November 2022
Invent and Wander
Jeff Bezos is highly underrated and a genius.
1997– Jeff Bezos’ letter to the shareholders thinking about the long term. Jeff Bezos’ thoughts back in 1997, which was when I was only nine years old, has sharp thinking, and sounds very modern even in today’s world.
Building with Bitcoin
With bitcoin, what we need to do is build more tools to actually use it and circulate it as a real currency. For example, all of these new grocery stores now accept Apple Pay. Why not bitcoin? I would love to pay for my meat, or all you can eat Korean barbecue either with my bitcoin, or with my PayPal account.
CRYPTO BY KIM
Brave new world for photographers and crypto:
- DYNAMICS VS STATICS.
- How Do You Know if the Timing Is Right?
- BITCOIN IN THE NEWS
- BITCOIN & UNCERTAINTY
- Fake Money
- Why I Bought More Bitcoin (Again)
- How I Made Money with Crypto
- Better to buy Dogecoin then buy a Tesla
- NO LIMITS.
- ALL DIGITAL FUTURE.
- Digital over Physical Possessions
- DIGIBYTE.
- CHAINLINK.
- The Excitement of Starting from Zero
- HAPTIC INDUSTRIES NOW ACCEPTING CRYPTO AND BITCOIN
- In Praise of Crypto
- JUST BUY IT.
- Why I’m So Bullish on Bitcoin
- Bitcoin as the Simplest Cryptocurrency
- Why I bought (more) bitcoin
- Once You Become a Crypto Billionaire, Then What?
- Why Crypto is Under-Hyped
- The Joy of Speculation
- BITCOIN AND CRYPTOCURRENCY FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS
- Why I Bought Bitcoin
- Crypto Photography
- Crypto Thoughts
- On Making Money from Nothing
Silicon Valley is on the way out?
Note my friend Alexander Morgan, who told me the saying which is going around, “There are no more new ideas in Silicon Valley.”
Video games are bad
I don’t plan on ever letting Seneca play any video games. Beats, instruments, art, garage band, and physical activity as far superior.
The foolishness of “baby-proofing” things
The downside is that when you “baby proof” things, you don’t actually make things “safer”. In fact, by NOT teaching your kid boundaries, you might actually prevent a lot of small accidents, but might indirectly CAUSE a really big accident.
Kids who grow up with more “street smarts”— lots of small injuries, but no major critical one which can cause death or other irreversible injuries.
Kids who grow up in a “safe environment”— no small injuries, but can perhaps die from a really major one.
You’re more likely to research someone if they’re seen as bad, than good.
Bad news, negative news helps the infamy of someone!
The Irvine company is really smart.
Also the upside is Irvine is still the only place in which having new kids is actually encouraged!
I also love the Irvine Spectrum!
Irvine company Wikipedia.
Resist new subscriptions
Ideally no subscriptions is best.
Even more ideally I wouldn’t own a phone or smartphone plan.
Our phones aren’t the limiting factor, our cellular 5G speeds (or lack there of) is the limiting factor.
Perhaps +1 for GoogleFi?
T-Mobile sucks.
The Art of the Hype
Why is it that in modern times, we are not allowed to be or get loud?
Perhaps these neo Victorian ideals — one must be prim, proper, don’t take too much space or make too much noise.
But the hilarious irony in America:
Personality wise we cannot be loud and rambunctious, but we can drive the (very loud) Lamborghini and be admired.
Or,
We cannot walk around topless in public, but we can drive around in a convertible car.
It takes courage to be loud
In modern day life, to be loud, get mad, yell and scream is seen with fear. One is not allowed to “go apeshit” or “go bananas” in public. Or at home.
It is another form of social control. And consumerism and capitalism. You can buy the things which make you loud (your clothes, watch, car, etc) but you cannot do it “in real life” with your speech or activities.
MY DESIRE TO BECOME THE BEST AND STRONGEST
TESLA MODEL S PLAID at the track, smoking all of these Porsche 911 GT3 RS and McLaren losers!
Also, being able to pull and squat the heaviest weight at the gym.
Also, my goal to chest press the 150 pound dumbbells. Doing it on the floor, not the bench is the way. Asking for a spot or assistance with the weights.
NEWS: New Value?
