best Life
206. Why Live a Life Without Regrets?
207. Why Plato Ruined Art and Aesthetics for Us
208. Self Respect
209. Hypocrite vs Contradict
210. Ideals vs Reality
211. Spaceship Philosophy
212. What is Your Ideal Life?
213. MY EXTREME GRATITUDE TOWARDS LIFE AND BEING ALIVE!
214. Critique of Utilitarianism
215. Don’t Treat Others the Way You Want to Be Treated
216. The Eternal Recurrence of Tragedy and Joy in Life
217. Elite Asceticism
218. Why I Don’t Like Numbers
219. Action and Reaction, Cause and Effect
220. The Antidote to Nihilism: The Philosophy of Nothingness
221. ERIC KIM Notes on Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
222. EXPLOIT CHAOS.
223. WHY I DON’T BELIEVE IN GENETICS
224. Self-Wisdom
225. The Future Belongs to the Fearless
226. INDIVIDUALISM
227. Why Live Forever?
228. THIS TOO WILL PASS.
229. Why Education?
230. How to Become Yourself
231. Things Shouldn’t Go Back to the Way They Used to Be
232. Why Am I So Cruel?
233. The Great Joy of Existence
234. Virtue for the Sake of Virtue
235. NO DISDAIN.
236. INTELLIGENT IGNORANCE
237. A LIFE WITHOUT PAIN, DIFFICULTY OR TRAGEDY ISN’T A LIFE WORTH LIVING
238. BITTER IS BETTER.
239. EXPLOIT THE BEST FROM TRAGEDY AND LIFE 
240. DISREGARD FOR SELF-PRESERVATION
241. PAIN.
242. WHAT IF EVERYTHING IS NOT GONNA BE ALRIGHT?
243. Tomorrow is Never
244. Life is the Ultimate Creative Constraint
245. EMBODIED REALITY
246. BLACK SWAN
247. THINGS WILL NEVER GO BACK TO THE WAY THEY USED TO BE
248. What are you *really* afraid of?
249. HAPPINESS ISN’T THE GOAL
250. Philosophy is King
251. Why is Selfish Evil?
252. YOU’RE CONSTANTLY IN A STATE OF BECOMING
253. ENTITLEMENT A SIN?
254. NARCISSISM
255. BE BRUTALLY HONEST WITH YOURSELF
256. WHY FREE WILL?
257. OBEY YOUR OPINION
258. EGO IS GOOD.
259. WHY IT IS GOOD TO BE INTO YOURSELF
260. Seek the Good Pain
261. Anti-Perfection in Photography, Art, and Life
262. Can You Become an End into Yourself?
263. WHY I LIVE
264. Why I Hate Decline
265. Why I Eat
266. Why am I So Positive and Optimistic?
267. EFFORT IS ENJOYMENT
268. Never Stop Gaining
269. TRUST YOURSELF
270. A Life of Maximal Personal Independence
271. What Do You Desire to Become?
272. What Do I Want from Technology?
273. Stratified Society
274. Do You Love or Hate Reality?
275. On the Brian, Body and Mind
276. I’m Maximally Happy, Now What?
277. Care over Fame
278. ACTIVE NIHILISM
279. Never Stop Subtracting
280. How to Live a Happier and More Epic Life
281. A Risker Life is a Better Life
282. Only Work on Things You Can Imagine Doing for Eternity
283. How to Maximize Your Happiness
284. Influence
285. The Gladiator Makes His Plans once He Enters the Ring
286. Meditations on Meaning in Life
287. There is Nothing More Interesting than Human Beings
288. Is Hope a Vice?
289. EGO
290. Why Be Unique?
291. Happiness is Metabolism Health and Strength
292. You’re the Hero
293. Is Productivity a Virtue or Vice?
294. Why Do We Prize the Rare?
295. The Joy of Uncertainty
296. How Should I Best Use My Time and Life?
297. A Life Without Pain or Suffering Isn’t a Life Worth Living
298. Free or Unfree?
299. What Do You Really Care For in Life?
300. Anti-Satisfaction in Life
301. Why Think?
302. The Eternal Return
303. Only Do What is Best for You!
304. Truthiness
305. Why Be Happy?
306. Permissionless Living
307. In Praise of Unconventional Wisdom
308. Become the Change Which You Wish to See in the World
309. Happiness
310. Beyond Freedom
311. Idolize People, Not Stuff
312. What Makes You Stronger? What Makes You Weaker?
313. Why Hate?
314. The Secret of Happiness
315. You’re Constantly in a State of Becoming
316. Life is about Choices, Not Obligations
317. Anti-Nihilism
318. First, Do What is Best for You.
319. Live Dynamic
320. How to Prosper
321. Is the Point of Life to Be Satisfied?
322. SUPREME EFFORT OF WILL.
323. How to Become more Idealistic
324. Thrivival 101
325. Create Yourself
326. Non-Small
327. Inspiration
328. How to Live a Heroic Life: Dare the Heights!
329. Human Augmentation
330. Prune
331. Happiness: Do What You Want to Do (And Don’t Do What You Don’t Want to Do)
332. Avoid Vain (Empty) Pursuits in Life
333. Modern Slavery
334. Kill the Leeches
335. Wisdom Augmentation
336. Why We Need Friction in Life
337. Straight Line Philosophy
338. What’s Your End-Game in Life?
339. Create Your Own Happiness Today
340. Desire Both Pain and Pleasure in Life
341. Try the Impossible
342. SELF-RESPECT
343. Anti-Social Extrovert
344. Never Blame Anybody But Yourself
345. Human Flourishing
346. Simpler, Not Better.
347. How to be Free
348. Embrace the Extremes
349. Cultivate Your Own Culture
350. COURAGE.
351. Thrivival
352. Inner Power
353. How to Live a Purposeful Life
354. My Definition of Happiness
355. Why Change is Good
356. Why Work?
357. How to Live the Happiest Possible Life
358. The Two-Pronged Approach to Maximize Joy in Your Life
359. You Always Have Another Option!
360. INFINITISM
361. Never Stop!
362. What is Your Self-Directed Purpose in Life?
363. Live Today Like it Were Your Last
364. Do You Photograph to Live, or Live to Photograph?
365. ARTIST-PHILOSOPHER
366. Live Life to the Fullest!
367. In Praise of Selfishness
368. Why You Must Be a YAY-SAYER to Succeed in Entrepreneurship and Life
369. Why I Love Walking
370. Live Life Like a Video Game!
371. Simple Luxuries in Life
372. Treat Your Life Like a Fun Experiment!
373. Only Prove it to Yourself
374. You Don’t Always Need to Feel Joyful to Live a Fulfilling and Meaningful Life
375. Life is Too Short to Be Bored!
376. Money Cannot Destroy Boredom
377. How to Find Inspiration in Life
378. Why You Must Ignore Haters to Succeed and Win in Life
379. An Active Life is a Happy Life
380. My Simple Joys in Life
381. Never Stop Striving
382. How to Motivate Yourself in Life
383. How to Be Optimistic in Life
384. How to Dictate Your Purpose in Life
385. In Praise of a Dynamic Life
386. PURPOSE.
387. How to Enjoy Life
388. Photography Therapy
389. How to Conquer Regret
390. Take Your Play Very Seriously.
391. How to Prosper
392. Memento Vivere
393. Destroy in Order to CREATE
394. Trust Your Body More Than Your Mind
395. Make Photos to Make Meaning in Your Life
396. Seek Knowledge, Not Information
397. The Purpose of Human Life
398. How to Overcome Impedence
399. Why I Love Death
400. How to Be Centered in the Eternal Now
401. How to Be Happy
402. Why Do You Care What Others Think of You?
403. Why I’m Happy
404. Why?
405. Why I’m So Prolific
406. How to Reduce LAG in Life

Masters of Philosophy »

• Seneca
• Marcus Aurelius
• Publilius Syrus

Personal Philosophy »

• You Are the Light of the World
• Your Soul is a Diamond in the Rough
• Why Live?

Stoicism »

• How to Be a Stoic Street Photographer
• How to Use Photography as Self-Therapy
• How to Free Your Soul From Disturbance

Zen Philosophy »

• How to Be a Zen Street Photographer
• Zen in the Art of Street Photography
• How to Find Tranquility in Your Photography

Life Lessons »

• How to Conquer Your Fears in Life
• Conquer Yourself
• How to Focus

Learn more: Start Here >

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Entrepreneurship by KIM

Change and do, and build or do things differently … based on what you believe the ideal world *should* look like:

1. Annoyance & Entrepreneurship
2. Why Doesn’t Anything Satisfy Me?
3. ZERO FINANCIAL CONCERNS
4. How to Gain Ascendancy
5. Business vs Entrepreneurship?
6. TAKE REAL CHANCES
7. Making Money as a Hobby
8. The Best Exercises for Entrepreneurs
9. INCOME VS EXPENSES MONEY LIFESTYLE PHILOSOPHY
10. Entrepreneurship is the privilege of being able to attempt something new
11. How to Become More Influential
12. The Point of Life is Entrepreneurship?
13. How to Think Like an Entrepreneur
14. Become the Outlier
15. Self Reliance
16. How to Extend Your Reach
17. NEWS: How to Think Like an Entrepreneur
18. PVP (Player vs Player)
19. How I became so influential
20. WE LOVE THE *SENSATION* OF RISK-TAKING
21. WHY HIGH PROFIT MARGINS?
22. INNOVATION THOUGHTS
23. OVERCONFIDENCE IS GOOD.
24. GARAGE ENTREPRENEURSHIP
25. PERHAPS IT IS GOOD TO BE “DELUSIONAL”
26. USE YOUR WEALTH TO BUY STUFF, OR TO BUILD AND INNOVATE STUFF?
27. HOW TO THRIVE
28. Target Demographic
29. Ambition Over Happiness
30. Anti Collaboration
31. The Will to Economy
32. Why New?
33. CHOOSE ADRENALINE.
34. No Looking Back.
35. 1000x Different
36. BECOME SPENDTHRIFT
37. THE BENEFIT OF JUST ONE.
38. EXTREME INNOVATION.
39. Practicality is Boring
40. BECOME YOUR OWN STANDARD.
41. NEVER STOP ITERATING.
42. CONDENSE.
43. Take Lots of Small Financial Risks
44. Control Over Convenience
45. Why Are Chinese Companies So Innovative?
46. INSANELY DIFFERENT.
47. Why Doesn’t Anything Ever Satisfy Me?
48. THE GREAT PASSION.
49. Perhaps Dissatisfaction is Good
50. ONE REP MAX.
51. WHAT DO YOU *REALLY* WANT IN LIFE?
52. LIFE IS ABOUT STRIVING FOR MORE.
53. NEVER STOP LINKING.
54. THE GREATEST.
55. WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE!
56. THE BEST IS YET TO COME.
57. ERIC KIM CRITIQUE OF ROMANTICISM
58. COMPLACENCY.
59. JUST BUY IT.
60. ALL ABOUT YOU.
61. MOVE THE WORLD
62. Boring or Not Boring?
63. What if Your Past Self were Inferior to Your Present Self?
64. THE PHILOSOPHY OF PROGRESS
65. CULTURE IS YOUR ENEMY.
66. Difficulty & Interest
67. The Will to Expansion
68. What is Work?
69. SOUL IN THE GAME.
70. JUST START IT.
71. Not Boring
72. PRIDE IN YOUR OWN NAME / BRAND
73. AS MUCH AS YOU CAN TOLERATE.
74. Speed is Paramount
75. TAKE IT BACK TO THE BEGINNING.
76. A Life With No Risk Taking is *NOT* a Life Worth Living
77. Dissatisfaction is Good
78. GREATER STRENGTH, GREATER CHALLENGES.
79. In Praise of the New
80. Uncorrupted Desires
81. You Cannot Fake Passion
82. SELF-OVERGOING
83. FORM YOURSELF.
84. Personal Entrepreneurship
85. RELENTLESS.
86. PUT YOUR NAME ON IT.
87. A Life of Expansion
88. SELF-ENTREPRENEURSHIP
89. YOU ARE THE EXCEPTION.
90. Use Your Life as an Experiment to Self-Develop Yourself to Heights Never Seen Before
91. Invest in New Developments
92. Investing Towards What End?
93. The 90%/10% Principle in Entrepreneurship
94. Speed Wins
95. The Philosophy of Happiness
96. When to Over-Estimate, When to Under-Estimate?
97. Never Stop Iterating
98. Money as a Tool for Life and Artistic Experimentation
99. Less But More Premium
100. Mainstream vs Low-Key Success
101. Why Dissatisfaction is Good
102. SEEK YOUR OWN PERSONAL MAXIMAL BENEFIT INSTEAD OF COMPLAINING
103. Manifest Your Destiny
104. Is it Best to *Not* Communicate Your Inner Thoughts or Ideas With Others?
105. CREATE THINGS YOU WISH TO SEE MANIFESTED IN THE WORLD
106. How to Do More Work
107. CONTROL.
108. Competition is for Losers
109. Change.
110. Your Competitive Advantage with Insanely Fast Wifi and High Speed Internet
111. Pseudo Individualism
112. Natural Internal Promoting vs External Promptings

Think for Yourself.

1. Survival vs Thrivival
2. Become Rich
3. SECRETS.
4. Why it is Better to Beg for Forgiveness than Ask for Permission
5. Thinking About the Past Prevents You From Thinking About the Future
6. How to Predict the Future
7. Tools of Mass Distraction
8. So What?

FREEDOM

• On Leaving a Legacy
• I wanna be me!
• Productivity for personal freedom
• How to Purchase your Freedom

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Never stop innovating.

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Entrepreneurship Mindset

• What is Your Dream in Life?
• 8 Blogging Productivity Tips
• Why Be Normal?
• How Much Suffering Are You Willing to Endure to Achieve Your Dreams?

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Put a Dent in the Universe.

• Innovate for the Sake of Innovating!
• Reality is Malleable!
• Stoic Entrepreneurship
• Against Self-Preservation
• The Purpose of Life is to Make New Stuff!

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CINEMA BY ERIC KIM

CINEMA BY KIM

Cinema and film as a great stimulus, aid and teacher for photographers and visual artists alike.

