Author: admin

“Cheating” Is Just Using Leverage

People love the word “cheating” because it lets them keep their ego clean while staying weak. “Cheating” is what the fragile call it when they witness an advantage they didn’t earn, didn’t notice, didn’t have the guts to claim.

But reality doesn’t care about your feelings. Reality cares about physics.

Leverage is not immoral. Leverage is intelligence made visible.

A crowbar is “cheating” compared to your bare hands. A pulley system is “cheating” compared to brute force. Writing is “cheating” compared to memorizing everything. A camera is “cheating” compared to drawing every detail by hand. A bicycle is “cheating” compared to walking. A smartphone is “cheating” compared to shouting across a city. Bitcoin is “cheating” compared to saving in a melting currency. Straps are “cheating” compared to raw grip. Autofocus is “cheating” compared to manual focus. A prime lens is “cheating” compared to kit lens mush. A blog is “cheating” compared to begging gatekeepers for permission.

The entire story of mankind is: find leverage, then multiply it.

The only question is: leverage toward what?

Because there’s a huge difference between “leverage to avoid the reps” and “leverage to amplify the reps.” Most people think leverage is a hack to escape work. The great ones use leverage to concentrate work—make each unit of effort explode in impact.

In lifting: “cheating” becomes technique. It’s timing, angles, hip drive, setup, straps, belt, stance, breath. You’re not dodging effort—you’re directing it. You’re turning the body into a machine that obeys physics instead of fighting it.

In photography: “cheating” is a 28mm lens, getting close, framing with intention, using the sun like a free strobe, walking a better route, editing tighter, publishing daily. You’re not faking art—you’re building a system that makes art inevitable.

In business: “cheating” is distribution. Ownership. Brands. Email lists. A platform. Systems. Automation. Delegation. The ability to do one thing once and have it pay you forever.

The weak moralize. The strong operationalize.

So here’s the pivot: stop asking “Is it cheating?” and start asking:

Does this leverage make me more bold?

Does it make me more prolific?

Does it make me more dangerous (in the creative sense)?

Does it make my output more inevitable?

Does it help me win the game I actually care about?

If yes—good. Use it. Double down. Build a life where your default state is advantage.

Because the secret is simple: the world rewards the leveraged, not the “pure.”

Purity is a consolation prize for people who didn’t ship.

Leverage is the honest religion of winners.

Let’s cut through the BS and speak the truth: Gym Reaper deadlift quality straps are poor — and that reality isn’t just a gripe, it’s a wake-up call for anyone serious about strength, performance, and build quality.

This isn’t some polite product review — it’s a high-voltage reality check for warriors in the iron game. You deserve gear that matches your intensity, not straps that unravel when the bar gets heavy.

Here’s the brutal truth:

1. Material Feels Cheap — When you pick up a deadlift strap that’s meant to anchor you to the Earth’s gravitational pull, it shouldn’t feel like a bargain bin accessory. The weave should be dense, strong, and confidence-inspiring. Gym Reaper straps? They feel flimsy — like they might snap before you hit a 500+ pull.
2. Stitching Falls Apart Under Load — Strength isn’t luxury. It’s structural integrity. Poor stitching isn’t just annoying — it’s dangerous. A strap should be seamless power transfer, not something that unravels mid-set.
3. Grip and Wear Resistance? Weak. Deadlift straps should get gun-grip locked to the bar, not slip like a handshake with wet palms. Inconsistent texture means inconsistent pulls — and inconsistent progress.

This matters because your gear should amplify your power, not fight you for respect. When you aim for PRs, you need equipment that keeps pace with your ambition — no excuses.

Look, the gym is where warriors are forged. The bar is where ego meets reality. The straps are supposed to be the silent partners in your pursuit of strength. If they fail, you feel it — in confidence, in performance, in momentum.

It’s okay to call it like it is: Gym Reaper deadlift straps don’t cut it. That’s not negativity — that’s clarity. You push iron with obsession, consistency, ferocity. Your gear should be an extension of that spirit — not a weak link.

So here’s the mindset shift:

Inferior gear isn’t just uncomfortable — it’s unacceptable.

And anything less than robust, reliable equipment can’t ride in your gym bag.

Lift heavy. Choose gear worthy of the grind. And never settle for straps that buckle before you hit grind mode.

If you want alternatives that actually feel like power on your hands, I can point you to ones that match your intensity and ambition. Just say the word. 💪🔥

true

AI WE MUST.

we must AI

audio https://erickimphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Ai-future-.m4a

yes

OK another really really big thought this morning… I actually wonder if quality is overrated? Which means,

always just check the prices of what is cheapest and best on Amazon. And then, proceed from there.

I’ll give you an example… I recently inherited a mountain bike for free, and it has been super awesome, and also also grateful that Cindy ordered this really really cheap $20 front seat attachment thing for Seneca, and, I’ve been able to write him and buy him to school every single day. Super fun.

Anyways, I had this really really annoying issue in which the rear rim was kind of messed up, and the rear rim was scraping up against the back of my rear brakes for a really long time. I tried in vain using ChatGPT, and YouTube to fix it, and finally about after two weeks of experimenting, I finally had a chance to make it to a bike shop, met the owner Ron who is super awesome, in downtown Culver City next to the Metro E line,  at the Culver City station, and he instantly diagnosed the issue, figured out that actually… I had broken rims, which I totally did not see, and also he instantly saw that my gear sprockets were really old, and also my chain was really really old, that is why it was dragging.

