Basic. Think about the past, human nature, and societal and sociological-technological trends. For example —

1. People of the future are going to be MORE addicted to their phones. Internet speeds (5G and beyond) will keep becoming faster and more accessible. Eventually the whole globe (internet.org) will be connected to the internet, perhaps via Facebook, Google, or Amazon.
2. Rich elite people will keep getting richer. We will probably see trillionaires in our lifetime.
3. Data and computer and artificial intelligence ethics will become very important, but nobody will really care to pay for it. Thus computer science and machine learning, artificial intelligence will be by far the most lucrative fields of the future.
4. Human emotions, biases, and desires won’t change. Sex (porn), drugs and alcohol (weed, alcohol, LSD, hallucinogens), desire for status, desire for social ascendancy, desire for hierarchy. Desire for consumerist goods. Desire for more luxurious things.

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Do we love the future out of love of the new, or merely as a way to hedge or mitigate risk about the future?

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No independent thought and thinking, no advancement of humankind and society.

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My photos:

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How does social media make so much money? Simple —

Fear marketing, and FOMO marketing (fear of missing out).

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Let us not get suckered:

All news is fake news.

What do I mean by this? Well–

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Many benefits to becoming more muscular, and having less body fat (adipose tissue):

1. Higher self confidence. Perhaps this comes from increased testosterone production?
2. Better bodily aesthetics. Better to admire your naked (flexed) body in the mirror of your bathroom before you take a shower (or after) than to admire your Lamborghini, Porsche, or Tesla in your drive way.

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Just a few mega-conglomerates. For example, Hearst Communications owns:

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What is the worst thing holding back free thinking and free thought? Political correctness (‘PC’ culture).

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The best life — maximize both the good and the bad in life. The zenith and the nadir.

We all know that Facebook owns Instagram [bought for $1 Billion dollars], What’s App [$19 Billion dollars], Oculus Virtual Reality systems (like Rift, Quest, etc) [acquired for $2 Billion dollars], Giphy [$400 million dollars] and a lot of other stuff.

Why is this significant? Simple —

It is not good that one company has a monopoly over externalizing our self-worth (crowd sourcing our self esteem) via their pipelines.

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Use the upside of quarantine and the new COVID lifestyle to pick up film, if it interests you!

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Honest thoughts:

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Hong Kong photos from around 2013, shot on color Kodak Portra 400 film, Leica M6 and Leica 35mm f/2 Summicron ASPH lens. Some with flash:

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If you’re uber-critical of yourself as a photographer … who benefits? Not you, just your random social media followers. And ultimately your own critique and criticism and low-self esteem only benefits FacebookGram, who runs our lives.

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The goal:

Shoot more dynamic street photos.

Dynamic street photos means:

1. A photograph with more dynamic force, dynamistic energy. To make photos like dynamite.
2. Make photos which inspire you to move, live, and interact with others!

The ideas:

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Photo, video and life … it is all about constant experimentation, iteration, and fun!

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A life where you could never forget isn’t a life worth living. For example, while I appreciate looking at old photos, I also hate it. It reminds me of embarrassing things in the past, or feelings of inadequacy in the past. Perhaps the best virtue is to forget … and to keep moving forward!

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My new heuristic:

You know you’re doing something right if you start losing followers.

My thoughts:

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The fact of the matter is that capitalism and consumerism has brought much of the world out of poverty, has improved standards of living and hygiene, and quality of life for millions of individuals. But the truth still remains–

Capitalism is (very) cruel.

But then again … real life (embodied reality) ain’t fair. Mother nature is cruel. Nobody cares for our individual happiness. Perhaps once we accept the fact that reality is cruel, then we can truly thrive.

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The idea:

1. Debt is the devil; avoid all credit card debt, loans, even the ‘good’ debt. All debt is bad. If you still have (any debt), you are still a slave.
2. Just buy really cheap shit. Opt for industrial meats than the ‘healthy’ meats. Spurn a vegetarian-vegan diet, which tends to actually be *MORE* expensive than a meat-based diet. For example, I can buy pork for only 99 cents a pound!!! Even if I eat 5 pounds of meat a day, it only will cost $150 a month to feed me. Consider the average person cannot eat 5 pounds of meat a day ($5 USD a day). Let us consider the average American can only ear 2 pounds of meat a day ($2 USD a day)– that is only $60 a month.
3. Give up alcohol and weed: Good way to save money. Consider how much money you can save by *NOT* drinking alcohol when you go out!
4. Give up Amazon prime membership and all subscription services (Netflix, Spotify, Disney+, etc). A subscription-less life is the best life.
5. Don’t consume any media which is sponsored by advertising. You will then inadvertently get suckered into buying stuff you don’t need.
6. Don’t desire to buy a Lamborghini or any fancy sports car. Instead, aspire to transform your body into a Lamborghini, or just become insanely swole (buff, high muscle mass) with a 6-pack.