Cinematography and life lessons:

Cinema and Film Reviews

1. BOOK OF BOBA FETT CRITIQUE
2. What *Should* Cinema and Literature Do?
3. MATRIX 4 Critique
4. THE PHILOSOPHY OF “FREE GUY” (Film, 2021)
5. Why DUNE 2021 is So Great
6. INFINITE (2021) Film Review
7. MAD MAX FURY ROAD: Black and Chrome Version Review
8. Why 7 Samurai by Akira Kurosawa is So Great
9. BLADE RUNNER (1982 Original) Cinematography Review & Thoughts vs the New Version (2049)
10. Blade Runner 2049 Film Review + Cinematography Composition Analysis
11. REVIEW: Justice League (Snyder Cut)
12. What Makes a Great Movie/Film?
13. Iron Man (1) Film Cinema Review
14. JOKER FILM REVIEW + Cinematography Composition
15. Ghost in the Shell Anime (1995) Cinematography, Composition, Philosophy Review
16. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Cinematography and Film Review

Space Films

• Ad Astra Cinematography Composition Film Review
• 2001 Space Odyssey
  • Part 5: Epic Cinematography of 2001 Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick
  • Part 4: Epic Cinematography and Philosophy of 2001 Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick
  • Part 3: Epic Cinematography and Philosophy of 2001 Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick
  • Part 2: Epic Cinematography and Philosophy of 2001 Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick
  • Part 1: Epic Cinematography and Philosophy of 2001 Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick

Cinema and philosophy

• John Wick Philosophy
• 300 Cinematography and Philosophy

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GODFATHER

• GODFATHER Part 3 Cinematography
• GODFATHER Part 2 Cinematography
• GODFATHER Part 1 Cinematography

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Gangster Films

• GOODFELLAS Cinematography Lessons
• Scarface
• Part 1: CASINO Film Cinematography Composition

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ACTION FILMS

• John Wick Film Cinematography Composition
• Ghost in the Shell Anime Cinematography Composition

CITIZEN KANE:

• Part 5
• Part 4
• Part 3
• Part 2
• Part 1

Articles on Cinema

• Why Photographers Should Study Cinema

Great Cinema

• Part 1: Throne of Blood Cinematography by Akira Kurosawa
• Part 1: Spartacus Cinematography and Philosophy Lessons from Stanley Kubrick
• Part 1: Philosophy and Cinematography of Full Metal Jacket
• Part 3: MATRIX Philosophy and Cinematography
• Part 2: MATRIX Philosophy and Cinematography
• Part 1: MATRIX Philosophy and Cinematography
• Part 4: Epic Cinematography of 2001 Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick
• Part 3: Epic Cinematography and Philosophy of 2001 Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick
• Part 2: Epic Cinematography and Philosophy of 2001 Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick
• Part 1: Epic Cinematography and Philosophy of 2001 Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick
• Stanley Kubrick: Master Photographer and Film-Maker
• Lessons Ridley Scott Has Taught Me about Life, Art, and Cinema
• Part 2: Cinematography and Composition Lessons from All the Money in the World (2017) film by Ridley Scott
• Part 1: Cinematography and Composition Lessons from All the Money in the World (2017) film by Ridley Scott
• Cinematography Composition Techniques for Photographers
• Rashomon (1950)
• Ran (Chaos) by Akira Kurosawa
• FIGHT CLUB
• FURY (2014)
• THE MATRIX
• AKIRA PART I / AKIRA PART II
• Batman: The Dark Knight
• Dr. Strange
• Suicide Squad
• Kendrick Lamar: HUMBLE.

THOUGHTS

1. 7 Lessons Elon Musk has Taught Me
2. Introduction to Stoicism

PDF

1. LEICA MANUAL PDF // MIRROR
2. TRAVEL NOTES
3. ZEN OF ERIC
4. MASTERS VOLUME 1 // MIRROR
5. Photography Composition Manual v1
6. Zen Photography
7. STREET PHOTO CONTACT SHEETS
8. STREET PHOTO CONTACT SHEETS VOLUME II
9. Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Mastering Street Photography
10. The Street Portrait Manual
11. 100 Lessons From the Masters of Street Photography

ERIC KIM NEWS

Don’t be left behind: ERIC KIM NEWS >

EK MIND STREAM.

THOUGHTS

1. THE PHILOSOPHY OF RISK TAKING — PDF
2. Why I Bought Chainlink — PDF
3. How to Become a Philosopher
4. How to Become a Stoic

ART PHOTO BOOKS

1. SUITS

ERIC KIM PODCAST

EK PODCAST ALSO ON SPOTIFY

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MODERN PHOTOGRAPHER

• DOWNLOAD FREE // PDF DOWNLOAD // MIRROR

STOICISM

Delve into the mind of EK:

BOOKS

1. THE PHOTOGRAPHER

NEW CHATGPT BOTS

1. COMPOSITION CHECKER
2. WHY APP?

Crypto

1. BACK TO CHAINLINK, EVERYONE SHOULD OWN *AT LEAST* ONE BITCOIN, AI IS NEXT $100T, 1000T INDUSTRY?
2. Bitcoin Babe

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 ERIC KIM CHATGPT BOTS

1. BITCOIN BABE
2. ZEN OF ERIC
3. ERIC KIM BOT

---

STREET PHOTOGRAPHY STARTER KIT

Open source:

0. What is Street Photography? (2.4gb) / Download
1. Black and White (2.3gb) / Download
2. How to Shoot Street Photography (2.2gb) / Download
3. Street Portraits 101 (1.9gb) / Download
4. Conquer Your Fears (430mb) / Download
5. Composition (460mb) / Download
6. Masters (107mb) / Download
7. Editing and Post-Processing (1.3gb) / Download
8. Photography Projects (1.4gb) / Download
9. Motivation (3.7gb) / Download

View all >

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PHOTOLOSOPHY

What can you become as a photographer-visual artist?

0. Introduction (830mb)
1. Street Photography (2.6gb)
2. Personal Photography (1.8gb)
3. Entrepreneurship (1.5gb)
4. Motivation: HAPTIC BOOKS (20mb)
5. Audio (100mb)
6. Presets (40mb)
7. Transcripts (29kb)

DOWNLOAD FULL COURSE (7.4GB)

See the full course here.

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PHILOSOPHY BY KIM

IDEAS BY KIM

1. A LIFE WITHOUT PAIN, DISCOMFORT OR (LIMITED) SUFFERING IS NOT A LIFE WORTH LIVING?
2. BIGGER IS WEAKER.
3. How to Become a Philosopher
4. Deep Vanity
5. Time Will Tell
6. What is Wisdom?
7. LOOK *BEYOND*
8. BECOMING MORE IMMORAL?
9. ‘LUCK’ VS COURAGE
10. ‘SKILL’ VS MERIT?
11. Becoming Antifragile
12. How to “Improve” Men
13. The Art of Virtue
14. How to Dominate
15. JUST SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCES AND WISDOM WITH OTHERS.
16. How to Get More Done in a Single Day – MEMENTO MORI PHILOSOPHY
17. THINK FOR YOURSELF
18. Cruel?
19. GO DEMIGOD.
20. How to Be Happy: Challenge and Danger Philosophy
21. To Become Greater, You Must Become *LESS* Productive!
22. Imperfect Beauty
23. The Philosophy of Pleasure
24. What Interests You?
25. Anti Theory of Everything
26. Become?
27. STRONGER OR NOT?
28. Carte Blanche Ideals
29. CHOOSE JOY
30. Don’t Judge Your Impulses
31. On Becoming Less Human
32. COWARDICE.
33. The Philosophy of Futurism
34. PHILOSOPHY IS VALUE-SETTING
35. PHILOSOPHY IS NOT LIFESTYLE
36. WHY STANDARDIZATION IS BAD.
37. YOUR OWN TABLE OF VALUES.
38. RETRO IS BAD.
39. INSANELY LOFTY THOUGHTS.
40. Strive to *Lose* Weight, Not *Gain* Weight
41. DIABLO II ANALOGIES FOR REAL LIFE.
42. If You Know Your *WHY* You Can Discover Any *HOW*
43. Life is Too Short to Be Miserable
44. What Consumption Takes Skill?
45. OFF THE GRID.
46. REALITY IS CRUEL.
47. Pain is Information
48. WHY REMOVE VULGARITY AND DISORDER FROM OUR EYES?
49. AUTOTELIC.
50. UNPLUG.
51. How to Become a Philosopher
52. SUBOPTIMAL IS OPTIMAL
53. THE LUST FOR MORE.
54. TO DO IS TO BECOME.
55. IN PRAISE OF AGGRESSIVE.
56. THE PHILOSOPHY OF OPTIMISM
57. OUR PHILOSOPHICAL WILL TO EXISTENCE
58. Is Hope a Vice?
59. MOVE MEAN
60. Carte Blanche Ideals
61. One Interesting Thought
62. What Lasts? What Doesn’t Last?
63. A WOUND STIMULATES THE RECUPERATIVE POWERS
64. Children & Purpose
65. Thoughts on Becoming a Parent
66. Where Does Our Desire to Upgrade Come From?
67. WE ALWAYS NEED SOMETHING FURTHER TO ASPIRE TO.
68. Self-Task Yourself an Awesome Mission in Life
69. Differentiation vs Equalization
70. My Passion to *Become* Something More
71. No Aesthetic or Ethos is Forever
72. What is Your Higher Purpose in Life?
73. IT WILL NEVER SATISFY YOU.
74. How to Decide
75. Things You *Want* to Do vs Things You *MUST* Do
76. Towards a More Beautiful Mode of Existence and Future
77. EXTREME GRATITUDE.
78. AMAP (As Much as Possible) or None.
79. Why or How Does it Matter?
80. The Philosophy of Time and Events
81. How *Not* to Resent
82. FORWARD LOOKING
83. DOMAIN FLEXIBILITY.
84. The Miracle of Human Growth
85. EXTREME ADAPTATION.
86. Why Plan?
87. You Don’t Need to Justify Yourself
88. The Philosophy of Ego
89. True vs False Passions
90. How to Achieve Tranquility
91. On Making Your Own Philosophy
92. The Purpose of Life is to Create New Life
93. Think On!
94. The Wisdom of Doing Nothing
95. Congruency
96. My Thoughts on Meditation
97. The Philosophy of Purpose
98. Emulate Yourself
99. Good Fear, Bad Fear
100. For the Betterment of Humanity or Just Yourself?
101. What you *really* believe in and care for is manifested through your actions (or non-actions)
102. Why Culture is Your Enemy
103. YOUR EXPERIENCES ARE KING.
104. LIFE IS INHERENTLY GOOD.
105. Artistic, Physical, and Philosophical Muscles
106. All New Experiences are Good Experiences
107. What is the Purpose of X?
108. UTILITY.
109. Philosophy is a Luxury
110. The Attempt is More Interesting than the Result
111. Joyfulness vs “Happiness”
112. Effectiveness Over Happiness
113. Self Actualization
114. MAXIMAL ENGAGEMENT
115. Life & Pain
116. On Living Every Day with No Regret
117. Learn as if you’re going to live forever, live as if you’re going to die tomorrow
118. Live Every Day Like it Were the Last Day of Your Life
119. Self-Determination
120. FALSE GRATITUDE vs REAL GRATITUDE
121. HOW TO LIVE MORE
122. THE UPSIDE OF TRAGEDY
123. Satisfaction is a Sucker’s Game
124. Supreme Repose
125. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF LIFE? According to ERIC KIM
126. STUBBORN, FLEXIBLE
127. EVERYTHING HAPPENS AS IT *SHOULD* HAVE HAD HAPPENED
128. Good Addiction, Bad Addiction?
129. What is the Best Life?
130. The Philosophy of Thinking
131. The Philosophy of Conspiracies
132. Conspiracies
133. Growth
134. Skepticism.
135. What Do You Really Want Out of Life?
136. Seem or Be?
137. Learn Through Pain
138. Respect Yourself
139. In Praise of Elitism
140. Why Independent Thinking?
141. I Will Never Die
142. Bitter is Better
143. The Genesis of Nihilism and Existential Dread
144. The Ethics of Personal Enrichment
145. Good vs Not Good
146. Punished by Privilege
147. Abstinence Over Moderation
148. Just Leave Others Alone
149. You Can Only Critique that Which You Truly Understand and Love
150. ERIC KIM Critique of Metaphysics
151. Only Trust Philosophers Who Deadlift
152. Heuristic: If Someone Talks Shit About Others Behind Their Back, Most Likely They’re Also Talking Shit About You Behind Your Back
153. Virtue is a Privilege
154. What Are Your Life Goals?
155. Honesty
156. Why I’m Anti Moderation
157. No Spite, No Malice.
158. Ascending Life or Descending Life?
159. Double Edged Sword
160. Ignorance.
161. Why I Don’t Trust “Nice Guys”
162. Why You Must Share Your Opinion
163. Selfish Isn’t Evil
164. Wisdom is the Goal
165. YOU ARE KING.
166. MASTER YOURSELF
167. What is “Good” for You is Often what is Bad for You
168. Care.
169. BITTERSWEET
170. ONE REP MAX
171. Morality and Ethics is the Snare
172. BY HELPING YOURSELF, YOU BEST HELP OTHERS
173. Insanity is Good.
174. Think Deep.
175. PHILOSOPHY IS THE FUTURE.
176. Open Mind vs Closed Mind
177. ENTHUSIASM IS GENIUS
178. Towards a More Critical and Rigorous Line of Thinking
179. How to Encourage and a Foster Independent and Free Thinking
180. What is the Purpose of Life?
181. WHY PHILOSOPHY IS SUPREME.
182. Elitism.
183. I Cannot Form an Opinion About Somebody Until I’ve Met Them in the Flesh
184. ALL GENETICS ARE GOOD GENETICS.
185. Happiness vs Freedom
186. The Birth of a Hater
187. My Way Isn’t the Right Way
188. Walking as an Existential Thing
189. Why I’m So Tolerant
190. Mortal Gods
191. THE HUMAN SPECIES
192. Why I’m So Skeptical
193. Just Follow the Money
194. Why Selfish?
195. WHY WE CANNOT BLAME OTHERS
196. Why Are We So Anti Elitism?
197. What Actually Interests You?
198. How to Become Yourself
199. SELF HATE
200. Optimistic Fatalism
201. Death is the Ultimate Creative Constraint
202. FLUX.
203. How to Think for Yourself
204. FLESH
205. How to Live the Best Life
206. Why Live a Life Without Regrets?
207. Why Plato Ruined Art and Aesthetics for Us
208. Self Respect
209. Hypocrite vs Contradict
210. Ideals vs Reality
211. Spaceship Philosophy
212. What is Your Ideal Life?
213. MY EXTREME GRATITUDE TOWARDS LIFE AND BEING ALIVE!
214. Critique of Utilitarianism
215. Don’t Treat Others the Way You Want to Be Treated
216. The Eternal Recurrence of Tragedy and Joy in Life
217. Elite Asceticism
218. Why I Don’t Like Numbers
219. Action and Reaction, Cause and Effect
220. The Antidote to Nihilism: The Philosophy of Nothingness
221. ERIC KIM Notes on Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
222. EXPLOIT CHAOS.
223. WHY I DON’T BELIEVE IN GENETICS
224. Self-Wisdom
225. The Future Belongs to the Fearless
226. INDIVIDUALISM
227. Why Live Forever?
228. THIS TOO WILL PASS.
229. Why Education?
230. How to Become Yourself
231. Things Shouldn’t Go Back to the Way They Used to Be
232. Why Am I So Cruel?
233. The Great Joy of Existence
234. Virtue for the Sake of Virtue
235. NO DISDAIN.
236. INTELLIGENT IGNORANCE
237. A LIFE WITHOUT PAIN, DIFFICULTY OR TRAGEDY ISN’T A LIFE WORTH LIVING
238. BITTER IS BETTER.
239. EXPLOIT THE BEST FROM TRAGEDY AND LIFE 
240. DISREGARD FOR SELF-PRESERVATION
241. PAIN.
242. WHAT IF EVERYTHING IS NOT GONNA BE ALRIGHT?
243. Tomorrow is Never
244. Life is the Ultimate Creative Constraint
245. EMBODIED REALITY
246. BLACK SWAN
247. THINGS WILL NEVER GO BACK TO THE WAY THEY USED TO BE
248. What are you *really* afraid of?
249. HAPPINESS ISN’T THE GOAL
250. Philosophy is King
251. Why is Selfish Evil?
252. YOU’RE CONSTANTLY IN A STATE OF BECOMING
253. ENTITLEMENT A SIN?
254. NARCISSISM
255. BE BRUTALLY HONEST WITH YOURSELF
256. WHY FREE WILL?
257. OBEY YOUR OPINION
258. EGO IS GOOD.
259. WHY IT IS GOOD TO BE INTO YOURSELF
260. Seek the Good Pain
261. Anti-Perfection in Photography, Art, and Life
262. Can You Become an End into Yourself?
263. WHY I LIVE
264. Why I Hate Decline
265. Why I Eat
266. Why am I So Positive and Optimistic?
267. EFFORT IS ENJOYMENT
268. Never Stop Gaining
269. TRUST YOURSELF
270. A Life of Maximal Personal Independence
271. What Do You Desire to Become?
272. What Do I Want from Technology?
273. Stratified Society
274. Do You Love or Hate Reality?
275. On the Brian, Body and Mind
276. I’m Maximally Happy, Now What?
277. Care over Fame
278. ACTIVE NIHILISM
279. Never Stop Subtracting
280. How to Live a Happier and More Epic Life
281. A Risker Life is a Better Life
282. Only Work on Things You Can Imagine Doing for Eternity
283. How to Maximize Your Happiness
284. Influence
285. The Gladiator Makes His Plans once He Enters the Ring
286. Meditations on Meaning in Life
287. There is Nothing More Interesting than Human Beings
288. Is Hope a Vice?
289. EGO
290. Why Be Unique?
291. Happiness is Metabolism Health and Strength
292. You’re the Hero
293. Is Productivity a Virtue or Vice?
294. Why Do We Prize the Rare?
295. The Joy of Uncertainty
296. How Should I Best Use My Time and Life?
297. A Life Without Pain or Suffering Isn’t a Life Worth Living
298. Free or Unfree?
299. What Do You Really Care For in Life?
300. Anti-Satisfaction in Life
301. Why Think?
302. The Eternal Return
303. Only Do What is Best for You!
304. Truthiness
305. Why Be Happy?
306. Permissionless Living
307. In Praise of Unconventional Wisdom
308. Become the Change Which You Wish to See in the World
309. Happiness
310. Beyond Freedom
311. Idolize People, Not Stuff
312. What Makes You Stronger? What Makes You Weaker?
313. Why Hate?
314. The Secret of Happiness
315. You’re Constantly in a State of Becoming
316. Life is about Choices, Not Obligations
317. Anti-Nihilism
318. First, Do What is Best for You.
319. Live Dynamic
320. How to Prosper
321. Is the Point of Life to Be Satisfied?
322. SUPREME EFFORT OF WILL.
323. How to Become more Idealistic
324. Thrivival 101
325. Create Yourself
326. Non-Small
327. Inspiration
328. How to Live a Heroic Life: Dare the Heights!
329. Human Augmentation
330. Prune
331. Happiness: Do What You Want to Do (And Don’t Do What You Don’t Want to Do)
332. Avoid Vain (Empty) Pursuits in Life
333. Modern Slavery
334. Kill the Leeches
335. Wisdom Augmentation
336. Why We Need Friction in Life
337. Straight Line Philosophy
338. What’s Your End-Game in Life?
339. Create Your Own Happiness Today
340. Desire Both Pain and Pleasure in Life
341. Try the Impossible
342. SELF-RESPECT
343. Anti-Social Extrovert
344. Never Blame Anybody But Yourself
345. Human Flourishing
346. Simpler, Not Better.
347. How to be Free
348. Embrace the Extremes
349. Cultivate Your Own Culture
350. COURAGE.
351. Thrivival
352. Inner Power
353. How to Live a Purposeful Life
354. My Definition of Happiness
355. Why Change is Good
356. Why Work?
357. How to Live the Happiest Possible Life
358. The Two-Pronged Approach to Maximize Joy in Your Life
359. You Always Have Another Option!
360. INFINITISM
361. Never Stop!
362. What is Your Self-Directed Purpose in Life?
363. Live Today Like it Were Your Last
364. Do You Photograph to Live, or Live to Photograph?
365. ARTIST-PHILOSOPHER
366. Live Life to the Fullest!
367. In Praise of Selfishness
368. Why You Must Be a YAY-SAYER to Succeed in Entrepreneurship and Life
369. Why I Love Walking
370. Live Life Like a Video Game!
371. Simple Luxuries in Life
372. Treat Your Life Like a Fun Experiment!
373. Only Prove it to Yourself
374. You Don’t Always Need to Feel Joyful to Live a Fulfilling and Meaningful Life
375. Life is Too Short to Be Bored!
376. Money Cannot Destroy Boredom
377. How to Find Inspiration in Life
378. Why You Must Ignore Haters to Succeed and Win in Life
379. An Active Life is a Happy Life
380. My Simple Joys in Life
381. Never Stop Striving
382. How to Motivate Yourself in Life
383. How to Be Optimistic in Life
384. How to Dictate Your Purpose in Life
385. In Praise of a Dynamic Life
386. PURPOSE.
387. How to Enjoy Life
388. Photography Therapy
389. How to Conquer Regret
390. Take Your Play Very Seriously.
391. How to Prosper
392. Memento Vivere
393. Destroy in Order to CREATE
394. Trust Your Body More Than Your Mind
395. Make Photos to Make Meaning in Your Life
396. Seek Knowledge, Not Information
397. The Purpose of Human Life
398. How to Overcome Impedence
399. Why I Love Death
400. How to Be Centered in the Eternal Now
401. How to Be Happy
402. Why Do You Care What Others Think of You?
403. Why I’m Happy
404. Why?
405. Why I’m So Prolific
406. How to Reduce LAG in Life