Something we all seem to be addicted to is the news. Let us remember that the word “news” stems from the word “new”. Proto indo European “newos”.
Why new?
Something I am addicted to and endlessly fascinated with is innovation. That is, creating new. New things, new innovations, new approaches, etc.
I have this funny habit of scrolling through a random amount of websites on the near daily level, which includes the tesla.com website, apple.com website, the yeezysupply.com website, etc. 99% of the time I am disappointed, because frequently there is nothing new. With the exception of the yeezysupply.com website, where Kanye is always releasing a new sneaker.
Even a critique with Kanye West and Yeezy; when the Yeezy sneakers first came out, they were insanely different and innovative. However it seems as of late, the new trend is simply releasing slightly different color ways, perhaps to appease the crowd. I think as a result, Yeezy has lost her dominance, eclipsed by the “Air Jordan” brand. For example, now if you visit the stockx.com website, you don’t even see Yeezy as listed as one of the top brands.
How to make new?
Some practical thoughts include attempting and experimenting with new techniques and approaches. For example, something very innovative I think I have been doing is experimenting and innovating new ways of lifting weights at the gym. This includes a new philosophy technique and approach of increasing the weight, reducing the range of motion. Contrary to popular belief, I have still been making monster gains, both in terms of muscle, and overall vigor. For example my 6 plate rack pull.
For example, there is this bias in weight lifting that in order to do a “proper“ deadlift, you must lift the weight directly off the floor. And for some reason, to lift the weight higher off the floor is seen as “cheating“, or “improper“.
Also, form. A lot of unindependent thinkers think that they must do a deadlift with a “conventional“ form. Yet this is foolish, as doing a sumo stance increases your leverage, thus allowing you to lift more.
On going to a different or new country
One of my greatest gains of traveling to Phnom Penh Cambodia this summer was discovering the new trap bar and hex bar. Also, switching to lifting weights in kilograms, in which I am not intimidated by the numbers, as I have no concept of kilogram numbers.
For example, in my mind I know that five plates at the gym, five of the 45 pound red plates, around 500 pounds is heavy. However, if somebody tells me something is 250 kg, I have no idea if that is heavy or not.
Therefore, a huge pragmatic thought is that in order to innovate, or think new, or break out of traditional motive thinking, you must not live in your own country forever. You must travel, explore new places, and expose yourself to new thoughts.
For example, I believe that a lot of the early ancient Greek thinkers actually traveled to India, where they learned pseudo-Buddhist forms of thinking, also, to Egypt, where they learned Egyptian notions of reincarnation, etc. For example, it seems that the notion of eternal life, or life after death is a mostly Egyptian notion; for example, read Tacitus Histories Book V — (full text here)
Also, if you read a lot of the ancient pre-Socratic philosophers, that is, the philosophers who have come before Socrates, such as Democritus, Heraclitus, etc., a lot of their thoughts on impermanence sounds very much like modern day Buddhism or Zen. Even in the ancient world, interaction between ancient Greece, Egypt, and India crated lots of new forms of thinking.
Or more recently, going to South Korea, both in Seoul and the mountainside of Hadong. Whether I like it or not, a lot of my cultural upbringing, and ethics in mode of being is from Korea, namely, Confucianism, neo Confucianism (new Confucianism). Also, my delight in seeing all the new Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis cars.
One of the good thing about being in foreign places is that it forces you to think differently. For example, even though my Korean is not that great, spending some time in South Korea is good for me, as thinking more in Korean, reading more Korean being exposed to Korean things, and speaking Korean gives birth to new thoughts.
Critiquing is good for thinking
Another thought is that when it comes to thinking, challenging your traditional modes of thinking, and beliefs, is to judge and critique is good. I think critique and the art of critiquing is good if it favors birth to new thinking. For example, to simply a critique or criticize something without planning on changing anything I think is a little bit futile.
For example, my critique on Korea and Korean society; to judge the pros and cons of Korean society, as a lens to better analyze and critique American society.
What does it mean to critique? I believe in the art of a constructive critique, that is a critique that actually goes somewhere and does something positive. To critique simply means to judge an ancient Greek, “kritikos”. However, the reason why so many people fail at the art of critiquing is because they lack the courage to base their thoughts on their own self, experiences of their own, and feel as if they always need to quote some other famous thinker or philosopher.