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Continuation of my ‘He Who Owns the Media Owns the People‘ essay:

These mega corporations exist in order to distract us to death (in order to maximize their money-earning).

These corporations aren’t evil per-se. They exist in order to maximize their income and profits. And how can they best do that? Own all the media which entertains us, and entraps us.

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In today’s brave new world… let us not get fooled:

Don’t get suckered by the news and media.

Why? It is in the best interest of the news to maximize their advertising dollars.

Also, let us be concerned and wary how Disney owns pretty much all the media— which indoctrinates us, our children, etc:

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I am convinced — the Lumix G9 (and the Leica-Lumix 12mm f/1.4 lens) in JPEG (intelligent auto mode, iA mode) is the best food camera. Why?

1. Great macro ability: You can focus uber-close.
2. The colors of intelligent auto (iA mode) are incredibly vibrant, rich, and true to life.
3. Also great for shooting 4K 60 fps footage of your food. The Leica-Lumix f/1.4 lens is one of the best lenses I have ever owned (rivals and perhaps even *superior* to my Leica 35mm f/2 Summicron M-mount lens). The Lumix f/1.4 12mm lens is only ~$1,000 whereas the Summicron set me back around $2500-3000 USD.

I am convinced at the moment, in terms of hybrid photo and video … Lumix is king.

Note:

1. Best uber-epic video camera as Lumix S1-H.
2. Best hybrid camera for photo and video and vlogging is Lumix G9.

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My thought:

I believe if countries and individuals were ‘allowed’ or tolerated to be more nationalistic … then perhaps we would be less racist.

My thoughts:

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My theory:

With black and white, you gotta use your brain and imagination to ‘fill in the gaps’.

Color makes it too obvious what you are looking at. With monochrome, it is more mysterious.

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You cannot get a certain message to spread or stick without propaganda:

The basic thoughts:

1. Propaganda is just a tool, it ain’t evil in itself.
2. To attach ideas more effectively, know your oppositions’ opinion. Karl Popper often did this — dismantle the opposition by sharing the ‘flaws’ in your own argument before the fact.
3. Be honest, don’t bullshit.

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What is propaganda? It is simple:

To propagate (send forth) a message.

‘Propago‘ in Latin: to extend, enlarge, or increase. From proto-indo-european ‘pegh‘ which literally means “to attach”.

Thus if we think about Propaganda in a modern sense– it is just attaching a certain message to a certain medium (let us say a blog post, a movie, a film, a photo, image, whatever) and to send it forth, to have the idea or concept augment itself, grow, and extend, or increase itself.

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A new concept from my friend Jeffrey Lam:

Mind Space.

What is mind – space?

My thought:

A zen–taoist notion … we need empty mind space in order to give birth and genesis to new thoughts ideas and innovations.

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Getting a 6-pack is actually quite easy. The secret:

Increase abdominal muscle mass (through exercises like planche, chin-ups with your legs up, squats, deadlifts) and also through reducing your body fat percentage (you need to be around at least 10% body fat).

The best way to reduce body fat:

1. Intermittent fasting (no breakfast or lunch, only a massive dinner)
2. When you break your fast with dinner, no starches, no carbs, no sugar, no fruit, no natural-honey-sugar-sweeteners whatever.
3. When you break your fast — what should you eat? Simple– very fatty delicious meats. Pork, chicken, beef, whatever. The more saturated fat and cholesterol it has, the better. Also alongside it, eat kale, collard greens (I eat it out of the can) or canned spinach, whatever. I also like sauerkraut from the can.

Get your testosterone up

Also — cut things which LOWER your testosterone. For example:

1. Stop smoking weed and alcohol. No problems about it from a moralistic perspective — it just kind of fucks with your testosterone. I am convinced all these men’s interest blogs, websites and magazines which say ‘beer in moderation’ is good for you is just propaganda from the alcohol industry.

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From the get-go, I have always been passionate about both street photography and architecture. Why? My thoughts:

1. Architecture is the human spirit and will concretized. It shows the grandeur of human ambition. When I see great architecture, it uplifts my spirits and makes me feel stronger, bigger, fuller, and more.
2. Street photography is best. I love going out — I hate being at home. New sights, new views, new architectures. The synthesis of street photography and architecture is the best!

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New Haven (and Yale campus) actually really good for street photography! Why?