Masters of Philosophy »

• Seneca
• Marcus Aurelius
• Publilius Syrus

Personal Philosophy »

• You Are the Light of the World
• Your Soul is a Diamond in the Rough
• Why Live?

Stoicism »

• How to Be a Stoic Street Photographer
• How to Use Photography as Self-Therapy
• How to Free Your Soul From Disturbance

Zen Philosophy »

• How to Be a Zen Street Photographer
• Zen in the Art of Street Photography
• How to Find Tranquility in Your Photography

Life Lessons »

• How to Conquer Your Fears in Life
• Conquer Yourself
• How to Focus

Learn more: Start Here >

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Entrepreneurship by KIM

Change and do, and build or do things differently … based on what you believe the ideal world *should* look like:

1. Annoyance & Entrepreneurship
2. Why Doesn’t Anything Satisfy Me?
3. ZERO FINANCIAL CONCERNS
4. How to Gain Ascendancy
5. Business vs Entrepreneurship?
6. TAKE REAL CHANCES
7. Making Money as a Hobby
8. The Best Exercises for Entrepreneurs
9. INCOME VS EXPENSES MONEY LIFESTYLE PHILOSOPHY
10. Entrepreneurship is the privilege of being able to attempt something new
11. How to Become More Influential
12. The Point of Life is Entrepreneurship?
13. How to Think Like an Entrepreneur
14. Become the Outlier
15. Self Reliance
16. How to Extend Your Reach
17. NEWS: How to Think Like an Entrepreneur
18. PVP (Player vs Player)
19. How I became so influential
20. WE LOVE THE *SENSATION* OF RISK-TAKING
21. WHY HIGH PROFIT MARGINS?
22. INNOVATION THOUGHTS
23. OVERCONFIDENCE IS GOOD.
24. GARAGE ENTREPRENEURSHIP
25. PERHAPS IT IS GOOD TO BE “DELUSIONAL”
26. USE YOUR WEALTH TO BUY STUFF, OR TO BUILD AND INNOVATE STUFF?
27. HOW TO THRIVE
28. Target Demographic
29. Ambition Over Happiness
30. Anti Collaboration
31. The Will to Economy
32. Why New?
33. CHOOSE ADRENALINE.
34. No Looking Back.
35. 1000x Different
36. BECOME SPENDTHRIFT
37. THE BENEFIT OF JUST ONE.
38. EXTREME INNOVATION.
39. Practicality is Boring
40. BECOME YOUR OWN STANDARD.
41. NEVER STOP ITERATING.
42. CONDENSE.
43. Take Lots of Small Financial Risks
44. Control Over Convenience
45. Why Are Chinese Companies So Innovative?
46. INSANELY DIFFERENT.
47. Why Doesn’t Anything Ever Satisfy Me?
48. THE GREAT PASSION.
49. Perhaps Dissatisfaction is Good
50. ONE REP MAX.
51. WHAT DO YOU *REALLY* WANT IN LIFE?
52. LIFE IS ABOUT STRIVING FOR MORE.
53. NEVER STOP LINKING.
54. THE GREATEST.
55. WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE!
56. THE BEST IS YET TO COME.
57. ERIC KIM CRITIQUE OF ROMANTICISM
58. COMPLACENCY.
59. JUST BUY IT.
60. ALL ABOUT YOU.
61. MOVE THE WORLD
62. Boring or Not Boring?
63. What if Your Past Self were Inferior to Your Present Self?
64. THE PHILOSOPHY OF PROGRESS
65. CULTURE IS YOUR ENEMY.
66. Difficulty & Interest
67. The Will to Expansion
68. What is Work?
69. SOUL IN THE GAME.
70. JUST START IT.
71. Not Boring
72. PRIDE IN YOUR OWN NAME / BRAND
73. AS MUCH AS YOU CAN TOLERATE.
74. Speed is Paramount
75. TAKE IT BACK TO THE BEGINNING.
76. A Life With No Risk Taking is *NOT* a Life Worth Living
77. Dissatisfaction is Good
78. GREATER STRENGTH, GREATER CHALLENGES.
79. In Praise of the New
80. Uncorrupted Desires
81. You Cannot Fake Passion
82. SELF-OVERGOING
83. FORM YOURSELF.
84. Personal Entrepreneurship
85. RELENTLESS.
86. PUT YOUR NAME ON IT.
87. A Life of Expansion
88. SELF-ENTREPRENEURSHIP
89. YOU ARE THE EXCEPTION.
90. Use Your Life as an Experiment to Self-Develop Yourself to Heights Never Seen Before
91. Invest in New Developments
92. Investing Towards What End?
93. The 90%/10% Principle in Entrepreneurship
94. Speed Wins
95. The Philosophy of Happiness
96. When to Over-Estimate, When to Under-Estimate?
97. Never Stop Iterating
98. Money as a Tool for Life and Artistic Experimentation
99. Less But More Premium
100. Mainstream vs Low-Key Success
101. Why Dissatisfaction is Good
102. SEEK YOUR OWN PERSONAL MAXIMAL BENEFIT INSTEAD OF COMPLAINING
103. Manifest Your Destiny
104. Is it Best to *Not* Communicate Your Inner Thoughts or Ideas With Others?
105. CREATE THINGS YOU WISH TO SEE MANIFESTED IN THE WORLD
106. How to Do More Work
107. CONTROL.
108. Competition is for Losers
109. Change.
110. Your Competitive Advantage with Insanely Fast Wifi and High Speed Internet
111. Pseudo Individualism
112. Natural Internal Promoting vs External Promptings

Think for Yourself.

1. Survival vs Thrivival
2. Become Rich
3. SECRETS.
4. Why it is Better to Beg for Forgiveness than Ask for Permission
5. Thinking About the Past Prevents You From Thinking About the Future
6. How to Predict the Future
7. Tools of Mass Distraction
8. So What?

FREEDOM

• On Leaving a Legacy
• I wanna be me!
• Productivity for personal freedom
• How to Purchase your Freedom

---

Never stop innovating.

---

Entrepreneurship Mindset

• What is Your Dream in Life?
• 8 Blogging Productivity Tips
• Why Be Normal?
• How Much Suffering Are You Willing to Endure to Achieve Your Dreams?

---

Put a Dent in the Universe.

• Innovate for the Sake of Innovating!
• Reality is Malleable!
• Stoic Entrepreneurship
• Against Self-Preservation
• The Purpose of Life is to Make New Stuff!

---

CINEMA BY ERIC KIM

CINEMA BY KIM

Cinema and film as a great stimulus, aid and teacher for photographers and visual artists alike.

Cinematography and life lessons:

Cinema and Film Reviews

1. BOOK OF BOBA FETT CRITIQUE
2. What *Should* Cinema and Literature Do?
3. MATRIX 4 Critique
4. THE PHILOSOPHY OF “FREE GUY” (Film, 2021)
5. Why DUNE 2021 is So Great
6. INFINITE (2021) Film Review
7. MAD MAX FURY ROAD: Black and Chrome Version Review
8. Why 7 Samurai by Akira Kurosawa is So Great
9. BLADE RUNNER (1982 Original) Cinematography Review & Thoughts vs the New Version (2049)
10. Blade Runner 2049 Film Review + Cinematography Composition Analysis
11. REVIEW: Justice League (Snyder Cut)
12. What Makes a Great Movie/Film?
13. Iron Man (1) Film Cinema Review
14. JOKER FILM REVIEW + Cinematography Composition
15. Ghost in the Shell Anime (1995) Cinematography, Composition, Philosophy Review
16. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Cinematography and Film Review

Space Films

• Ad Astra Cinematography Composition Film Review
• 2001 Space Odyssey
  • Part 5: Epic Cinematography of 2001 Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick
  • Part 4: Epic Cinematography and Philosophy of 2001 Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick
  • Part 3: Epic Cinematography and Philosophy of 2001 Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick
  • Part 2: Epic Cinematography and Philosophy of 2001 Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick
  • Part 1: Epic Cinematography and Philosophy of 2001 Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick

Cinema and philosophy

• John Wick Philosophy
• 300 Cinematography and Philosophy

---

GODFATHER

• GODFATHER Part 3 Cinematography
• GODFATHER Part 2 Cinematography
• GODFATHER Part 1 Cinematography

---

Gangster Films

• GOODFELLAS Cinematography Lessons
• Scarface
• Part 1: CASINO Film Cinematography Composition

---

ACTION FILMS

• John Wick Film Cinematography Composition
• Ghost in the Shell Anime Cinematography Composition

CITIZEN KANE:

• Part 5
• Part 4
• Part 3
• Part 2
• Part 1

Articles on Cinema

• Why Photographers Should Study Cinema

Great Cinema

• Part 1: Throne of Blood Cinematography by Akira Kurosawa
• Part 1: Spartacus Cinematography and Philosophy Lessons from Stanley Kubrick
• Part 1: Philosophy and Cinematography of Full Metal Jacket
• Part 3: MATRIX Philosophy and Cinematography
• Part 2: MATRIX Philosophy and Cinematography
• Part 1: MATRIX Philosophy and Cinematography
• Part 4: Epic Cinematography of 2001 Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick
• Part 3: Epic Cinematography and Philosophy of 2001 Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick
• Part 2: Epic Cinematography and Philosophy of 2001 Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick
• Part 1: Epic Cinematography and Philosophy of 2001 Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick
• Stanley Kubrick: Master Photographer and Film-Maker
• Lessons Ridley Scott Has Taught Me about Life, Art, and Cinema
• Part 2: Cinematography and Composition Lessons from All the Money in the World (2017) film by Ridley Scott
• Part 1: Cinematography and Composition Lessons from All the Money in the World (2017) film by Ridley Scott
• Cinematography Composition Techniques for Photographers
• Rashomon (1950)
• Ran (Chaos) by Akira Kurosawa
• FIGHT CLUB
• FURY (2014)
• THE MATRIX
• AKIRA PART I / AKIRA PART II
• Batman: The Dark Knight
• Dr. Strange
• Suicide Squad
• Kendrick Lamar: HUMBLE.

The most two critical things in life:

Avoid death, don’t do anything that might cause your traumatic death, whether it be sleeping with the gas heater on, dying in the middle of your sleep, going skydiving, regardless of how it is, zip lining whatever, roller coasters, amusement park rides, texting while driving or even driving and talking on the phone.

Also, not trying to feed your kid in the car while you’re driving, even when stopped at a red light.

