Simple biological approach and hack:
Never eat anything unless you’ve worked out (physically exerted yourself) somehow.
Does the lion eat a granola bar before hunting the gazelle? Of course not. Does the panther drink a protein shake before hunting the lion? No.
The naturalistic approach:
(more…)Treat working out like ‘hunting’ — you must first hunt, *THEN* eat!
Construct your own ideals for yourself and pursue them with great zeal.
My personal ethos and approach to life:
(more…)Better to just do it (80% ‘good enough’, satisficing) than to do *NO* job (paralysis by analysis, paralysis by desire for perfection).
Simple:
(more…)Just shoot photos and videos of whatever you eat (every day), including your own food and the meals of others (your partner, friends, etc).
When analyzing any thinker or individual ask yourself:
Is this thought born out of spite/malice?
If this is the case, ignore it.
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Let us think beyond ‘self esteem‘. I feel the notion of ‘self-estimate’ as far more robust and accurate.
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One of the worst curses of modernity:
We have been brainwashed to become obedient slaves.
Most of modernity is simply systematized forms of domestication of man.
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Don’t trap yourself in one aesthetic ghetto. Do both.
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Dynamic ethics means:
Don’t treat every single being as the same.
Towards a more ‘bespoke’ (custom tailored) form of ethics towards others:
Hate just means ‘strong emotion’. And the irony:
We can hate those whom we love the most.
Thus to me, hate and love is the same thing — simply two different sides of the same coin.
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Or in other words:
Buy my product and you will have *LESS* depression, *LESS* anxiety, and be *LESS* miserable with your life.
Consumerism and fashion — only works on individuals with low self esteem. And what do you do if the individual has high self esteem? Simple — use marketing and advertising to make themselves feel shittier about themselves. Marketing and advertising (in the mainstream sense) as tools to lower our self esteem. And buying a product or a service is the panacea (solution) to our (manufactured) problems!
In praise of shooting more ‘random’ photos. RICOH GR III photos shot without looking through the viewfinder at very bizarre angles. No thought on composition or framing while walking. Shooting a bunch of JPEG photos (small size) to experiment with uncommon and unorthodox framing.
Randomness in framing is good to pave new grounds in composition!
An unsavory thought:
Perhaps those individuals with very high self esteem should NOT associate themselves with individuals with low self esteem.
Why? Individuals with low self esteem tend to be ‘energy vampires‘ and steal energy from those with high self confidence.
Nietzsche-vibes on a more elitist society (his notion of ‘pathos of distance’ — that ironically the strong should be shielded from the weak).
A thought:
Is it the duty of individuals with high self esteem to help those with low self esteem?
Some of my frank thoughts:
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A realization:
Those with an inferiority complex can never understand those with a superiority complex. Why? The individual with an inferiority complex will always see those with a superiority complex with suspicious eyes. And the individual with a superiority complex doesn’t even care or notice for the petty envious individual with the inferiority complex.
I think this is why people see Trump as such a bizarre individual. Most journalists, intellectuals, scholars and professors have an inferiority complex (they were bullied as children or ostracized by society) and tend to see Trump as pseudo-Hitler 2.0 (obviously not as evil, but almost as bad).
If you dig deeply enough into artists, you will be able to put them in two buckets. And if an individual has been raised and bred with an inferiority complex, he will never be able to transform himself into an individual with a superiority complex, no matter how hard he tries.
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Let us not be fooled. The point and telos of photography isn’t to make “great†or “good†photos… it is to make new photos. Some thoughts:
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A simple technique and approach which is very good for blogging and website building:
Add as many deep links to your site or blog as possible.
This means:
When you write anything hyperlink and link back to old things you have written and also as you write create *NEW* blog posts which iterate on your idea (a ‘recursive‘ approach).
What is the internet? Hyperlinks. No links, no internet.
Advertise means to warn, to notify, to steer, and to direct. Adverto in Latin. “Wert-” in Proto Indo European means “to turn, to rotate”.
Therefore if we take the poetic interpretation of this notion of ‘advertising’ perhaps we should see advertising not as just people trying to sell you stuff, but people who are trying to influence, persuade or direct you a certain way.