For example, I never trust anybody who quotes Martin Heidegger, notions of the Panopticon, any French thinkers or philosophers, etc. Why? A lot of the modern day philosophers, essentially any philosopher in the last 200 years, their thinking is too convoluted, to abstruse, to bloated, and also to pretentious. My personal theory is that a lot of these so-called philosophers simply wanted to become as strange and convoluted as possible, and to become as incomprehensible as possible, in order to not be critiqued or judged by anyone, because they are so understandable.
How do you judge a true thinker? A true thinker never needs to quote anybody else and simply speaks their mind. And then if you think about it, most kids are philosophers, as they actually have the courage to question things, and, their rebelliousness might be annoying to some parents and teachers, but should be encouraged. Why? If it wasn’t for the rebelliousness of us Steve Jobs, we would not have all of these beautiful Apple tools and creative devices, something which has even been insanely great for my son Seneca, at one year nine months, he can make beats on GarageBand, and even record his own voice as a part of his musical instrument. The iPhone and iPad, if used correctly, is one of the greatest creative devices and creative instruments known to man.
Why new?
Why do we love the new? Maybe part of it is the consumerist marketing modern-day capitalist thing, but also, I think it goes deeper than that. I think there is some thing in human nature that we loved the new, otherwise we would have never set sail, in search for greater lands, and greater aventures. Or, imagine if children never attempted anything new. They would never learn anything new, and never grow.
Therefore, perhaps the necessity of the new is that the new is necessary onto growth. For example new life. New children. New futures.
Perhaps this is also where modern day notions of Buddhism and “being grateful for what you have“, is bad. Imagine if a child never left the home, and never left the confines of their house. Or if they never wanted any new adventures, or to learn new things. Learning new things is difficult, but challenging, interesting and fun!
How to think new
What does the world lack? Independent thinkers. I don’t know if I’ve ever ever really met any truly truly independent thinkers in real life. Maybe the only independent thinkers I could think of includes Steve Jobs, Kanye West, Elon Musk, Peter Thiel.
First of all, is intelligence linked with independent thinking? No. I’ve never met an independent academic thinker, any professor at the Ivy League, or fully tenured professors. They are too insular, trapped in the confines of the antiquated academic system, and have probably never started a business of their own.
The only really successful entrepreneur that I know in real life is my friend Todd Hata (search him on YouTube). He told me that he attempted around 10 to 15 businesses, until he finally struck gold with his simple studio lighting business on Amazon. But even him, he is always searching for new business ideas, which makes him thrive. Even though he is my senior, in someways, he is even younger and more “millennial“ than I am. And I admire him for this.
I think I actually, independent thinking is deeper linked with courage. To think on your own two feet, is an act of courage.
Also, how to think critically. If somebody tells you something, or ask you something, don’t respond quickly. Think about it for a few seconds, even if it makes other people cringe, and feel uncomfortable. Or just stare at them blankly in the eyes. And pause. See what they do.
A simple way to buy time is to ask them why? Why they believe that, or why they think that is so?
The news
My analogy of the news is like feces. Whenever somebody shows me the news, talks about the news, or if I’m accidentally exposed to certain news headlines, is almost like having monkeys throw feces at me. I do not want to get feces on my face, or my clothes.
And this is the funny thing with the news, politics, social media, etc., it is like if you intentionally grabbed a hose flowing poop, and kept shooting into your face. That you hate it, but somehow you love it. Exposing yourself to the news or social media is like watching two girls one cup on loop.
New products
One of the big things to think about is creating new products. Whether it be an improvement of a prior product, a totally new concept, a new color way, etc.
For example, my passion — creating new products which I wish I had access to.
For example, ERIC KIM WRIST STRAP x ERIC KIM NECK STRAP — I never saw any straps for RICOH GR cameras, so I made one myself!
Also ERIC KIM WALLET — trying to create my own perfect ideal wallet for myself.
Also, create your own beauty. HENRI NECK STRAP MARK IV — my quest to make the most best and perfect strap, according to my own artistic and aesthetic taste.
When you desire something, cannot find it, make it yourself!
New value through software
One of the big benefits of software is that you could immediately create new value. Hardware is more cumbersome, slow and expensive, but software can be much more immediate.