Also, disease. Anything like getting an STD, aids etc. Don’t have coitus with anybody besides your wife. Also as a funny tip, if you ever plan on going to the strip club, or the club, or anywhere that you might get tempted… just rub one out real quick in the bathroom before you go, to avoid doing anything dumb.

Also, to quote NASSIM TALEB; just avoid death, or irreversible permanent disfigurement. Don’t do nothing that might cause you to become,

PHILOSOPHY BY KIM

IDEAS BY KIM

1. A LIFE WITHOUT PAIN, DISCOMFORT OR (LIMITED) SUFFERING IS NOT A LIFE WORTH LIVING?
2. BIGGER IS WEAKER.
3. How to Become a Philosopher
4. Deep Vanity
5. Time Will Tell
6. What is Wisdom?
7. LOOK *BEYOND*
8. BECOMING MORE IMMORAL?
9. ‘LUCK’ VS COURAGE
10. ‘SKILL’ VS MERIT?
11. Becoming Antifragile
12. How to “Improve” Men
13. The Art of Virtue
14. How to Dominate
15. JUST SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCES AND WISDOM WITH OTHERS.
16. How to Get More Done in a Single Day – MEMENTO MORI PHILOSOPHY
17. THINK FOR YOURSELF
18. Cruel?
19. GO DEMIGOD.
20. How to Be Happy: Challenge and Danger Philosophy
21. To Become Greater, You Must Become *LESS* Productive!
22. Imperfect Beauty
23. The Philosophy of Pleasure
24. What Interests You?
25. Anti Theory of Everything
26. Become?
27. STRONGER OR NOT?
28. Carte Blanche Ideals
29. CHOOSE JOY
30. Don’t Judge Your Impulses
31. On Becoming Less Human
32. COWARDICE.
33. The Philosophy of Futurism
34. PHILOSOPHY IS VALUE-SETTING
35. PHILOSOPHY IS NOT LIFESTYLE
36. WHY STANDARDIZATION IS BAD.
37. YOUR OWN TABLE OF VALUES.
38. RETRO IS BAD.
39. INSANELY LOFTY THOUGHTS.
40. Strive to *Lose* Weight, Not *Gain* Weight
41. DIABLO II ANALOGIES FOR REAL LIFE.
42. If You Know Your *WHY* You Can Discover Any *HOW*
43. Life is Too Short to Be Miserable
44. What Consumption Takes Skill?
45. OFF THE GRID.
46. REALITY IS CRUEL.
47. Pain is Information
48. WHY REMOVE VULGARITY AND DISORDER FROM OUR EYES?
49. AUTOTELIC.
50. UNPLUG.
51. How to Become a Philosopher
52. SUBOPTIMAL IS OPTIMAL
53. THE LUST FOR MORE.
54. TO DO IS TO BECOME.
55. IN PRAISE OF AGGRESSIVE.
56. THE PHILOSOPHY OF OPTIMISM
57. OUR PHILOSOPHICAL WILL TO EXISTENCE
58. Is Hope a Vice?
59. MOVE MEAN
60. Carte Blanche Ideals
61. One Interesting Thought
62. What Lasts? What Doesn’t Last?
63. A WOUND STIMULATES THE RECUPERATIVE POWERS
64. Children & Purpose
65. Thoughts on Becoming a Parent
66. Where Does Our Desire to Upgrade Come From?
67. WE ALWAYS NEED SOMETHING FURTHER TO ASPIRE TO.
68. Self-Task Yourself an Awesome Mission in Life
69. Differentiation vs Equalization
70. My Passion to *Become* Something More
71. No Aesthetic or Ethos is Forever
72. What is Your Higher Purpose in Life?
73. IT WILL NEVER SATISFY YOU.
74. How to Decide
75. Things You *Want* to Do vs Things You *MUST* Do
76. Towards a More Beautiful Mode of Existence and Future
77. EXTREME GRATITUDE.
78. AMAP (As Much as Possible) or None.
79. Why or How Does it Matter?
80. The Philosophy of Time and Events
81. How *Not* to Resent
82. FORWARD LOOKING
83. DOMAIN FLEXIBILITY.
84. The Miracle of Human Growth
85. EXTREME ADAPTATION.
86. Why Plan?
87. You Don’t Need to Justify Yourself
88. The Philosophy of Ego
89. True vs False Passions
90. How to Achieve Tranquility
91. On Making Your Own Philosophy
92. The Purpose of Life is to Create New Life
93. Think On!
94. The Wisdom of Doing Nothing
95. Congruency
96. My Thoughts on Meditation
97. The Philosophy of Purpose
98. Emulate Yourself
99. Good Fear, Bad Fear
100. For the Betterment of Humanity or Just Yourself?
101. What you *really* believe in and care for is manifested through your actions (or non-actions)
102. Why Culture is Your Enemy
103. YOUR EXPERIENCES ARE KING.
104. LIFE IS INHERENTLY GOOD.
105. Artistic, Physical, and Philosophical Muscles
106. All New Experiences are Good Experiences
107. What is the Purpose of X?
108. UTILITY.
109. Philosophy is a Luxury
110. The Attempt is More Interesting than the Result
111. Joyfulness vs “Happiness”
112. Effectiveness Over Happiness
113. Self Actualization
114. MAXIMAL ENGAGEMENT
115. Life & Pain
116. On Living Every Day with No Regret
117. Learn as if you’re going to live forever, live as if you’re going to die tomorrow
118. Live Every Day Like it Were the Last Day of Your Life
119. Self-Determination
120. FALSE GRATITUDE vs REAL GRATITUDE
121. HOW TO LIVE MORE
122. THE UPSIDE OF TRAGEDY
123. Satisfaction is a Sucker’s Game
124. Supreme Repose
125. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF LIFE? According to ERIC KIM
126. STUBBORN, FLEXIBLE
127. EVERYTHING HAPPENS AS IT *SHOULD* HAVE HAD HAPPENED
128. Good Addiction, Bad Addiction?
129. What is the Best Life?
130. The Philosophy of Thinking
131. The Philosophy of Conspiracies
132. Conspiracies
133. Growth
134. Skepticism.
135. What Do You Really Want Out of Life?
136. Seem or Be?
137. Learn Through Pain
138. Respect Yourself
139. In Praise of Elitism
140. Why Independent Thinking?
141. I Will Never Die
142. Bitter is Better
143. The Genesis of Nihilism and Existential Dread
144. The Ethics of Personal Enrichment
145. Good vs Not Good
146. Punished by Privilege
147. Abstinence Over Moderation
148. Just Leave Others Alone
149. You Can Only Critique that Which You Truly Understand and Love
150. ERIC KIM Critique of Metaphysics
151. Only Trust Philosophers Who Deadlift
152. Heuristic: If Someone Talks Shit About Others Behind Their Back, Most Likely They’re Also Talking Shit About You Behind Your Back
153. Virtue is a Privilege
154. What Are Your Life Goals?
155. Honesty
156. Why I’m Anti Moderation
157. No Spite, No Malice.
158. Ascending Life or Descending Life?
159. Double Edged Sword
160. Ignorance.
161. Why I Don’t Trust “Nice Guys”
162. Why You Must Share Your Opinion
163. Selfish Isn’t Evil
164. Wisdom is the Goal
165. YOU ARE KING.
166. MASTER YOURSELF
167. What is “Good” for You is Often what is Bad for You
168. Care.
169. BITTERSWEET
170. ONE REP MAX
171. Morality and Ethics is the Snare
172. BY HELPING YOURSELF, YOU BEST HELP OTHERS
173. Insanity is Good.
174. Think Deep.
175. PHILOSOPHY IS THE FUTURE.
176. Open Mind vs Closed Mind
177. ENTHUSIASM IS GENIUS
178. Towards a More Critical and Rigorous Line of Thinking
179. How to Encourage and a Foster Independent and Free Thinking
180. What is the Purpose of Life?
181. WHY PHILOSOPHY IS SUPREME.
182. Elitism.
183. I Cannot Form an Opinion About Somebody Until I’ve Met Them in the Flesh
184. ALL GENETICS ARE GOOD GENETICS.
185. Happiness vs Freedom
186. The Birth of a Hater
187. My Way Isn’t the Right Way
188. Walking as an Existential Thing
189. Why I’m So Tolerant
190. Mortal Gods
191. THE HUMAN SPECIES
192. Why I’m So Skeptical
193. Just Follow the Money
194. Why Selfish?
195. WHY WE CANNOT BLAME OTHERS
196. Why Are We So Anti Elitism?
197. What Actually Interests You?
198. How to Become Yourself
199. SELF HATE
200. Optimistic Fatalism
201. Death is the Ultimate Creative Constraint
202. FLUX.
203. How to Think for Yourself
204. FLESH
205. How to Live the Best Life
206. Why Live a Life Without Regrets?
207. Why Plato Ruined Art and Aesthetics for Us
208. Self Respect
209. Hypocrite vs Contradict
210. Ideals vs Reality
211. Spaceship Philosophy
212. What is Your Ideal Life?
213. MY EXTREME GRATITUDE TOWARDS LIFE AND BEING ALIVE!
214. Critique of Utilitarianism
215. Don’t Treat Others the Way You Want to Be Treated
216. The Eternal Recurrence of Tragedy and Joy in Life
217. Elite Asceticism
218. Why I Don’t Like Numbers
219. Action and Reaction, Cause and Effect
220. The Antidote to Nihilism: The Philosophy of Nothingness
221. ERIC KIM Notes on Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
222. EXPLOIT CHAOS.
223. WHY I DON’T BELIEVE IN GENETICS
224. Self-Wisdom
225. The Future Belongs to the Fearless
226. INDIVIDUALISM
227. Why Live Forever?
228. THIS TOO WILL PASS.
229. Why Education?
230. How to Become Yourself
231. Things Shouldn’t Go Back to the Way They Used to Be
232. Why Am I So Cruel?
233. The Great Joy of Existence
234. Virtue for the Sake of Virtue
235. NO DISDAIN.
236. INTELLIGENT IGNORANCE
237. A LIFE WITHOUT PAIN, DIFFICULTY OR TRAGEDY ISN’T A LIFE WORTH LIVING
238. BITTER IS BETTER.
239. EXPLOIT THE BEST FROM TRAGEDY AND LIFE 
240. DISREGARD FOR SELF-PRESERVATION
241. PAIN.
242. WHAT IF EVERYTHING IS NOT GONNA BE ALRIGHT?
243. Tomorrow is Never
244. Life is the Ultimate Creative Constraint
245. EMBODIED REALITY
246. BLACK SWAN
247. THINGS WILL NEVER GO BACK TO THE WAY THEY USED TO BE
248. What are you *really* afraid of?
249. HAPPINESS ISN’T THE GOAL
250. Philosophy is King
251. Why is Selfish Evil?
252. YOU’RE CONSTANTLY IN A STATE OF BECOMING
253. ENTITLEMENT A SIN?
254. NARCISSISM
255. BE BRUTALLY HONEST WITH YOURSELF
256. WHY FREE WILL?
257. OBEY YOUR OPINION
258. EGO IS GOOD.
259. WHY IT IS GOOD TO BE INTO YOURSELF
260. Seek the Good Pain
261. Anti-Perfection in Photography, Art, and Life
262. Can You Become an End into Yourself?
263. WHY I LIVE
264. Why I Hate Decline
265. Why I Eat
266. Why am I So Positive and Optimistic?
267. EFFORT IS ENJOYMENT
268. Never Stop Gaining
269. TRUST YOURSELF
270. A Life of Maximal Personal Independence
271. What Do You Desire to Become?
272. What Do I Want from Technology?
273. Stratified Society
274. Do You Love or Hate Reality?
275. On the Brian, Body and Mind
276. I’m Maximally Happy, Now What?
277. Care over Fame
278. ACTIVE NIHILISM
279. Never Stop Subtracting
280. How to Live a Happier and More Epic Life
281. A Risker Life is a Better Life
282. Only Work on Things You Can Imagine Doing for Eternity
283. How to Maximize Your Happiness
284. Influence
285. The Gladiator Makes His Plans once He Enters the Ring
286. Meditations on Meaning in Life
287. There is Nothing More Interesting than Human Beings
288. Is Hope a Vice?
289. EGO
290. Why Be Unique?
291. Happiness is Metabolism Health and Strength
292. You’re the Hero
293. Is Productivity a Virtue or Vice?
294. Why Do We Prize the Rare?
295. The Joy of Uncertainty
296. How Should I Best Use My Time and Life?
297. A Life Without Pain or Suffering Isn’t a Life Worth Living
298. Free or Unfree?
299. What Do You Really Care For in Life?
300. Anti-Satisfaction in Life
301. Why Think?
302. The Eternal Return
303. Only Do What is Best for You!
304. Truthiness
305. Why Be Happy?
306. Permissionless Living
307. In Praise of Unconventional Wisdom
308. Become the Change Which You Wish to See in the World
309. Happiness
310. Beyond Freedom
311. Idolize People, Not Stuff
312. What Makes You Stronger? What Makes You Weaker?
313. Why Hate?
314. The Secret of Happiness
315. You’re Constantly in a State of Becoming
316. Life is about Choices, Not Obligations
317. Anti-Nihilism
318. First, Do What is Best for You.
319. Live Dynamic
320. How to Prosper
321. Is the Point of Life to Be Satisfied?
322. SUPREME EFFORT OF WILL.
323. How to Become more Idealistic
324. Thrivival 101
325. Create Yourself
326. Non-Small
327. Inspiration
328. How to Live a Heroic Life: Dare the Heights!
329. Human Augmentation
330. Prune
331. Happiness: Do What You Want to Do (And Don’t Do What You Don’t Want to Do)
332. Avoid Vain (Empty) Pursuits in Life
333. Modern Slavery
334. Kill the Leeches
335. Wisdom Augmentation
336. Why We Need Friction in Life
337. Straight Line Philosophy
338. What’s Your End-Game in Life?
339. Create Your Own Happiness Today
340. Desire Both Pain and Pleasure in Life
341. Try the Impossible
342. SELF-RESPECT
343. Anti-Social Extrovert
344. Never Blame Anybody But Yourself
345. Human Flourishing
346. Simpler, Not Better.
347. How to be Free
348. Embrace the Extremes
349. Cultivate Your Own Culture
350. COURAGE.
351. Thrivival
352. Inner Power
353. How to Live a Purposeful Life
354. My Definition of Happiness
355. Why Change is Good
356. Why Work?
357. How to Live the Happiest Possible Life
358. The Two-Pronged Approach to Maximize Joy in Your Life
359. You Always Have Another Option!
360. INFINITISM
361. Never Stop!
362. What is Your Self-Directed Purpose in Life?
363. Live Today Like it Were Your Last
364. Do You Photograph to Live, or Live to Photograph?
365. ARTIST-PHILOSOPHER
366. Live Life to the Fullest!
367. In Praise of Selfishness
368. Why You Must Be a YAY-SAYER to Succeed in Entrepreneurship and Life
369. Why I Love Walking
370. Live Life Like a Video Game!
371. Simple Luxuries in Life
372. Treat Your Life Like a Fun Experiment!
373. Only Prove it to Yourself
374. You Don’t Always Need to Feel Joyful to Live a Fulfilling and Meaningful Life
375. Life is Too Short to Be Bored!
376. Money Cannot Destroy Boredom
377. How to Find Inspiration in Life
378. Why You Must Ignore Haters to Succeed and Win in Life
379. An Active Life is a Happy Life
380. My Simple Joys in Life
381. Never Stop Striving
382. How to Motivate Yourself in Life
383. How to Be Optimistic in Life
384. How to Dictate Your Purpose in Life
385. In Praise of a Dynamic Life
386. PURPOSE.
387. How to Enjoy Life
388. Photography Therapy
389. How to Conquer Regret
390. Take Your Play Very Seriously.
391. How to Prosper
392. Memento Vivere
393. Destroy in Order to CREATE
394. Trust Your Body More Than Your Mind
395. Make Photos to Make Meaning in Your Life
396. Seek Knowledge, Not Information
397. The Purpose of Human Life
398. How to Overcome Impedence
399. Why I Love Death
400. How to Be Centered in the Eternal Now
401. How to Be Happy
402. Why Do You Care What Others Think of You?
403. Why I’m Happy
404. Why?
405. Why I’m So Prolific
406. How to Reduce LAG in Life

Masters of Philosophy »

• Seneca
• Marcus Aurelius
• Publilius Syrus

Personal Philosophy »

• You Are the Light of the World
• Your Soul is a Diamond in the Rough
• Why Live?