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Propaganda by itself … this term isn’t evil. To propaganda simply means to propagate. To spread. In this regard almost every form of communication can be seen as propaganda:
Thus from a very basic perspective don’t fear propaganda. Just realize that every message we consume (audio, visual, haptic) will somehow change and influence you.
What is the most robust form of ownership? Not ownership of your home or physical possessions. The most important form of ownership is over yourself. Your thoughts. Your speaking. Your actions or inactions. Thus it seems from a pragmatic perspective the goal then is:
First gain ownership over your self finances. This means become a self employed entrepreneur and self owned sole proprietor.
Also
Refuse to be put in a position where you require the approval of others to do something (or NOT do something).
Also
Have the courage to do certain things or NOT do certain things which may not (yet) have a precedence.
This is true courage and innovation! Self innovation!
ERIC
Pseudo means “fake†or “lying†or “to deceiveâ€. The problem with modern day consumerism is this:
We are pseudo-unique and pseudo-individual.
We think that our “taste†(which is superimposed on us by others) distinguishes our uniqueness, individuality and greatness. This is false. We just become marketing and billboards for external brands, rather than promoting ourselves and our own brand (your first and last name).
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Let us not be fooled. Capitalism only works via injustice, inequality and war. Also, capitalism cannot exist or endure without inequality and without elitism in society. And all things considered, I am far more pro-capitalism than I am for communism. I think I tend to think of a hybrid between capitalism and the socialism of Sweden. Yet still the problem —
If we want truly great individuals and human beings we actually must widen the gap between the “haves†and “have notsâ€.
And the sad truth:
As capitalism, consumerism and digital technology continues to advance, there will be a death of the photographic middle class. Only the low class Instagram photographers and the high class elite Leica-Bugatti-Lamborghini photographers will persist.
What is the future of photography and capitalism? My thoughts:
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To generate: to beget, to give birth, to produce, to make, to create. Similar to the word “generous†or “genus†(family, genetics, etc). Generative philosophers include Nassim Taleb, Nietzsche. Generative entrepreneurs include Jay Z, Kanye West, Elon Musk, Peter Thiel.
Degenerate: to suck out and kill life. To energy vampire. Typical degenerate philosophers and thinkers include Karl Marx, Spinoza, and (most) notable philosophers.
Thus when it comes to you or others ask yourself:
(more…)Is this person a generate (someone who promotes and encourages life and growth) or a degenerate (someone who wants to see all life die and perish?)
ENERGY VAMPIRES: people who TAKE and sap away more energy than they give you.
Let us not be fooled: our energy (and life) is limited. Therefore be very very very very very choosy on who you decide to give your energy to (or not):
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The most effective ways to destroy your wealth:
As a guideline, you don’t need to share *all* your photos. Just share the ones you love and care for!
What do we want as artists? Creative empowerment. To have the inspiration motivation and energy to create (new) art works. But what holds us back? Self-doubt. Self-pity. Too much concern how others judge us … too little concern how we judge ourselves.
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Question:
Is college “worth it†and in today’s brave new COVID world, is it even worth going to college?
Depends. This is my thought:
But the most important question:
(more…)Why college? What do I personally want from it? Job training? Wisdom augmentation? Meeting new people? Expanding my mind and social network? A future mate?
A simple and good way to live life:
Only do that and only pursue what you are personally interested and vested in.
And,
Don’t do anything which doesn’t interest you and don’t do anything which doesn’t interest you.
Uber simple yet difficult and requires much courage to actually integrate in your real, everyday life.
If you go to the home page of DXOMARK.COM, you will see all of the top smartphone cameras are Chinese. For example the top camera for smartphone is the Xiaomi 10 Ultra. I’ve tested the Xiaomi phone camera in the past and it is insanely good. The reason I’m so interested in the future of photography and cameras:
Cameras and phones and communication is starting to become a hybrid-synthesis of both technology and society.
Furthermore, the camera and photography and visual-video is becoming the behemoth and giant of self expression, self augmentation, self presentation and your ego and sense of self confidence, self pride, and “selfnessâ€. Thus photography interests me from both a sociological angle (what cameras and photography and social media are doing to society and to us as individuals) and also the technology art side of things.