For example, it looks like currently Apple is pretty tapped out in terms of the form factor of the iPhone, iPad, etc. It seems that the new big innovations are actually coming from the new operating systems from Apple, I’m a big fan.
A pragmatic thing you could do as a solo entrepreneur is innovate your website, blog design. Assuming you have wordpress.org on your blog and website, a simple thought is just integrating a new theme, or designing or redesigning it.
Something that I have done is this:
How simple and minimalist can I make my website, and still have it be pseudo-functional?
Google favors the new
Something I have also discovered more recently is that it seems that Google favors the new. It favors that which was posted most recently.
I am impressed with how quickly and frequently Google crawls things, it can even highlight things I posted a few hours ago! Both to my own blog and to my YouTube channel.
Fresher is better.
Even in the context of food, it seems that fresh food is the best. For example, meat that was immediately slaughtered tastes better than meat which has been frozen for a long time.
Also, nobody likes old avocados. We like it when it is fresh.
Even Amazon fresh, good branding name.
Every day is a new day
And I like the idea that every day, you can start the day in your life carte blanche. That is, each and every new day is a fresh new start. No past prejudices, only future optimism.
ERIC
Think new thoughts
Experience a totally brand new place
June 19-23rd 2023 is the new tentative date for my upcoming and totally brand new epic HADONG SOUTH KOREA CREATIVITY ZEN RETREAT 2023.
Essentially the purpose of this workshop is for you to experience something totally brand new, and become something you and greater, as a Visual Artist, thinker, philosopher, and photographer.
Stay posted and register intent here.
WORKSHOPS BY KIM
Other random thoughts
- Maybe it is a good idea to work out every day. Good for your social life, create of life, and also your health.
- Stretching is good. It allows you to lift heavier weights.
- Do heavy rack pulls at the gym.
- MODEL X PLAID IN RED IS GANGATA!! Lamborghini is for looooooseers!
More turbo thoughts on eric kim podcast
I want to make my own Montessori!
Cool things
- Lululemon license to train shorts, zippers are great.
- Mystery ranch bags are great!
- Laptops are bad. At this point, I have almost zero interest in ever buying a new laptop ever again. Instead, iPad, iPad Pro is the future. If you don’t have one yet, just get the new M2. iPad pro Apple site.
Books
- Zero to one by Peter Thiel
All other books are bad.
Go harder!
Go harder, go crazier!
New Value?
Something we all seem to be addicted to is the news. Let us remember that the word “news” stems from the word “new”. Proto indo European “newos”.
Why new?
Something I am addicted to and endlessly fascinated with is innovation. That is, creating new. New things, new innovations, new approaches, etc.
I have this funny habit of scrolling through a random amount of websites on the near daily level, which includes the tesla.com website, apple.com website, the yeezysupply.com website, etc. 99% of the time I am disappointed, because frequently there is nothing new. With the exception of the easy supply.com website, where Kanye is always releasing a new sneaker.
Even a critique with Kanye West and Yeezy; when the Yeezy sneakers first came out, they were insanely different and innovative. However it seems as of late, the new trend is simply releasing slightly different color ways, perhaps to appease the crowd. I think as a result, Yeezy has lost her dominance, eclipsed by the “Air Jordan” brand. For example, now if you visit the stockx.com website, you don’t even see Yeezy as listed as one of the top brands.
How to make new?
Some practical thoughts include attempting and experimenting with new techniques and approaches. For example, something very innovative I think I have been doing is experimenting and innovating new ways of lifting weights at the gym. This includes a new philosophy technique and approach of increasing the weight, reducing the range of motion. Contrary to popular belief, I have still been making monster gains, both in terms of muscle, and overall vigor. For example my 6 plate rack pull.
For example, there is this bias in weight lifting that in order to do a “proper“ deadlift, you must lift the weight directly off the floor. And for some reason, to lift the weight higher off the floor is seen as “cheating“, or “improper“.
Also, form. A lot of unindependent thinkers think that they must do a deadlift with a “conventional“ form. Yet this is foolish, as doing a sumo stance increases your leverage, thus allowing you to lift more.
On going to a different or new country
One of my greatest gains of traveling to Phnom Penh Cambodia this summer was discovering the new trap bar and hex bar. Also, switching to lifting weights in kilograms, in which I am not intimidated by the numbers, as I have no concept of kilogram numbers.