Stoicism »

• How to Be a Stoic Street Photographer
• How to Use Photography as Self-Therapy
• How to Free Your Soul From Disturbance

Zen Philosophy »

• How to Be a Zen Street Photographer
• Zen in the Art of Street Photography
• How to Find Tranquility in Your Photography

Life Lessons »

• How to Conquer Your Fears in Life
• Conquer Yourself
• How to Focus

Learn more: Start Here >

First, start walking in order to think. 

---

So something I have not really came across yet is the philosophy of thinking. Why think, what does it mean to think, why does it matter?

First and foremost, thoughts govern the planet. For example, almost everything in life and in the world, is predicated on notions of thought and thinking. No thoughts, no future. 

For example, it looks like Tesla is about to conquer the planet. The new redesign Tesla model three is mind blowing. They made the steering wheel more beautiful, they made the interior design supply me beautiful; an integrated curve, Steve Jobs and Jony Ive would be proud!

Also I think that ambient lighting thing inside the car is super cool. Some people might think it is gimmicky, but I think it is awesome! I remember when I first saw the integrated lighting booth thing in some Mercedes cars, and I think there is something to be said about light, Light therapy; colors affect our mood. 

For example, anyone who says that colors don’t matter is a full. Would you want interior of your house to have bright red walls? Probably not if you don’t want to scream bloody murder inside your home.

Or, for people who say that color don’t matter, would you want to wear an all green outfit, with bright pink fuchsia accents and shoes? Probably not.

Cars run the planet?

 still in 2024, I am still shocked; it looks like cars run the planet. What this means is that it seemed that maybe 60% of our economic activity is around producing cars, selling cars, buying cars, design cars etc.

For example I look at Hyundai, it is insane… Also the new Genesis Berlinetta concept car — also, the new Hyundai Grandeur and AZERA– like a futuristic Rolls-Royce for the future!

ART

The other day, it was free! The Lacma, L A Center for modern art, had this really insanely epic art exhibition, imagine like Legos and hot wheels on steroids; it was titled metropolis II, And imagine like a Connex erectors set, 1100 custom designed mini matchbox hot wheel cars, with this perpetual machine moving all of the cars in traffic and buses and reels, stacked on top of one another. Conjured ideas of that old-school 1920s metropolis film, in the future where everything is that, flying cars etc. or also, a vision of a topic science-fiction future, kind of like Blade Runner, or that one futuristic movie that Bruce Willis was in.

I love this exhibit so much because it’s stimulated my mind, and also, Seneca’s mind was blown! I think I rated as the best art exhibit solution of all time. I could probably watch it for hours, and not get bored.

If you’re in LA, Southern California whatever, I think it is a critical experience you must go to in person. Also what makes it a great exhibit is that it can be enjoyed by both children and adults, all ages. It is essentially a microcosm of cities, urban living, traffic and cars. The UltimateUltimate Takeaway point: 

We all think we are so unique and individual, and special, based on superficial things whether we drive an orange sports car or whatever, but in fact, we are all just the same! A bunch of lemmings!

Sociology is great

So I was born in 1988, and I attended UCLA as an undergraduate, I started in 2006, graduated 2010. I wish I got into bitcoin earlier in 2009, when my roommate Kevin told me about it, I think when he first saw it on Reddit. He said that we should both put about 100 bucks into it and see what happened. I shrugged my shoulders and said “meh — nah, probably a scam”. if I do the math, 100 bucks, I think at the time somebody spent 20,000 bitcoin to buy a pizza on Domino’s or whatever, the infamous $500 million pizza, basically… What would 100 bucks times a penny be? How many bitcoin could that have purchased me? And what would it be worth today?

In life it is fine to make a mistake, and make a regret. But not twice. This is why and why I’m going back into bitcoin.

anyways back to sociology, I think the reason why I think it is such a phenomenal framework to understand the world in society is that I think all of this is just a sociological phenomenon. Society, capital, capitalism, living lifestyle whatever… I think about 80% or 85% of it is based on certain sociological principles. 

Also, to understand the market, economics, I think it is all sociology. To understand human fear, scams, fraud etc. 

 also, I think studying sociology has made me unlearn a lot of the BS. To quote Karl Popper, via TALEB– the idea of falsification, subtraction, or the general ideas that in order to become more wise, you just got a subtract delete or get rid of foolishness, nonsense.

For example, conspiracy theories. Only fools believe in them. Even if they are real, it doesn’t even really matter.

Therefore a great advancement in ourselves our thinking etc. is subtracting deleting or getting rid of weird conspiracy theories from your brain and your mind. 

Off the grid thinking

To me the grid is an interesting metaphor for a lot of things. The grid could be standard conventional thinking, “rules” and regulations, a lot of of the modern day BS.

I think primarily migrate power in life is my ability to distain ignore and find ridiculous all of these “rules”. In fact, at least in real life, I don’t think I’ve ever met anybody as interesting as myself. The only other interesting people I think, or maybe Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Kanye West. To me actually they are very relatable.

The photographer philosopher

Come on… It is 2024, you’re still on Instagram? To me Instagram is like eating McDonald’s hamburgers. Not proper.

Also, I’m still a bit confused… Why don’t more people people just start their own private websites and blogs? And no no no, do not use square space it sucks. Also fun dirty secret, maybe about four or five years ago I got an email from Square space, saying that if I converted my whole website and logging into Square space it would give me $15,000 or something. It was the easiest no I ever said in my life. Honestly speaking, I don’t even think I do it for $1 million? Unless there is something the updated which is really good.

To me the reason why I find the photography so critical is that ultimately we are visual creatures. What sells cars? Design. Design marketing, the idealized concept of something.

Design is God.

Once again the new Tesla model three, I think it actually looks 500 times cooler than any other Tesla car out there. And I’m glad that I am a late adopter, and I was not one of these unfortunate who bought an early model Tesla model model three or any other Tesla car.

To me the most important thing in a car is the steering wheel, because you look at it all the time, then interior and dashboard, and also the back of the car. And also specifically the door side driver side entrance, and also the rear left passenger side door, where I get in and out and load Seneca into his car seat and the car.

Sharing your thoughts

A simple way to live life, and to make an impact or whatever is to just share your thoughts. It is funny because people say all this ridiculous things like “that is just your opinion!” The best response: “of course it is my opinion!” Opinion, opine, just means to think.

This is where philosophy is very useful: people think that there are certain notions of “facts“, especially in the realm of statistics, but probably the most useful thing of studying sociology, is understanding that statistics is just a scam. I learned from Cindy (cindyanguyen.com), in her book and dissertation,  that the notion of statistics comes from the state. The general idea is that statistics was a measuring tool invented by the state in order to track measure progress, something that the French colonists and colonial administrators did when colonizing Vietnam and her other territories, and also, what the Chinese communist under Modon, and also the Vietnamese communists also did. The general idea was this:

in order to track the legitimacy of something in the progress of something (let us not forget that the notion of “progress“ is a feeble modern day notion)– is that we got a track the growth of something in numbers.

Numbers are boring

I don’t trust nobody who either has some sort of loser Apple Watch, Fitbit tracker, has Instagram, or applies any metrics to their life. The only metric I find useful is maybe increasing your one repetition maximum in your weightlifting, simply as a measure to know that you’re increasing the weight. But besides that, things which are bad include white yourself on the scale, because you don’t know how much of that is body fat adipose tissue, how much of that is skeletal muscle mass, and even other things that people don’t talk about… How much of that weight is bones, sinews, Blood and water?  

Both men and women are foolish: they tracked weight as a measure of their self-worth. But, the goal is to increase skeletal muscle mass, and decrease body adipose fat tissue. This is something that scale cannot do, the closest thing is either a fat caliper, or just look at yourself in the mirror. Pincher belly fat, or look at the fat in your face, or, you want to get rid of the infamous pet rules in the back of your neck. Something that I see that Kanye West has.

Why are we no longer permitted to be independent interesting thinkers?

It is weird, in today’s world, in America at least… We truly do have the greatest system for independent thinking and thought. Here unlike other countries, you will not get jailed for sharing your opinion. Even the most politically liberal or advanced countries in the world pale in comparison to America.

The problem though here is that all sides, all parties, all individuals are “nudged“ either into the left or the right, even this notion of being a political or being an anarchist or whatever is also just another lemming sheep mentality.

Or another words, put zero faith in anybody who watches any news, doesn’t matter if it is NPR, Fox News, Al Jazeera whatever. The simple heuristic is this: if it is being funded by advertising, google Adsense revenue, it is not to be consumed. 

Only trust things that you are spending your real money on. This means, stop using Google. Google is a “free” service, and the way they make money is by sensationalism and banner advertising. Even nowadays I’m stopping to use Google maps, having those annoying Square advertisements that pop up when I’m driving, I almost feel like that is borderline unethical. Why? It distracts me from driving, I wonder if it will lead me to getting into a car accident one day? Google, whoever did that I google, Google maps team whatever… Shame on you.

Apple Maps is the inferior product, but at least it is not supported by advertising. Get rid of Google maps use Apple Maps instead. 

OK… all I want to do is a simple $125k transfer through JPMORGAN CHASE — why the fuck is this shit taking 3-4 days??? To have some lackey have to manually approve it… even though I did all this bullshit verification over the phone?

Short Chase. Short traditional banks, short all the banks!

Economics by KIM

1. THE PROMISE OF FUTURE MONOPOLY PROFITS?
2. High gas prices are good
3. What is Capitalism?
4. Pride in What You Paid For
5. On Making Money from Nothing
6. Save Money Towards What Ends?
7. No Regret Investment

Money thoughts:

1. DONT BUY IT, BUILD IT!
2. Silver US Dollar
3. THE PHILOSOPHY OF MONEY
4. THE FUTURE OF MONEY
5. Price Insensitive
6. WHY JOBS?
7. The Future Economy
8. What is Money?
9. Individual Economics

---

The Philosophy of Money

1. How to Become Economically Independent
2. Economic Dependency
3. It’s the Economy, Stupid
4. ERIC KIM PHILOSOPHY OF MONEY
5. Debt is the Devil
6. Capitalism is Cruel
7. In Praise of Capitalism and Consumerism
8. Capitalism as the Road to Tolerance
9. DIGITAL CAPITALISM
10. Capitalism 2.0
11. In Praise of Capitalism
12. CREATIVE CAPITALISM
13. ZEN CAPITALISM
14. Universal Basic Income

Notes to self —

Notes 3

Accordingtosome,
these bodies, which add dignity to the awkward appear­ ance of people, have also come to provide the superi­ ority which is a source of the most considerable satis­ faction, as I have already indicated.

even kings owe the greater part of the veneration of their sub­ jects to the external magnificence which always sur­ rounds them. Deprived of these trappings, kings would
retain only powers and gifts of mind which they had formerly; they have come to realize that the reverence
shown them has been greatly reduced in such circum­ stances.

Women constitute half of the humai race and exist .only, or in large part, solely for our propogation and breeding.

They do not have any oth( value and merit than the love they arouse in men.

because this attribute is almost entirely derived from beauty, women have no greater duty than to appear at­ tractive in the eyes of men.

How useful they ‘are as ornaments is attested to by common consensus.

Propagate and breeding

more useful” and “less
useful” are relative terms, and that they are measured
according to the different conditions of different peo­ ple* **”

there is nothing more useless than bread for one
who is sated.***

Davan- zati asserts, that:
an egg worth half a grain of gold would have kept Count Ugolino from starving
to death, even after ten days in his tower prison. All the gold in the world
would not have matched it in value.

dear and cheap are relative terms.

To just live is easy !!!***

A LIFE WITHOUT PAIN, DISCOMFORT OR (LIMITED) SUFFERING IS NOT A LIFE WORTH LIVING?

Now that winter is upon us … at least for myself, I hate the cold. To me, the cold is evil.

Yet when I’m in a position in which I feel *no* cold at all … no pain, no discomfort during the cold winter months, for some reason … something in life feels lacking?

I think the subtle nuance is this:

The pain, discomfort or whatever you feel has to be of a *LIMITED* duration.

For example feeling pain, discomfort whatever for 5 seconds, 10 minutes, 5 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour is fine. But not *prolonged* and continual and nonstop pain, suffering, discomfort.

Or in other words, cold weather training (working out topless during the winter time) for short durations like 15 minutes is fine, assuming you rush home and take an insanely hot bath or shower to warm up again, but to do it *indefinitely*— a bad idea.

