ERIC KIM

‘SKILL’ VS MERIT?

Why are Americans or westerners so obsessed with notions of ‘skill’?

My theory:

It has to do with the concept of merit.

For example, if you can do something without much effort, it is not seen as merited. Furthermore to become successful without ‘proper’ schooling or degrees is seen as ‘un-merited’.

However the wise thing we must do is to get rid of notions of ‘skill’ as well as merit. Even American notions of ‘meritocracy’ should be gotten rid of!

PHILOSOPHY BY KIM

ZEN OF ERIC by Eric Kim Haptic Mobile EditionDownload

Essays by KIM

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

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