For example, in my mind I know that five plates at the gym, five of the 45 pound red plates, around 500 pounds is heavy. However, if somebody tells me something is 250 kg, I have no idea if that is heavy or not.
Therefore, a huge pragmatic thought is that in order to innovate, or think new, or break out of traditional motive thinking, you must not live in your own country forever. You must travel, explore new places, and expose yourself to new thoughts.
For example, I believe that a lot of the early ancient Greek thinkers actually traveled to India, where they learned pseudo-Buddhist forms of thinking, also, to Egypt, where they learned Egyptian notions of reincarnation, etc. For example, it seems that the notion of eternal life, or life after death is a mostly Egyptian notion; for example, read Tacitus Histories Book V — (full text here)
Also, if you read a lot of the ancient pre-Socratic philosophers, that is, the philosophers who have come before Socrates, such as Democritus, Heraclitus, etc., a lot of their thoughts on impermanence sounds very much like modern day Buddhism or Zen. Even in the ancient world, interaction between ancient Greece, Egypt, and India crated lots of new forms of thinking.
Or more recently, going to South Korea, both in Seoul and the mountainside of Hadong. Whether I like it or not, a lot of my cultural upbringing, and ethics in mode of being is from Korea, namely, Confucianism, neo Confucianism (new Confucianism). Also, my delight in seeing all the new Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis cars.
One of the good thing about being in foreign places is that it forces you to think differently. For example, even though my Korean is not that great, spending some time in South Korea is good for me, as thinking more in Korean, reading more Korean being exposed to Korean things, and speaking Korean gives birth to new thoughts.
Critiquing is good for thinking
Another thought is that when it comes to thinking, challenging your traditional modes of thinking, and beliefs, is to judge and critique is good. I think critique and the art of critiquing is good if it favors birth to new thinking. For example, to simply a critique or criticize something without planning on changing anything I think is a little bit futile.
For example, my critique on Korea and Korean society; to judge the pros and cons of Korean society, as a lens to better analyze and critique American society.
What does it mean to critique? I believe in the art of a constructive critique, that is a critique that actually goes somewhere and does something positive. To critique simply means to judge an ancient Greek, “kritikos”. However, the reason why so many people fail at the art of critiquing is because they lack the courage to base their thoughts on their own self, experiences of their own, and feel as if they always need to quote some other famous thinker or philosopher.
For example, I never trust anybody who quotes Martin Heidegger, notions of the Panopticon, any French thinkers or philosophers, etc. Why? A lot of the modern day philosophers, essentially any philosopher in the last 200 years, their thinking is too convoluted, to abstruse, to bloated, and also to pretentious. My personal theory is that a lot of these so-called philosophers simply wanted to become as strange and convoluted as possible, and to become as incomprehensible as possible, in order to not be critiqued or judged by anyone, because they are so understandable.
How do you judge a true thinker? A true thinker never needs to quote anybody else and simply speaks their mind. And then if you think about it, most kids are philosophers, as they actually have the courage to question things, and, their rebelliousness might be annoying to some parents and teachers, but should be encouraged. Why? If it wasn’t for the rebelliousness of us Steve Jobs, we would not have all of these beautiful Apple tools and creative devices, something which has even been insanely great for my son Seneca, at one year nine months, he can make beats on GarageBand, and even record his own voice as a part of his musical instrument. The iPhone and iPad, if use correctly, is one of the greatest creative devices and creative instruments known to man.
BMW 7 SERIES IS A MINI ROLLS-ROYCE
BMW owns Rolls-Royce; look at the new 7 series, it looks like a mini Rolls-Royce Ghost or Phantom!
Try *NOT* to be indexable?
For fun, and just see what Google does and how it goes haywire and gets confused?
What does it mean to create new value?
My critique with Facebook is that it looks like they are not creating any new value. They are just trying to figure out more ways to stuff more advertisements in-between the content created by users.
Compare this instead with Tesla, who is focused on creating new value by making more new electric cars, and also building up the Tesla super charging network.
Or, the upside of Apple, constantly creating new Apple devices and also innovating in their iOS and software.
A practical thought is this; focus on creating new value.
Laptops are bad, they cause carpal tunnel.
Perhaps moving forward, I don’t imagine myself ever buying another new laptop. Either a desktop, or just a new iPad Pro.