PHILOSOPHY BY KIM

IDEAS BY KIM

1. BIGGER IS WEAKER.
2. How to Become a Philosopher
3. Deep Vanity
4. Time Will Tell
5. What is Wisdom?
6. LOOK *BEYOND*
7. BECOMING MORE IMMORAL?
8. ‘LUCK’ VS COURAGE
9. ‘SKILL’ VS MERIT?
10. Becoming Antifragile
11. How to “Improve” Men
12. The Art of Virtue
13. How to Dominate
14. JUST SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCES AND WISDOM WITH OTHERS.
15. How to Get More Done in a Single Day – MEMENTO MORI PHILOSOPHY
16. THINK FOR YOURSELF
17. Cruel?
18. GO DEMIGOD.
19. How to Be Happy: Challenge and Danger Philosophy
20. To Become Greater, You Must Become *LESS* Productive!
21. Imperfect Beauty
22. The Philosophy of Pleasure
23. What Interests You?
24. Anti Theory of Everything
25. Become?
26. STRONGER OR NOT?
27. Carte Blanche Ideals
28. CHOOSE JOY
29. Don’t Judge Your Impulses
30. On Becoming Less Human
31. COWARDICE.
32. The Philosophy of Futurism
33. PHILOSOPHY IS VALUE-SETTING
34. PHILOSOPHY IS NOT LIFESTYLE
35. WHY STANDARDIZATION IS BAD.
36. YOUR OWN TABLE OF VALUES.
37. RETRO IS BAD.
38. INSANELY LOFTY THOUGHTS.
39. Strive to *Lose* Weight, Not *Gain* Weight
40. DIABLO II ANALOGIES FOR REAL LIFE.
41. If You Know Your *WHY* You Can Discover Any *HOW*
42. Life is Too Short to Be Miserable
43. What Consumption Takes Skill?
44. OFF THE GRID.
45. REALITY IS CRUEL.
46. Pain is Information
47. WHY REMOVE VULGARITY AND DISORDER FROM OUR EYES?
48. AUTOTELIC.
49. UNPLUG.
50. How to Become a Philosopher
51. SUBOPTIMAL IS OPTIMAL
52. THE LUST FOR MORE.
53. TO DO IS TO BECOME.
54. IN PRAISE OF AGGRESSIVE.
55. THE PHILOSOPHY OF OPTIMISM
56. OUR PHILOSOPHICAL WILL TO EXISTENCE
57. Is Hope a Vice?
58. MOVE MEAN
59. Carte Blanche Ideals
60. One Interesting Thought
61. What Lasts? What Doesn’t Last?
62. A WOUND STIMULATES THE RECUPERATIVE POWERS
63. Children & Purpose
64. Thoughts on Becoming a Parent
65. Where Does Our Desire to Upgrade Come From?
66. WE ALWAYS NEED SOMETHING FURTHER TO ASPIRE TO.
67. Self-Task Yourself an Awesome Mission in Life
68. Differentiation vs Equalization
69. My Passion to *Become* Something More
70. No Aesthetic or Ethos is Forever
71. What is Your Higher Purpose in Life?
72. IT WILL NEVER SATISFY YOU.
73. How to Decide
74. Things You *Want* to Do vs Things You *MUST* Do
75. Towards a More Beautiful Mode of Existence and Future
76. EXTREME GRATITUDE.
77. AMAP (As Much as Possible) or None.
78. Why or How Does it Matter?
79. The Philosophy of Time and Events
80. How *Not* to Resent
81. FORWARD LOOKING
82. DOMAIN FLEXIBILITY.
83. The Miracle of Human Growth
84. EXTREME ADAPTATION.
85. Why Plan?
86. You Don’t Need to Justify Yourself
87. The Philosophy of Ego
88. True vs False Passions
89. How to Achieve Tranquility
90. On Making Your Own Philosophy
91. The Purpose of Life is to Create New Life
92. Think On!
93. The Wisdom of Doing Nothing
94. Congruency
95. My Thoughts on Meditation
96. The Philosophy of Purpose
97. Emulate Yourself
98. Good Fear, Bad Fear
99. For the Betterment of Humanity or Just Yourself?
100. What you *really* believe in and care for is manifested through your actions (or non-actions)
101. Why Culture is Your Enemy
102. YOUR EXPERIENCES ARE KING.
103. LIFE IS INHERENTLY GOOD.
104. Artistic, Physical, and Philosophical Muscles
105. All New Experiences are Good Experiences
106. What is the Purpose of X?
107. UTILITY.
108. Philosophy is a Luxury
109. The Attempt is More Interesting than the Result
110. Joyfulness vs “Happiness”
111. Effectiveness Over Happiness
112. Self Actualization
113. MAXIMAL ENGAGEMENT
114. Life & Pain
115. On Living Every Day with No Regret
116. Learn as if you’re going to live forever, live as if you’re going to die tomorrow
117. Live Every Day Like it Were the Last Day of Your Life
118. Self-Determination
119. FALSE GRATITUDE vs REAL GRATITUDE
120. HOW TO LIVE MORE
121. THE UPSIDE OF TRAGEDY
122. Satisfaction is a Sucker’s Game
123. Supreme Repose
124. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF LIFE? According to ERIC KIM
125. STUBBORN, FLEXIBLE
126. EVERYTHING HAPPENS AS IT *SHOULD* HAVE HAD HAPPENED
127. Good Addiction, Bad Addiction?
128. What is the Best Life?
129. The Philosophy of Thinking
130. The Philosophy of Conspiracies
131. Conspiracies
132. Growth
133. Skepticism.
134. What Do You Really Want Out of Life?
135. Seem or Be?
136. Learn Through Pain
137. Respect Yourself
138. In Praise of Elitism
139. Why Independent Thinking?
140. I Will Never Die
141. Bitter is Better
142. The Genesis of Nihilism and Existential Dread
143. The Ethics of Personal Enrichment
144. Good vs Not Good
145. Punished by Privilege
146. Abstinence Over Moderation
147. Just Leave Others Alone
148. You Can Only Critique that Which You Truly Understand and Love
149. ERIC KIM Critique of Metaphysics
150. Only Trust Philosophers Who Deadlift
151. Heuristic: If Someone Talks Shit About Others Behind Their Back, Most Likely They’re Also Talking Shit About You Behind Your Back
152. Virtue is a Privilege
153. What Are Your Life Goals?
154. Honesty
155. Why I’m Anti Moderation
156. No Spite, No Malice.
157. Ascending Life or Descending Life?
158. Double Edged Sword
159. Ignorance.
160. Why I Don’t Trust “Nice Guys”
161. Why You Must Share Your Opinion
162. Selfish Isn’t Evil
163. Wisdom is the Goal
164. YOU ARE KING.
165. MASTER YOURSELF
166. What is “Good” for You is Often what is Bad for You
167. Care.
168. BITTERSWEET
169. ONE REP MAX
170. Morality and Ethics is the Snare
171. BY HELPING YOURSELF, YOU BEST HELP OTHERS
172. Insanity is Good.
173. Think Deep.
174. PHILOSOPHY IS THE FUTURE.
175. Open Mind vs Closed Mind
176. ENTHUSIASM IS GENIUS
177. Towards a More Critical and Rigorous Line of Thinking
178. How to Encourage and a Foster Independent and Free Thinking
179. What is the Purpose of Life?
180. WHY PHILOSOPHY IS SUPREME.
181. Elitism.
182. I Cannot Form an Opinion About Somebody Until I’ve Met Them in the Flesh
183. ALL GENETICS ARE GOOD GENETICS.
184. Happiness vs Freedom
185. The Birth of a Hater
186. My Way Isn’t the Right Way
187. Walking as an Existential Thing
188. Why I’m So Tolerant
189. Mortal Gods
190. THE HUMAN SPECIES
191. Why I’m So Skeptical
192. Just Follow the Money
193. Why Selfish?
194. WHY WE CANNOT BLAME OTHERS
195. Why Are We So Anti Elitism?
196. What Actually Interests You?
197. How to Become Yourself
198. SELF HATE
199. Optimistic Fatalism
200. Death is the Ultimate Creative Constraint
201. FLUX.
202. How to Think for Yourself
203. FLESH
204. How to Live the Best Life
205. Why Live a Life Without Regrets?
206. Why Plato Ruined Art and Aesthetics for Us
207. Self Respect
208. Hypocrite vs Contradict
209. Ideals vs Reality
210. Spaceship Philosophy
211. What is Your Ideal Life?
212. MY EXTREME GRATITUDE TOWARDS LIFE AND BEING ALIVE!
213. Critique of Utilitarianism
214. Don’t Treat Others the Way You Want to Be Treated
215. The Eternal Recurrence of Tragedy and Joy in Life
216. Elite Asceticism
217. Why I Don’t Like Numbers
218. Action and Reaction, Cause and Effect
219. The Antidote to Nihilism: The Philosophy of Nothingness
220. ERIC KIM Notes on Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
221. EXPLOIT CHAOS.
222. WHY I DON’T BELIEVE IN GENETICS
223. Self-Wisdom
224. The Future Belongs to the Fearless
225. INDIVIDUALISM
226. Why Live Forever?
227. THIS TOO WILL PASS.
228. Why Education?
229. How to Become Yourself
230. Things Shouldn’t Go Back to the Way They Used to Be
231. Why Am I So Cruel?
232. The Great Joy of Existence
233. Virtue for the Sake of Virtue
234. NO DISDAIN.
235. INTELLIGENT IGNORANCE
236. A LIFE WITHOUT PAIN, DIFFICULTY OR TRAGEDY ISN’T A LIFE WORTH LIVING
237. BITTER IS BETTER.
238. EXPLOIT THE BEST FROM TRAGEDY AND LIFE 
239. DISREGARD FOR SELF-PRESERVATION
240. PAIN.
241. WHAT IF EVERYTHING IS NOT GONNA BE ALRIGHT?
242. Tomorrow is Never
243. Life is the Ultimate Creative Constraint
244. EMBODIED REALITY
245. BLACK SWAN
246. THINGS WILL NEVER GO BACK TO THE WAY THEY USED TO BE
247. What are you *really* afraid of?
248. HAPPINESS ISN’T THE GOAL
249. Philosophy is King
250. Why is Selfish Evil?
251. YOU’RE CONSTANTLY IN A STATE OF BECOMING
252. ENTITLEMENT A SIN?
253. NARCISSISM
254. BE BRUTALLY HONEST WITH YOURSELF
255. WHY FREE WILL?
256. OBEY YOUR OPINION
257. EGO IS GOOD.
258. WHY IT IS GOOD TO BE INTO YOURSELF
259. Seek the Good Pain
260. Anti-Perfection in Photography, Art, and Life
261. Can You Become an End into Yourself?
262. WHY I LIVE
263. Why I Hate Decline
264. Why I Eat
265. Why am I So Positive and Optimistic?
266. EFFORT IS ENJOYMENT
267. Never Stop Gaining
268. TRUST YOURSELF
269. A Life of Maximal Personal Independence
270. What Do You Desire to Become?
271. What Do I Want from Technology?
272. Stratified Society
273. Do You Love or Hate Reality?
274. On the Brian, Body and Mind
275. I’m Maximally Happy, Now What?
276. Care over Fame
277. ACTIVE NIHILISM
278. Never Stop Subtracting
279. How to Live a Happier and More Epic Life
280. A Risker Life is a Better Life
281. Only Work on Things You Can Imagine Doing for Eternity
282. How to Maximize Your Happiness
283. Influence
284. The Gladiator Makes His Plans once He Enters the Ring
285. Meditations on Meaning in Life
286. There is Nothing More Interesting than Human Beings
287. Is Hope a Vice?
288. EGO
289. Why Be Unique?
290. Happiness is Metabolism Health and Strength
291. You’re the Hero
292. Is Productivity a Virtue or Vice?
293. Why Do We Prize the Rare?
294. The Joy of Uncertainty
295. How Should I Best Use My Time and Life?
296. A Life Without Pain or Suffering Isn’t a Life Worth Living
297. Free or Unfree?
298. What Do You Really Care For in Life?
299. Anti-Satisfaction in Life
300. Why Think?
301. The Eternal Return
302. Only Do What is Best for You!
303. Truthiness
304. Why Be Happy?
305. Permissionless Living
306. In Praise of Unconventional Wisdom
307. Become the Change Which You Wish to See in the World
308. Happiness
309. Beyond Freedom
310. Idolize People, Not Stuff
311. What Makes You Stronger? What Makes You Weaker?
312. Why Hate?
313. The Secret of Happiness
314. You’re Constantly in a State of Becoming
315. Life is about Choices, Not Obligations
316. Anti-Nihilism
317. First, Do What is Best for You.
318. Live Dynamic
319. How to Prosper
320. Is the Point of Life to Be Satisfied?
321. SUPREME EFFORT OF WILL.
322. How to Become more Idealistic
323. Thrivival 101
324. Create Yourself
325. Non-Small
326. Inspiration
327. How to Live a Heroic Life: Dare the Heights!
328. Human Augmentation
329. Prune
330. Happiness: Do What You Want to Do (And Don’t Do What You Don’t Want to Do)
331. Avoid Vain (Empty) Pursuits in Life
332. Modern Slavery
333. Kill the Leeches
334. Wisdom Augmentation
335. Why We Need Friction in Life
336. Straight Line Philosophy
337. What’s Your End-Game in Life?
338. Create Your Own Happiness Today
339. Desire Both Pain and Pleasure in Life
340. Try the Impossible
341. SELF-RESPECT
342. Anti-Social Extrovert
343. Never Blame Anybody But Yourself
344. Human Flourishing
345. Simpler, Not Better.
346. How to be Free
347. Embrace the Extremes
348. Cultivate Your Own Culture
349. COURAGE.
350. Thrivival
351. Inner Power
352. How to Live a Purposeful Life
353. My Definition of Happiness
354. Why Change is Good
355. Why Work?
356. How to Live the Happiest Possible Life
357. The Two-Pronged Approach to Maximize Joy in Your Life
358. You Always Have Another Option!
359. INFINITISM
360. Never Stop!
361. What is Your Self-Directed Purpose in Life?
362. Live Today Like it Were Your Last
363. Do You Photograph to Live, or Live to Photograph?
364. ARTIST-PHILOSOPHER
365. Live Life to the Fullest!
366. In Praise of Selfishness
367. Why You Must Be a YAY-SAYER to Succeed in Entrepreneurship and Life
368. Why I Love Walking
369. Live Life Like a Video Game!
370. Simple Luxuries in Life
371. Treat Your Life Like a Fun Experiment!
372. Only Prove it to Yourself
373. You Don’t Always Need to Feel Joyful to Live a Fulfilling and Meaningful Life
374. Life is Too Short to Be Bored!
375. Money Cannot Destroy Boredom
376. How to Find Inspiration in Life
377. Why You Must Ignore Haters to Succeed and Win in Life
378. An Active Life is a Happy Life
379. My Simple Joys in Life
380. Never Stop Striving
381. How to Motivate Yourself in Life
382. How to Be Optimistic in Life
383. How to Dictate Your Purpose in Life
384. In Praise of a Dynamic Life
385. PURPOSE.
386. How to Enjoy Life
387. Photography Therapy
388. How to Conquer Regret
389. Take Your Play Very Seriously.
390. How to Prosper
391. Memento Vivere
392. Destroy in Order to CREATE
393. Trust Your Body More Than Your Mind
394. Make Photos to Make Meaning in Your Life
395. Seek Knowledge, Not Information
396. The Purpose of Human Life
397. How to Overcome Impedence
398. Why I Love Death
399. How to Be Centered in the Eternal Now
400. How to Be Happy
401. Why Do You Care What Others Think of You?
402. Why I’m Happy
403. Why?
404. Why I’m So Prolific
405. How to Reduce LAG in Life

Masters of Philosophy »

• Seneca
• Marcus Aurelius
• Publilius Syrus

Personal Philosophy »

• You Are the Light of the World
• Your Soul is a Diamond in the Rough
• Why Live?

Stoicism »

• How to Be a Stoic Street Photographer
• How to Use Photography as Self-Therapy
• How to Free Your Soul From Disturbance

Zen Philosophy »

• How to Be a Zen Street Photographer
• Zen in the Art of Street Photography
• How to Find Tranquility in Your Photography

Life Lessons »

• How to Conquer Your Fears in Life
• Conquer Yourself
• How to Focus

Learn more: Start Here >

Everything is an emotional reaction and emotional behavior, why is this seen as a bad thing?

Philosophically, the only one who perverted the notion of emotion and instincts was Socrates. Why? He created this new pseudo religion of rationality above everything else, which is a patently bad idea because it does not permit for intuition, the Dionysian.

Some issues:

It seems that the big “bad guys“ are actually the big corporations like Apple, which produces iPhones in mainland China, Foxconn— and also maybe Amazon, which it seems that nowadays, 99% of the products come from mainland China.

Google… are they in mainland China? Not 100% sure, but it seems that certainly they want to be.

The new oligarchs

Facebook, meta, Mark Zuckerberg I think also wants to penetrate and get into mainland China. Let us consider that Mark Zuckerberg‘s wife is Chinese American, and also Mark studied Mandarin.

Even a lot of silken Valley tech, Andresen Horowitz, a lot of people on the board of directors are either from mainland China, 1.5 generation Chinese, in between mainland China and America etc.

Frenemies?

America is funny because on one hand, we are by far the strongest military on the planet, at least 1000 extra stronger than mainland China. What, I think we have at least 1000 military bases all around the world, in China only has one? Somewhere in Africa?

What China, mainland China has going for it is production. It seems the swap is this:

America says: Let us produce and manufacture all of these things and goods and consumers items in mainland China, we will let you pollute your own land, then we will import it and sell it in America, and we will enjoy your products, your cheap wages, and we will also enjoy our unpolluted environment.

China goes:

OK sounds good. We don’t really care about the environment that much anyways, as long as some of us could get rich, and some of our people can also become richer.