1. Great diversity: Lots of different folks in the downtown, and a lot of people dressed up and going out.
2. History of the city — very gritty raw and historical. Reminds me of a gritty New York meets Chicago meets Downtown LA.
3. Great pizza
4. Good vibes
5. Beautiful Yale campus
6. Really good Asian food, cheap, and very multi-cultural!

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What is true difficulty?

My thought:

True difficulty is experienced deep fear, and somehow being baptized through the fire to become stronger than you were before.

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If you cannot adapt, you will die.

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To me true innovation is doing new things, creating new things, or re-arranging things in novel ways.

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More growth, more power… more!

Facts. If you’re poor, working class, always busy … you don’t really have the chance or opportunity to even feel depressed, anxious or worried. Certainly basic stuff like stress and anxiety about paying the rent and stuff. But the poor working class feel anxiety about money, but don’t feel “depressed”.

Just went to New Haven and Yale for the first time… and I really love it! Some thoughts:

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If your goal is to succeed long term, open and free will always win (in the uber-long term).

In life, do you prefer to be dominant or submissive? First question.

And of course, lift heavy weights. Aim for very difficult body weight exercises (dips, planche, muscle up, 1 legged pistol). Aim for a ‘one rep max‘ style workout, not boring reps.

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To speed up and simplify your photographic workflow, just shoot small JPEG. Don’t shoot RAW. Use a nice JPEG filter you like!

My thought:

A lot of people are disgusted with themselves and hate themselves because of reasons x, y, z.

And a lot of people are looking for the reason *WHY* they feel this way. And once they think they’ve figured out some reason why they feel this way… they feel the need to scape-goat this in order to hate themselves less, and feel disgusted with themselves less.

Okay let us think — what better gift to humanity than the Chromebook? Yeah yeah we all know Google is taking over our lives, whatever. But real talk — if you got a Chromebook, you can technically do almost everything. Big thing — it is just soooo cheap.

My only critique of Chromebooks is the difficulty for kids to program on it. Perhaps the next big innovation will be allowing Chromebooks to program (Computer Science) in a similar gist like what a MacBook laptop can.

But in terms of price, convenience, longevity — Chromebooks are great.

Our focus as street photographers:

Create photos which commentate on, critique, and judge (with love) society, people, and the world.

Optimize for the now, not the future. The future is uncertain and unreal, the present and now is real, tangible, empirical, and can be articulated, changed and modified.

For myself and my past self:

1. Zero tolerance for dad beating mom. Stand up for your mom, and get your dad the fuck out.
2. Stay scrappy. Don’t get suckered by the pursuit of money.
3. Don’t let others brain-wash you or tell you that what you are doing is illegitimate or bad.
4. Be more free-spirited, and be more brash, and be less ‘politically correct’. Speak your mind boldly.
5. Instead of having started a Facebook fan page, make an email newsletter instead.
6. Don’t let others take advantage of you. Be far more skeptical of others, their (unconscious and hidden) motives, and their plans to utilize you as a tool to advance themselves.

Interesting thought:

The meritocracy of a 6-pack and physical body physiology — it don’t matter how rich or poor you are, technically any human being can get a 6-pack.

Perhaps this is why rich people prefer to buy expensive sports cars and stuff… to flex their masculinity via material purchases, because they despise their bodies?

How to get a 6-pack:

1. Quit sugar, alcohol, carbs, starches, sugars (yes, even the ‘good’ natural ones), quit fruit, etc.
2. Intermittent fast (no breakfast or lunch) and when you break your fast, eat a shitload of meat and bitter greens (kale, collard greens) or fermented foods like sauerkraut (I like to eat it from the can) or kimchi.

Street photography is just applied sociology — with a camera. A visual sociology.

Street Sociology.

Question:

Is our goal and desire to *understand* human nature or to (artificially) change it?

It seems we sociologists desire to understand human nature without any spiteful judgement, whereas philosophers, political scientists, “behavioral economists” and short-sighted radicals desire to change human nature … often for the worse.

Why do we think meat is bad for us? Simple —

We conflate (confuse) the difference between dietary fat in meat and the fat on our stomach (adipose tissue).

Thus the simple thought:

Eating red meats and meats high in saturated fats will lead me to gain more bodily fat (adipose tissue).

This is not true.

Or I hate you because I am no match for you.

As Nietzsche says … has any men ever admitted to this?

My theory:

When we hate people, we hate them because we are actually envious or jealous of them… because deep down, we want to be like them and act like them, but we would feel guilty or bad if we did so.