So I suppose the good thing of having his expertise was, rather than digging around on YouTube and Google and ChatGPT four hours on end, essentially misdiagnosing the issue, having the expert the pro was like a godsend because once again… 100% in instantaneous like in five seconds, hundred percent accuracy. I think the problem with ChatGPT AI and the like is that, it could always always always provide you with an answer, but 50% of the time it is right, and 50% of the time it is wrong. So the downside of ChatGPT or AI is that, while it is very responsive and always provides you with an in-depth answer, it does not always 100% accurate.

Anyways, Ron gave me a quote, she had all the materials he needed, and went to work. I’m very happy.

However, the subtle nuance, I went on Amazon really really quick after the fact, because I wanted to respect him and his labor, and I discovered that all this stuff, brand new was insanely cheap. Like Shimano gift shifters, when I assumed that it was at least 50 bucks, I was insanely shocked that it’s only like $15 brand new on Amazon, and is shipped the same day?

Same thing with brand new aluminum rims, and like, now part of you wished that I just ordered all the brand new parts and did the labor myself because at least I would have a little bit of the joy, or the pride or in knowing that I have all totally brand new upgraded components and material materials from my bicycle, rather than, having just like maybe the basic parts?

Which makes me think… I wonder if the maximum up to charge for things in life, it’s all just marketing. For example, I’m still using the $300 iPhone SE, from like what five years ago? And it is still working very well. Which makes me think, I wonder if the iPhone Pro and the other iPhone models, 90% or $800 of it is just marketing costs?

And I think about almost everything else in life, how much money we spend just for the marketing the branding of things.

I’ll give you an example, the Volkswagen group which owns Porsche, Bentley, Lamborghini, Audi, Ducati, practically all the exotic cars you lost after… It just, once again, a Volkswagen Passat on steroids?

Also, BMW owns Rolls-Royce. So a Rolls-Royce is a century just a BMW seven series on steroids? The same things with the Rolls-Royce SUV cullinan,,, is just a BMW X7 on steroids?

So once again this is a big deal because, I wonder if a lot of profits are made, simply from branding up charges.

I’ll give you another thought maybe a dirty secret, let us consider the Leica camera. Even worse the Leica DLUX camera. ESSENTIALLY IT IS JUST LIKE A PANASONIC LUMIX, WITH A RED DOT. 

For example, it is my theory that Leica Q camera , I’m like 99% sure was co developed by Panasonic LUMIX, so essentially, once again… You’re just paying for more expensive German labor in Germany, and the quality of the materials is less plastic, more brass… But for the most part once again, you’re kind of getting sucked by 80 to 90% of the up charge in marketing because everyone is getting a boner over the red dot? 

This then becomes hilarious because once again, we then get suckered into paying another up charge another thousand dollars for the P professional version, which omits the red dot?

It’s like perfectly shown in the Dr. Seuss sneetches, ,,, first everyone wants the star on their bellies, then they pay money to get the stars removed, vice versa.

Anyways, the general principles I believe in:

1. First always check the prices on Amazon even though it makes you look like a dick. If anything, you’re trying to save money for your kid and your family, isn’t that like the most virtuous thing of all time?
2. Second, I think maybe the virtue is also, maybe the best strategy is especially in today’s world, to just buy whatever is brand new, the cheapest on Amazon? And if it is really really really really a problem, then, you could upgrade it later?

ERIC

AI Not VR is the future

The secret to happiness is having a son?

Vloggers/Bloggers shall inherit the future

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bold

YouTube is a lie—not because videos aren’t real, but because the incentives are fake. The platform trains you to optimize for everyone except yourself. Clicks. Thumbnails. Retention curves. Facial expressions engineered like lab rats chasing pellets. The moment you start “doing YouTube,” you stop telling the truth. You start negotiating with an algorithm that does not love you, does not care about you, and will replace you the moment your dopamine output drops.

The biggest lie is that YouTube rewards authenticity. It doesn’t. It rewards consistency of spectacle. It rewards familiarity over originality, safety over danger, polish over soul. The algorithm doesn’t want your raw idea—it wants a predictable version of what already worked last week. And if you comply long enough, you wake up one day realizing you’ve become a character in your own life, performing instead of living.

Another lie: scale equals success. A million subscribers who don’t know you is not power—it’s noise. Real power is sovereignty. Being able to say whatever the hell you want without fear of demonetization, shadow bans, or audience revolt. YouTube turns creators into digital sharecroppers. You build the house, they own the land. One policy update and your livelihood evaporates.

YouTube also lies about time. It convinces you that speed matters more than depth. That daily uploads beat decade-long thinking. That reaction beats creation. The result? A culture of fast-food ideas: spicy, addictive, forgettable. Nobody remembers the tenth “hot take.” People remember the one dangerous thought that changed how they see the world.

The most corrosive lie is that YouTube is necessary. It isn’t. You don’t need permission to publish. You don’t need an audience to think. You don’t need virality to matter. History was shaped by books, letters, conversations, silence, long walks, and people who didn’t care about metrics. Great ideas grow slowly, like muscle. Algorithms hate slow growth because it can’t be controlled.

Use YouTube if you want—but never let it use you. Treat it like a distribution channel, not a judge. A megaphone, not a mirror. The moment you feel yourself adjusting your thoughts to please strangers, shut it off. Lift something heavy. Write something true. Publish on your own terms.

Truth is heavy. Lies are light. That’s why YouTube floats—and why real thinkers sink deep.

And down there, below the algorithm, is where freedom lives.