Give me a full list of what Tencent owns or invested in. Also give me a breakdown of what those corporations produce and own

MONEY THOUGHTS.

“White people make money don’t spend it, I’d rather buy 80 gold chains and go ignant (ignorant)”. – Kanye

Thinking about money:

Why does this matter?

“Money sets the whole world in motion” – Publius Syrus

Do you know when people say that money makes the world go round? This is true.

So what is money anyways?

First, money is fiat, faith-based. Fiat currency.

Currency is an interesting word and term because it evokes the feeling of water, movement, river streams and tide pools.

So first of all, let us consider the notion of “income streams“. There’s this notion of “passive income”, I think first popularized or maybe coined by Tim Feriss, in his four hour work week. But I believe there to be a myth of passive income which means, income is and must be active. You cannot just sit on your butt and collect rent.

The myth of passive income

Also with rent, rent money is funny because even if you’re collecting rent, there’s a lot of work management you gotta do. For example, you have to fix and maintain your properties, make sure that your tenants pay their rent money, do background checks, deal with vacancies etc. It is one of those things that we as renters feel that the landlords have all the power, but in fact, assuming that you’re already wealthy, you actually might have more power as a renter than a landlord. Why? If you have a very good apartment and it is rent controlled, technically according to NASSIM TALEB you have greater optionality.

What that means is that you have a privilege to live somewhere, not an obligation. In theory you can leave whenever you want, and you’re not behelden to the property.

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What would Aristotle, the ancient Greeks think?

In regards to the ancient Greeks, I think they may be the best model because starting from Roman times, their society already started to seep into degeneration, degeneracy. Even during Homer’s time, Homer was already saying that the ancient Greeks were falling into degeneracy, even when he was writing the Iliad.

I am currently reading Politics by Aristotle, and I find it to be a really fascinating read. Essentially what he says about household economics etc., as well as his thoughts on substantive versus speculative finance, real versus fake finance. He essentially says that real finance has to deal with animals and fruits of the earth, everything else is just imaginary.

Also, his thoughts on slavery. Essentially in ancient Greek times, the ultimate goal was to have the laborers, slaves, craftsman, mechanics do all the dirty work, and the true nobleman and free man would just use all of his time and leisure for building virtue, philosophical thinking, and participating in politics, the politics of the local city state, the polis.

In modern-day times we always think about politics like it pertains to international politics whatever. But the original term politics referred to the polis, the immediate city-state. It was not focused on foreign affairs.

What is the ideal city state?

What I like about Aristotle and his writings is that he’s always talking about the ideal, and talks a lot about studying from the best of the past and the current, in order to formulate his thoughts. Also his writing is straight simple and clear, and very authoritative. For example, he quotes Plato and his Republic, and straight up says: “Plato is wrong.” Almost as hilarious and ballsy as when Nietzsche said: “Plato is boring.”

True financial freedom

Two things: Pay rent money, pay for food and groceries, and basic utilities, like your Wi-Fi, gas and electric, gas for your car etc. Beyond that, what else do you really need? 

Another fun experiment I’m doing is just paying for rent money by using the profit on my cryptocurrency speculations, simply using Coinbase, and profits from CHAINLINK. For personal reference, I am currently 90% invested in chainlink, 10% in bitcoin. I believe this to be an interesting barbell for a risky yet “safe” investment speculation, in thinking the next 30 or 40 years.

Also, in terms of our cryptocurrency assets, we don’t have more than 10% of our whole life savings tied into cryptocurrency. Therefore if it all goes to zero in theory, not really a big deal. But my personal belief:

Bitcoin will never go down to zero.

Decimation

A very interesting thing that I learned from NASSIM TALEB, maybe it was written in his book ANTIFRAGILE, is this notion of decimation. The basic idea is that in ancient Roman times the army, if cowardice was suspected, at random, 10% of the army would be put to death, it was a good way to prevent cowardice, especially one facing an impressive enemy. 

10% is interesting because in theory, if you lose 10% of your army, it is not enough to significantly lose your forces. A 10% loss is more than acceptable. For example let us say that you’re playing StarCraft, and you got an army of zealots, all upgraded with dash and full armor upgrades, if you lose 10% of them, you could still kill the army of zerg maybe if you do good enough micro management of the units. 

Finances is also similar — best to have 90% of your money in insanely secure bonds, CDs or stuff that might beat inflation, even a simple savings account at 5%. Then put 10% of your money in extremely speculative cryptocurrency speculations, rather than putting 100% of your money and boring “medium risk” funds.

“Never trust a risk number even if it is right.”- TALEB 

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Why we should not trust economists

First and foremost, economics, being an economist, is the new hocus pocus of modern day times. The reason why economists are so highly regarded is that currently speaking the new global religion is capital and capitalism.

Therefore as a consequence, the new modern-day priests are economists, and these fake talking heads on the TV screen.

The reason why we should trust no economist, is that they use fake numbers statistics and fake math to justify their thoughts and positions. Even Nate Silver, who everyone thinks is some sort of genius, mispredicted Trump getting elected into office. Why? Even if you’re a statistician with 99% accuracy, the one percent of the time you’re wrong, it could cost billions of dollars.

The reason why we should also not trust no economist is that most of them are protected from the real world. Their opinions reports and thought pieces have no connection to reality. A lot of them are getting a fat salary and steady paycheck from their tenured professor positions at Harvard Yale Princeton or whatever, and therefore the predictions thoughts they have, have no bearing on their own personal finances.

Better instead to trust individual individuals who actually have skin in the game, or money in the game. That is that your opinion is tied to your own personal bank account, if your opinion is right, you make the big bucks, but if you’re wrong, you lose your shirt.

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Where I am coming from

One of the best things about growing up poor and when you have seen your mom go through bankruptcy twice is that in some funny ways, it makes you more brazen, less fearful. Witnessing my mom go bankrupt, because my dad gambled away the rent money and we couldn’t pay rent, and she would just rack up credit card bills just to pay basic expenses, what I learned is at the end it’s not that bad. My mom got family support, community support, church support, and ultimately she was OK in the very end.

So for myself, the reason why I have such a high tolerance for risk is essentially nowadays, I live like a poor person. My New Year’s resolution is to buy nothing; or close to nothing, or just to not buy stuff that I consider silly or superfluous. Even acquiring free stuff; to me that is just more clutter in my mind in my life and my home; we new elite is about minimalism, even to a fault. 

Also, the American entrepreneurial spirit. Even my dad when he first came to the states, was extremely entrepreneurial. He started his own business when I was very very young, I think selling audio equipment. As he had a passion for music movies and film and cinema. I actually think his great ambition of life was to become a great film director. Even at a young age, I recall him watching Alfred Hitchcock the birds, Schindler’s list, and all these other great avant-garde films.

So now, raising Seneca, he is currently two years, around 11 months old… his training is very simple; simple, physical, Spartan. 99% of the day we are just at the local nature center, hiking on dirt paths, walking around, doing gymnastics at the playground, even now, I bought some wooden gymnast rings which I just hang from my parking spot in the back of my apartment, and he could swing around it, and hang around it! It is pretty amazing.

Another thing I learned from Aristotle’s Politics is that with children and child rearing, the logical order is first physical training and gymnastics, second is nutrition and feeding, third is the intellect. It seems that in modern day times we do the total opposite; we don’t really focus on physical exercise for kids, we just try to make them look smart. But book smarts is bad smarts; real smarts comes from the real world.

As a consequence, I probably literally spent close to no money on him. The only thing that we paid for in the early days were maybe diapers, and buying some random stuff on Amazon like training underwear, etc.

Now, he eats wagyu ground beef well in the air fryer, pro tip just toss a bunch of small broken up pieces of ground beef in the air fryer for 10 minutes, sprinkle it with some salt and pepper and give it to your kid! I think precisely because Seneca was born and fed such a high meat diet, he is the buff strong and tall boy he is today.

100% carnivore kid.

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What should we use money for? 

What is the proper use of money?

For myself, Costco. Funny enough it looks like out of all of my normal stock investments, Costco is doing the best! Why? As inflation goes up, food gets more expensive etc., everyone likes to think that they’re not being “ripped off”– nobody likes to think that they are overpaying for anything. Costco is funny because it is almost like Walmart but with a good conscience; a lot of middle-class even rich people have thought of Walmart as akin to the devil; whereas Costco has warm fuzzy feelings. Half of the fun even myself as a kid going to Costco was getting the hotdogs at the food court, and also getting all the free samples! Costco is almost like going to Disneyland, with benefits.

Meat

To me, the only real food substance is meat. You could thrive on 100% carnivore meat red meat diet, good luck with lentils beans and potatoes. That is poverty food. 100% red meat beef lamb diet is fit for the gods.

Let us consider, the nonsenseness of veganism; the etymology and history of vegan comes from vegetarian, vegetarianism. Essentially the vegans were the more hardcore vegetarians; the word “vegan”, essentially is the word vegetarian with fewer letters.

Why do people even go vegan in the first place?

Honestly I think being vegan is more of an ethical thing rather than a physiological concern. This is where vegetarians are more honest than vegans; a lot of people who are vegetarian do it for religious regions, for example people from India or south Asia, or some people just don’t really like the taste of meat or flesh, prefer to eat cheese eggs dairy and fish instead. 

Thinking historically

What I also love about studying ancient history, Rome, the Iliad, thinking about Homer is that back then, there was none of this nonsensical being “woke“, or political correctness. The Greeks were a hard and simple race; you were either Greek or a barbarian. Even the word barbarian is originated from the notion of “bar-bar”– anyone who did not speak Greek, their language sounded like somebody saying “bar bar bar”.

And also this is where notions of “white supremacy“, or being “white”, is nonsensical. Were the ancient Greeks “white”? No. They were olive skinned, very tan.

We acknowledge and understand that the ancient Greeks were probably the peak human and society of its time; maybe it makes sense for us to go back to the fountains, and for us to seek to imitate the best of the best, the crème la crop of the past.

How did the ancient Greeks think about money?

First, in the time of Homer, the Iliad the odyssey etc.; there was no notion of coins, or coined money or currency. The notion of coin is actually pretty good, like bitcoin, because the original minted money was actually coins, not paper money.

Also, gold. Gold was always highly valued throughout all of history, even during the time of Homer and the Iliad. For example the greed of king Agamemnon, what did he want? More gold, more women, more land, more slaves, more power.

Even as a sidenote; an Achilles was told by his father figure that king Agamemnon was the superior man, because he lorded over more men. 

During the time of Homer, and the Iliad; wealth was concentrated in food and meat, oxen; the notion of a “hectacomb” was the generalized notion that if you wanted to appease the gods and make a sacrifice, you had to sacrifice 100 oxen, which was a lot. Why? An ox is interesting because you could eat it, and also you could use it as manual labor. Maybe back in the day, having one ox was almost like the modern day notion of having a Lamborghini; can you imagine sacrificing and burning 100 Lamborghinis to appease the gods?

What did Achilles want?

If I ever had to rename myself I would just need myself Achilles. Why? He is practically invincible; what is it that he wanted in the Iliad? Honestly he was tired of war and conquest and battle; he just wanted to chill out, retire, enjoy his land and pastures, and enjoy Breisis his prize.

Even Achilles said wisely; No amount of wealth in the world is worth a life, my life. Not if you took all the wealth of the world, all the gold of the world, and multiplied it by 65. Once you’re dead, you’re dead forever.

Even in today’s world, I don’t think sacrificing your life your own personal life is worth anything; I would only ever ever ever sacrifice my life it was for the sake of Seneca’s life, or Cindy‘s life, or both. Otherwise, I have zero interest in being drafted to go to some sort of senseless war, in order for America to procure more oil or whatever.

And this is where I believe that war is so superficial; would you be willing to send your own personal blood son, your first born son, to fight in the front lines of Afghanistan or whatever, for some sort of strange political advantage? No.

Buying a house?

Things are starting to get ridiculous. In LA and Culver City, you can’t find a good single-family home for less than $2 million. Even a $2 million or $3 million home, it’s not really in the best neighborhood either which is 100% pedestrian friendly. I was looking at this brand new $3 million house, which is pretty nice, but it’s kind of in the middle of nowhere, I cannot enjoy my lovely morning walks as I do just walking from my apartment from the arts district.

Renting is superior?

I wonder if renting is actually superior than owning because you got more optionality, less obligation. 

“You work for a living, I live for a living” – Jay Z

Ultimately what is it that we really seek to do, our desired activity?

I think what we really desire to do at the end of the day is physical activity, vigorous activity, to be physical. Physics, human physics, our own human body.

We want to walk around, go on hikes, be in nature, go to the beach, swim around, walk around mountain paths, pick up heavy things, throw around rocks, do fun gymnastics things, hot yoga, lift weights etc.

The ultimate luxury in today’s world is the human body. It all matter if you own 100 Ferraris, if you are obese, old and fat, none of it is worth it.

Even I was randomly doing some research about Hugh Hefner, the big issue is that apparently he just lived in his Holmby Hills mansion for his whole life, wearing nothing but silk pajamas, taking weird hallucinogen drugs and Viagra, in poor health, having sex with all of these random women, forcing them to do drugs, get plastic surgery etc. 

I think the weird notion is a lot of men, they seek to become some sort of playboy? To grow a beard, buy a bunch of guns, have sex with all these women, massive orgies with all these beautiful women, for the sake of what?

The merchandising of women

In today’s modern day capitalistic society, women are the new objects, the new products being sold. The strange promise is this; you get rich successful and famous, you get the Lamborghini or the Ferrari, and then suddenly all these beautiful women will flock to you, want to have sex with you, fulfill all your weird sexual fantasies, etc., and suddenly you’ll be happy for the rest of your life?

It seems the weird sexual perversion we have in today’s world is that maybe… the trend is we want some sort of 100% subservient female sex bot, 100% obey us, and fulfill our sexual desires? 

But let us not forget, the purpose and function of sex is for us to beget children; the hormones and the good feelings associated with it is to promote bonding between the man and woman, and to solidify the family relationship. This is where I am pro monogamy; even Zeus was married to Hera! Although he did sleep around a lot. 

Buy nothing?

One of the greatest things that was born out of Covid was the Facebook buy nothing groups. Essentially close to 100% of all the baby stuff we got for Seneca was for free from the buy nothing group. Cindy would just message other moms, get a bunch of free baby hand-me-down stuff, and we literally paid close to nothing for all of his baby stuff. I estimate that from the buy nothing group, Cindy might’ve saved us close to $15,000.

It takes more skill to buy nothing?

Ultimately I think money is like some sort of game; the game of not spending money seems to be more interesting than spending money.

There is nothing morally or ethically wrong about spending money, the only issue at hand is when people spend money in some sort of boring way, they go into debt, credit card debt or whatever, and as a consequence, they lose their freedom?

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Financial Fitness

I don’t know if this is yet a notion, this notion an idea of “financial fitness“. The general, generalized idea is this: we talk about physical fitness, physical health or whatever, yet we never talk about financial health, financial fitness whatever.

Perhaps the reason I don’t like or trust all these other random people who talk about finances ultimately, they are selling some sort of product, service, or they are sponsored by advertising and advertisers. The big problem about this is that their opinions are not pure, also in my opinion, not critical.

I have never met anybody in real life why consider financially successful, maybe besides my friend Todd Hata, who maybe works only one day a year, and he is enjoying his digital nomad life, traveling the world. His simple studio lighting company on Amazon is genius, his bread and butter is these photo clamps. 