For example … perhaps everyone hates JAY Z because they wish they were as rich and successful as him. They hate Kanye West because he is married to Kim Kardashian, and they hate Kanye because he is now a billionaire, so successful, so musical, so creative, and so outspoken. Perhaps people wanna be like Kanye and speak their mind… but they lack the courage, are too cowardly, or perhaps secretly they wanna *act* like Kanye, but society or their morals-ethics have taught them that to do so is immoral?

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Of course my body will physically die (I strive to live to be 140 years old in hyper health), but my memory and legacy shall remain, and live on!

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Very rarely are people actually coerced to do something against their own free will, forcibly. Typically the coercion is more insidious, sneaky and low-key: fear tactics include potential loss of income, blackmailing personal family information, or other forms of coercion.

Why does this difference matter? Well, realize most people will not coerce you to do something against your own free will in your face; they will do it against you in far more sneaky and hidden ways. Thus when you are pressured to do something or make a decision take a step back, pause and delay. Wait at least 48 hours before making the (potentially irreversible) decision.

My belief:

Unless you are a practitioner, one should not critique, judge, or commentate.

Why? You don’t got real-life (experienced, empirical) experience. Better:

Only talk about your real life experiences and talk about what you’ve actually done or not.

For example:

1. Susan Sontag shouldn’t have written On Photography, considering she didn’t (really) make photos.
2. People who don’t practice street photography shouldn’t critique it, having never tried or done it themselves (seriously) themselves.
3. Unless you’ve actually built your own company before, or became a sole proprietor of your own company, one should not commentate or write business books or talk about entrepreneurship. Or better yet, only those with risky souls should write about risk-taking.
4. If I am a man, I should not comment on women matters. Similar, I wouldn’t want other non-men to comment on masculinity.
5. I should not talk about the racial experiences of others (unless they are Asian). Why? I grew up Asian-American (Korean American) in America– and I can only draw upon and talk about my own experiences. I cannot and *should not* talk about the lived experiences of others.

With anything in life, just keep practicing the motion and you’ll get better at it! Even weight lifting and powerlifting — it’s all about practicing the motion.

If we took all the time we “grind” in video games and took that energy to real life and embodied reality … how much more could we achieve?

My turbo thought when walking around:

Certainly free will exists. However this is the caveat —

Some people have *MORE* free will than others. Also, free will can be cultivated like a muscle.

It don’t matter how ‘genetically gifted you are’ (I am not), but with enough time, training, and meat consumption … any human being can become incredibly strong and muscular. For me, I am Korean-American and around 5 foot 10 inches, with no remarkable physical traits (my dad is a typical ‘skinny fat‘ degenerate). I have relatively small hands and wrists. Yet I was able to train to get a 1-rep max (sumo) deadlift of 455 pounds (4 plates and a 25 on each side), with no belt, no steroids, no protein powder, no straps, no weird stuff. And while fasted!

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How does the economy work? Simple: the movement of money and human beings (flesh-based bodies):

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A random entrepreneurial and YouTube SEO idea:

In the description part of your YouTube videos, add a lot of information (as if they are mini blog posts).

Ironically enough I make a lot of YouTube videos, but I never watch videos. In fact, I prefer reading transcripts over listening to interviews (reading is 100x faster than listening).

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Simple ideas to stimulate the local economy:

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Fresh from the ERIC KIM NEWSLETTER >

Dear friends,

Sending you lots of love from sunny Providence Rhode Island. Feeling pretty good, and have a good caffeine buzz from my light-roast blonde coffee (Wink Coffee from Amazon), and had some turbo photo thoughts to share with you:

1. Play around with Google Photos: photos.google.com is quite fun from the desktop. You can also play around with their desktop Google Photos app for auto uploads. Upload your favorite photos, organize, and figure out how to best represent your work.
2. Upload your best photos to arsbeta.com and also start giving real critiques to other photos in the ARS community.
3. If you got a digital RICOH GR I, II, or III, play around with the ‘cross process’ JPEG filter. It looks really good. I think Fujifilm also has one too.
4. Peruse my free BOOKS section, and download the ones which interest you. Just steal an interesting idea here or there. I also encourage skim-reading.
5. Buy a Fujifilm Instax Mini camera (Amazon, or BH Photo) and just start having fun shooting instant photos during COVID or quarantine!
6. Start shooting selfies of yourself at home. Experiment with different lighting, angles, etc. Shoot yourself in the bathroom, hallway, next to the window. Also shoot selfies of your hands and feet.
7. Create your own e-book of your best photos (publish as PDF) in Google Slides or the iBooks Author tool (free for Mac computers on desktop Mac or MacBook laptop).
8. Ditch Adobe Lightroom and start experimenting with the default Apple Photos (I do not like Adobe’s new subscription model). If you got a PC, get Photo Mechanic instead. If you got a MacBook Pro laptop with a Touch Bar, using Apple Photos and the Touch Bar to favorite or rotate or edit your photos is actually very fun!
9. If you got a new iPhone or a new smartphone with an ultra-wide angle lens, only shoot ultra-wide angle for a week!
10. Start your own website-blog. Signup on bluehost.com and install wordpress.org. Prices start at only $3.95 a month … that is even cheaper than Netflix!!! If you want to learn how to build your own website-blog on WordPress, enroll in my online Udemy Course: “Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Photography Entrepreneurship“.
11. Peruse the HAPTIC SHOP for cool stuff. You can also peep our shop on AMAZON >
12. Perhaps use quarantine as a chance to learn how to shoot film. You can learn how to process your own film at home … you got so much free time now!
13. Give away one of your old digital cameras to a friend, family member, niece, nephew, child, or someone who you think can use it better than you! Double-dipping; you feel good about it, and you give them a tool to empower them to make new photos!

What is ERIC KIM up to?

A list:

1. Currently reading Galen on the Natural Faculties (PDF link). Galen was essentially the second-best physician-philosopher of all-time after Hippocrates (we know the Hippocratic oath, “First do no harm”). Now in the COVID-19 time, it seems medical ethics is far more important than ever. My essay: “Growth vs Becoming“
2. Working out a lot at home and in my home gym, trying to maximize my gains!
3. Maximizing my blogging, photo-making, vlogging, video, YouTube, and Podcast. Taking life less seriously; having more fun!

Your photo assignment

Simple photo assignment:

Photograph your own hand.

Make it as artsy-fartsy as you want. Use high contrast monochrome, or color. Use a flash or natural light. Experiment with different angles, or your different hands. Then upload your #1 best photo to arsbeta.com to get (and give) feedback.

Have fun and go shoot!
ERIC

You can subscribe to ERIC KIM Newsletter Here (or subscribe with a new email).

Simple photo ideas to get you going:

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The joy of going out, getting good sunshine, talking to strangers, being out and about in town, exploring new things.

A life with street photography is the best life!

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1. I go on walks without a phone or headphones. While I walk outdoors, I get new ideas.
2. I read a lot of old school classics. Read Ancient Greek philosophy for the best ideas — to steal and repurpose these ancient ideas in a modern context.
3. Lift weights or workout. Hormonal rush from exercise gives birth to new ideas.
4. Read poetry or listen to music.
5. Play with kids, or have a deep philosophical discussion with an adult.
6. Observe nature.
7. Shoot photos. While shooting photos or videos I come up with ideas.
8. Drink a lot of black coffee.
9. Intermittent fasting during the day to keep your mind sharp.
10. No email, social media, phone, or news to crowd out your thoughts. Quit the news and quit social media.
11. Get to bed early (7:30pm, 8pm, 9pm). Good sleep leads to better ideas. Don’t drink alcohol or smoke weed — it messes up your sleep.

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“That which is, grows and that which is not, becomes.” – Galen on the Natural Faculties

Or in other words:

If you already exist, you grow. If you don’t exist yet, your genesis is a process of “becoming”.

Thus perhaps:

1. We as humans, our task is to keep growing. We are already alive!
2. Entrepreneurially speaking, our goal is to make NEW things, NEW platforms, and NEW ideas which have yet “become”.

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The camera is the ultimate truth, and photos and videos are irrefutable proof, according to the new world religion of today, Silicon Valley, data, and social media.

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Sooner or later, every human being on planet earth (all several billion of us) will have a smartphone, which is just a camera with an internet connection. This will mean:

All human beings will be photographers.

Even look at the modern marketing — the new iPhone Pro and new Samsung and new Google Pixel is all about the camera! Camera is god.

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Before asking others whether something is ethical or not, first go on a long walk and ask yourself:

Do *I* think this is ethical? Yes or no?

If anything best to NEVER ask others whether your actions are ethical or not. My heuristic:

If you’re asking others whether something you did was ethical or not, if probably wasn’t (this is why it is hounding your conscience).

Thus the maximally robust position in life: never do anything (no matter how others threaten or guilt you) which is contrary to your own personal code of morals and ethics.

ERIC

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What I have realized:

Even if I were a quadrillionaire, I don’t like to own things.

Why? More stress, more liabilities, and more crap to maintain. The nouveau riche of today’s age is minimalism, simplicity and having the privilege *NOT* to own anything which weighs you down.

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