Another friend of mine who I consider very financially successful is Don Dillon, who made his fortune building up his own company, later selling it, and after building an art house in Arizona, later selling it, and just opting for more low-key lifestyle, just living in a simple condo with his wife Diane in Dana point, Orange County California.

Meeting real life successful people?

Something cool about Don, he used to own a Porsche race car, has a Porsche 911 GT three, ultimately, just prefers to drive his dodge ram truck around. At this point of life, he just wants to focus on travel and photography.

Also, another private workshop student of mine, who actually designed princes phallic purple guitar, also was in the Ferrari scene, I think he might’ve owned 10 to 50 Ferraris, used to go to all these car meet ups and racing stuff, it ultimately sold all of it, and just bought a simple Lexus RX car, to deal with the Minnesota winters.

Real rich or fake rich? 

My personal hot take of LA, being in LA, even spending a lot of time in Orange County whatever, is that a lot of people are “fake rich“, this means that it seems that they are rich and successful and wealthy or whatever, but in fact, they are living paycheck to paycheck, and also are in deep debt. For example, as long as you have a mortgage on your house, you ain’t free. Doesn’t matter if your house is valued at five or $10 million or whatever, as long as you have to pay a monthly mortgage payment, you are still in debt. And don’t throw this nonsense, “equity”, around; or even notions of “net worth”, not critical. The only true wealth is to have zero debt, zero obligations, zero mortgage, own zero property.

Even the problem about property ownership, even if you bought the house or whatever in all cash; you have to consider maintenance fees, property taxes, home insurance — all which can cost $3500 USD a month! Same price as rent!!! And that doesn’t include the mortgage which in total can cost you twice the price of rent … $8000 USD a month? Seems like a scam to me.

Condo versus apartment?

I’ve been thinking a lot about condominiums lately, on one hand it seems like a good idea and on another hand it seems like a little bit of a scam.

I suppose a good thing about having a condo or only a condo, like my friend Timothy Flanagan is that if you’re abroad a lot and travel a lot, Technically the upside of owning your own home condominium thing is that ultimately, you have a place to store your stuff, a little bit more space, maybe you have a garage or a basement or something, and you could just leave your stuff there, somebody else will maintain your property, and after you travel, you still have a place to come back home to.

One thing I am actually insanely grateful for is the fact that Cindy, Cindy‘s mom, Cindy‘s family owned their own single-family home, in Orange County, and the great upside is that while Cindy and I was traveling the world, living off the grid, nomading around, living abroad in Vietnam Japan for about two years, we still had a home address that we could send our mail to, a steady home address where we could file our taxes, credit card reports, bank statements whatever. Apparently a lot of people who adopt a digital nomad lifestyle, and have no real family connections, the big issue is that still… It is good to have a solid and steady home address where you could send financial paperwork to.

Financial independence, retire early

Something also very cool that my friend Timothy Flanagan did was opting for an early retirement, I think he officially retired last year, maybe at age 52?

Also, an interesting funny thing is that a lot of people actually have the option of retiring early, if you’re in the school system you could technically retire as early as age 50! Granted your pension and your Social Security or your financial fund isn’t that much money, but still… to no longer have to show up to work, for the rest of your life, at the young and ripe age of 50 years old… isn’t that great?

Better to retire at an earlier age and live more poorly, than to retire at an older age and live more richly.

Work and identity

Perhaps the big issue here is that people put too much of their self-esteem and their self-worth into their occupation. Yet, if we think about the movie 300, and King Leonidas asks his Spartan 300; “what is your profession“? They all throw their spears into the air and go “woot!”

Spartan philosophy

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So what is it that you really want and desire? 

My critical thought is that it seems that honestly speaking, most people don’t really know what they want in life, nor maybe they don’t have the courage to actually pause and assert with a truly desire and want in life?

For example, I often ask people if you magically had $100 million deposited into your personal checking account, and never had to worry about money again… What would you do with your life, how would you live your life? The typical responses are a bit standard; travel the world, buy a house and some property etc. He had most people don’t really go beyond that.

To me the notion of financial independence retire early, “fire“, is the point in which you no longer make money cruel tied with your own personal self-esteem. Just think; once you could pay rent, pay for groceries and meet at Costco, basic utilities like gas electric Wi-Fi your phone bill etc., what else do you really need?

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So now what?

Once you retire, or once you’re financially robust, then what?

My thought is just focus on art, your arts production, your creative activities, your philosophical thinking and writing and production, publishing your ideas thoughts and creations etc. 

Let us consider that for most people, towards the end of their life, a lot of people who made their millions, and now are in their 80s, mid 80s, early 80s, late 80s… what is it that they focus on?

It seems art. Either art production, art purchasing, art accrual, art creation etc. What is the basic notion behind all of this? The basic notion is that people have a desire and an impetus to create art, share art, and propagate art. It is in our body, our souls, our sinews our blood. 

Financial strategies for this year this new year

Simple thoughts:

1. See how long you can go without buying nothing. Join the Facebook by nothing group in your own local city and area, and it seems a really good way to build a real community. For example, ever during pandemic, Cindy became very active in the Facebook by nothing group in Providence, and now here in Culver City, and interacting and meeting people in the flesh, sharing physical possessions is fascinating because ultimately it is not even about the stuff; rather, The stuff that people give away for free is a totem of goodwill, and having the opportunity to interact with others.
2. Investing in your health and fitness: one of the important things to consider is that it doesn’t matter if you have $100 trillion in your bank account, if you only sleep two hours a night, are insanely sick, unwell, lack exercise and natural light, eat poorly, etc.… all of the money in the world multiplied by 1 billion isn’t worth it. Once again just think, does say that you only sleep one hour night, or addicted to methamphetamines, but you got $10 billion in your bank account, and the pain that you feel from 0 to 10 is a 50, is money and wealth worth it? No.
3. Think about digital real estate, rather than land-based real estate: it is insane, you could buy a “.com” domain for only 10 bucks a year, 20 bucks a year. This means you could own digital property for only one or two dollars a month! I’ve been on a bit of a digital rampage; gobbling up internet real estate. Currently I own some new fun domains which include ERICkimfitness.com, erickimphilosophy.com, erickimcrypto.com, ERICkimfood.com, ericKIM.LA, erickim.AI, and it was all inspired by Cindy who bought me the erickim.com domain for about 1000 bucks in 2017. Now I am sure it is worth millions. Typically when I am interested in a concept, I just go to godaddy.com, and I search whether the domain is available or not. Typically speaking the best domain to get is just a simple .com website, the new sexy domain which I actually really like is the .ai domain; don’t do the .io domain, which stands for input output, nobody has any idea what that means. Everybody knows what AI is. It seems that everyone has watched the terminator movie. They know what Skynet is.
4. Make and design your own clothing? One of the greatest benefits of living abroad, spending time in Vietnam, and also more recently going to Korea, is that I have been designing my own ideal clothes, my own ideal equipment, products, leather products, etc. For example all the HAPTIC PRODUCTS, HAPTIC INDUSTRIES PRODUCTS… I always thought to myself “If I could design and create my own ideal things products clothes etc.… what would they be and what would they look like?” As a consequence I created the HENRI line, the ERIC KIM line etc. How can you design and create your own clothes and stuff? Either just make it yourself by hand, à la cart, one piece by one piece, or, a simple way to do it is find a friend or a local craftsman, share your vision with them, share your design concept, and have them physically produce it. For example I’ve been getting a lot of compliments on my ERIC KIM PORTFOLIO BAG which I designed and produced while in Saigon in Vietnam in 2017, and it still looks insanely beautiful, and I get so many compliments on it! I have zero interest, -100% interest in ever purchasing any product at any foreign store. ERIC KIM is the new Balenciaga.
5. Delete Instagram: I think the easiest way to gain a 500% boost your personal happiness is via negativa; just delete your Instagram. When I deleted my Instagram in 2017, it might have been the best thing all time. And no, the current ERICKIMphoto Instagram account is not me; I think a virtuous fan of mine re-created the profile and populated with some of my images, which I find insanely flattering. Instagram is bad because it is the new digital slavery, the new digital serfdom. You are promised this “free” land, this “free“ digital real estate, but in fact at the end of the day, you owe nothing, you are indebted to this rented land. And as a consequence, you have no personal freedom. Very very simple; create your own website blog, and all you have to do is post anything and everything to your own personal blog and website that you would otherwise post to Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube, TikTok whatever. Even Snapchat. The reason why this is such a good idea is that You built equity in yourself, rather than building equity for the platform. Let us consider how disingenuous these foreign platforms are; you do all this hard work of creating information, pictures, artwork, videos and media, music whatever, and these sneaky advertisers insert their own advertisements in between your content? Am I the only one who thinks this is a bit denigrating?
6. Think ancient: honestly the only ideas that I trust is anything that was written in ancient Greek, ancient Greece, and before. Even with philosophy, my personal suggestion is don’t read anything after Socrates. Socrates was a strange fellow, ugly, and he was the original person who tried to “virtue flex“, trying to make this weird notion of virtue as the Apex human male goal. But in fact, the only reason why Socrates took virtue as his weapon was because he had no army, no soldiers, no military power. He was the first tyrant of the soul and ethics; even my best friend Seneca the stoic sage was was too influenced by Socrates. In some ways we could think of Socrates like the original Kanye West; the first insanely radical thinker, who went contrary to all notions of good Greek behavior. As a consequence, a lot of the modern day philosophy we have today is perverted and weird and a bit boring.

Don’t watch nothing that has advertising, or is supported by advertising.

This is almost everything. This includes television, sports, magazines, newspapers, anything on the Internet or blogs or websites that is supported by Google sense advertising, YouTube, trust no YouTube, YouTuber who has advertisements on their channel.

The reason why it is wise to cancel advertising from your life in your brain and your eyes and your ears is that we are actually much more influenced and nudged and brainwashed by advertising then we think we are. For example, I think the mind is actually very very sensitive; and as artist, we have extreme sensitivity to ideas sounds, bodily sensations whatever… Don’t think that you are immune to it. In fact, my personal wisdom is that I know that I am actually very very easily influenced by almost anything and everything; therefore the best way to protect yourself is active defense; delete delete delete, delete all the advertising from your life.

How does one best leverage money as a tool?

My personal thought is that money is just codified human labor. For example, the best way to use money, should be hiring labor. For example you have all these people in Beverly Hills, Homeview Hills etc., who want to build these big ass mansions. Of course there’s the cost of material, but ultimately, The most critical thing to consider is people who actually build it. What I have personally observed is that a lot of these Beverly Hills mansions are actually being built by contractors, who contract out the labor to Mexican immigrant workers, whether legal or illegal.

In California, whenever you see a person who looks Latino who works in construction, just speaks Spanish to them. A lot of them are from Mexico, some of them are from Guadalajara, Honduras, other places from southern America. They almost all speak Spanish.

Speak to the janitor

It seems that the most interesting people to talk to is actually the people who run the facilities, hygiene, the janitor. Why? They really know what is behind-the-scenes.

For example, one of my new friends his name is Noel. He used to work at the California club, the extremely elite high-end exclusive club for politicians dignitaries, Ronald Reagan, Arnold Schwarzenegger whatever. He told me the true scoop behind-the-scenes, because when you work as a janitor and you clean spaces, You really do see peoples true colors behind-the-scenes.

For example, apparently Arnold Schwarzenegger is fake. In front of the other people on the cameras he smiles and takes pictures and whatever, but the second he goes behind-the-scenes, and there are all these Mexican Latino janitors workers and staff, he gives them the culture and doesn’t even acknowledge their existence.

Also, apparently a lot of the old money, the real rich people, a lot of them who have either passed away or are very very old now, or actually pretty low-key. The dress in plain clothing, and just drive some old Mercedes car, whereas a lot of their children, the air of their fortune, drive flashy exotic cars like McLaren, Lamborghinis for whatever. we must consider nepotism; a lot of these kids, whose parents are super rich, simply inherited their wealth, and they blow it on stupid things like cars, clothes, drugs, alcohol, clubs, prostitutes, strippers, women etc.

so why do I care about all this?

I personally care because I grew up poor, and ultimately money is the thing that fascinates everybody. Even these stupid fake woke and artist communist; come on, they all have iPhones, have Instagram, maybe own a dog or a pet or a cat or something, and even if they want to live off the grid in Portland or the Midwest or whatever, they still have some sort of automobile car which requires either gasoline, or even recharging their electric car. I find these fake ass hippies to be very disingenuous, the new modern day losers.

How to thrive in today’s brave New World

 First, I think it is a good idea to try to participate in local politics, the politics of your local neighborhood your local local city, local courthouse, maybe even the politics of your school, your kids school, parents association, the local nature center whatever. certainly you want to add more obligations to your life, but having the privilege in the luxury of participating in politics is the new luxury.

For example, if you get that stupid traffic ticket, the traffic camera ticket or whatever, maybe even if you are in the wrong, it is a good idea to try to contest it, show up to court, and try to make a plea before the judge. You still might be charged, but, Often you could do fun things like community service or doing other unorthodox things to get it off your record. Maybe we should think of this like a luxury; to “waste time” is the new luxury.

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Other thoughts

To me, the best way to think about all the stuff is to think ancient Greek literature, even the ancient Roman stuff. Or maybe think about the Medici, Italy, coinage, international trade etc.

Back in ancient Greek times, it seems that a lot of wealth was produced via the sea; military prowess in the sea, as well as international trade, by boat. Consider all the wealth that was made importing coffee from Ethiopia into the Middle East, the term arabica comes from Arab, because the Arabs loved coffee, and the origin of the Araica coffea Plant was from Ethiopia.  Later other strands were created in Java, and in Indonesia, I think the Dutch made a killing importing products goods from Indonesia and propagating it worldwide.

Even the international spice trade, and salt. Becken inch in Roman times, salt was one of the most prized commodities, a gold. Even the term “salary”, was based on the notion of paying a Roman legionary soldier with salt, or remember the biblical notion that a man is not “worth his salt“.

Debt 

Apparently there is a really good historical book on the history of debt. I’ve been kind of meaning to read it, but from what I understand, maybe the origin of money is actually from debt.

For example, a lot of the early cuneiform form, and early writing was simply to see who owed what to who. 

In fact, the reason why I am enthusiastic about this notion of a block chain is that you can track money on a public ledger … the original ledger once again was to record debt.

Debt is the devil

It is commonly written in the Bible, ancient Abraham religious text that debt is immoral. I think maybe even in the Torah, or Jewish law says one should not lend more than a certain percent of money to somebody else.

In fact, it seems that a lot of wealth is made on naturally, by people simply moving around debt interest as well as loans.

For example, if you buy a house, but you take out a mortgage, who owns your home? Not you, the bank.

It doesn’t matter if you put 10% down 20% down 50% down or even 90% down… As long as even a fraction of that house is mortgage, the bank technically on your house. It doesn’t matter how many times you refinance, borrow money against your home, it is still not yours.

So why does this matter?

Moral of the story: 

1. Don’t get into debt, not for any reason. No matter how good offer may seem. Don’t go to a fancy Ivy League school if you got to go into that, certainly not a UC. Don’t ever go to school for anything that requires you to go into debt. Only go to school if you have a free ride, 100% scholarship, for myself I pretty much had a free ride to UCLA, except of the fact that I had to do some work study.
2. If you’re in debt, pay it off as quickly as humanly possible.  And actually, if you’re intelligent, see if there are a special debt loan forgiveness programs, and or whether you could do some sort of logical bankruptcy, which may ruin your credit, but get that crushing debt off your shoulders.
3. Essentially live like a poor person, or broke starving college student. Cook all your food at home, quit alcohol weed and media, and make it your focus to build your own empire.

ERIC

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