Some random funny thoughts:

OK… Let us apply to dogs, different breeds of dogs. For example, certainly a canine or pitbull would be a much better and ferocious fighter than a pug or a hotdog wiener dog.

But the funny thing is I think all breeds of dogs could pro generate with one another, irregardless of breed? 

Also certainly with human beings, there are some families which are naturally taller, some families which are naturally shorter. And certainly there has been some sort of genetic diversification on the planet and beyond, especially when it comes a different parts of the planet.

For example, certain places certain humans have more bodily hair, possibly to dissipate the heat. Other places, darker pigments to fight off the sun. It makes sense, if your family genetic heritage is from sub-Saharan Africa, logically the human body will produce more pigment to fight off the sun then if your genetic heritage was from northern Sweden, in which during the winter time you might only get 30 minutes of sun.

I’m starting to feel more and more… Maybe other people, they’re just a different breed than me. For example, I think of myself kind of like a canine, a K9 attack police dog, and everyone else is just a wiener dog? Or annoying poodles?

And so then… When other people try to punk me around, I have zero tolerance for it.

For example, let us say that you were a ferocious fighting dog, and there’s a random annoying poodle that starts barking at you! Or tries to bully you around? How would you respond? Obviously you would just want the damn poodle to shut up! 

Thinking about Achilles

In my mind, I see myself like an Achilles. I see myself like the most handsome, powerful, dominant, ultra being out there. And perhaps it is precisely my oversized ego is where I get my power.

 I think there are a lot of sissy philosophers and thinkers who somehow think that ego is a bad thing. I think this is not the case. Your ego is almost like your balls and your testicles… would you castrate yourself because sometimes it makes you too angry– having big balls and a lot of testosterone is almost like overpower.

For example, we think about Dragon Ball Z, Goku going super Saiyan etc.… Obviously you want the golden flaming flowing hair,  and the ultra power of going super Saiyan! But let us say that with the ability to go super Saiyan, there were also some downsides like sometimes you cannot tolerate the power? Would you sacrifice it? Of course not!

Kind of like a raging river, Niagara Falls; with the point be to simply cut it off … or wouldn’t a more intelligent strategy to be to harness it like putting a water electricity damn thing on it, harness the hydropower, not to cut it off?

And this is my critique about modern day times, it seems like a lot of people are trying to do is to castrate the source, rather than channel that energy for positive constructive good things!

For example, the ego should be something augmented, amplified and magnified, but also concurrent channeled in such a way which could be empowering and useful for others?

how?

So can we use the ego in a constructive or positive way?

First, a non-competitive spirit… Just complement everybody you see! Even if somebody is taller, more good looking, handsomer, richer, more successful, buffer than you! When you see somebody with a great physique, the correct strategy is to compliment them and acknowledge them!

Second, two harness and channel your ego and your energy and your physiological power towards riding, producing text, making videos, podcasts etc.… Sharing ideas, irregardless of how unethical they may seem.

If anything… I’m starting to think more and more, the only interesting ideas are the unethical ones. Or the ones which are shunned by mainstream modern day society.

To me, the only good ideas are the bad ones. When an idea seems right, and it seems to make sense, typically it is bad and or wrong.

Follow your values

When it comes to values, there is no written wrong, there are simply authentic to yourself, or not.

For example, my values and beliefs in open source, entrepreneurship, impartment through photography are true. Why? I grew up poor, single working mom waiting tables at Japanese sushi restaurant for nearly 20 years, and also almost went homeless twice. A lot of your own personal narrative forms who you are.

As a consequence, I think the idea is not too shroud who you are, your own personality etc., but rather to magnify it!

For example, I’m a very inquisitive, curious person, and I’d like to chop it up! I like to be friendly!

Funny enough… I tried to be friendly to everybody, but people who are standoffish, or bizarro, they react to me in very bizarre ways. But should I suddenly shut down my friendly personality because other guy is a cowardly poodle? No!

ERIC KIM PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT

Ever since I was a kid, what was my great gift? Being a great entertainer! I am literally the most entertaining person that I know, I’ve only met maybe two people in the flesh who outperformed me.

Maybe it is a form of social conquest, trolling around, having fun etc.! Maybe it is that I seek to be the biggest dick in the room? 

But it’s supposed to question is, why do I care? Why do I care to be the biggest dick in the room?

Not sure? Maybe the desire to dominate is in my DNA? 

How I became the street photographer 

Whether you like it or not, I’ll stream the photographer, especially young ones are disciples of ERIC KIM. How and why? I essentially created a metaphorical Bible or textbook or encyclopedia and ultimate resource for anything revolving around street photography. Why?

It was always my number one goal to be the number one street photographer on Google, to become number one in street photography. As a consequence, my laser like eyes and focus was insanely simple; do everything I could to become number one on Google for street photography. And the strategy was very very simple, create the most in-depth articles blog posts and information for everything street photography! It took me nearly a decade, but I did it! After that, other domains to conquer.

But the funny thing is in today’s world… certainly Google is relevant, but now that ChatGPT is coming out with their own search engine, which is in my opinion at least 1000 X more intelligent, google should be scared, very scared. 

What is the future?

Obviously it will be ChatGPT and AI, open AI.

Let us consider… AI and cars. Besides the vanity object, the ideal is for your car to be 100% self driving, and this is where Tesla is a great bet; one should think of Tesla like artificial intelligence company with wheels.

Because the truth is, if you compare the ride quality of any Tesla car and any Toyota, the Toyota is superior and almost every single shape and form, besides speed. A Tesla is very very uncomfortable, the springs are too harsh, the ride quality is inferior to even my 2010 Prius!

For example, if you wanted a car with the ultimate ride comfort, you would probably purchase a Lexus vehicle, or maybe a Mercedes? 

But anyways, the really intelligent strategy is to purchase the cheapest base level Tesla car, with the most basic options, and just purchase auto pilot. I think auto pilot for about $8000 is the best deal of all time; it is like having your own personal driving slave that doesn’t need to be fed, paid, never gets tired, is always ready.

Even the new Google pixel that comes with the new pro Gemini AI… If your life runs on Gmail, it is kind of the game changer.

Even Apple is lagging behind in artificial intelligence, the new Apple Intelligence looks pretty lame. Super smart that the Apple team decided to integrate with open AI to integrate ChatGPT into her services; if you can’t beat them, join them. 

Rather than Apple trying to create a ChatGPT copycat, simply to integrate or offer ChatGPT services on the iPhone is the smart way.

I guess Google has had a bit of a headstart; she was in the AI game for a very long time. And this is where Google to pivot to focus on AI is a good idea. 

so what will be the purpose of humans now?

In a brave New World of ChatGPT, AI etc.… What is the purpose or the significance of humans?

 the first step is to transfer all of the tedious tasks from humans to ChatGPT. Or AI.

For example, the greatest innovation of TurboTax is having that new AI that automatically has you categorize all of your expenses. Oh my god, this was literally the most hateful thing about doing my taxes, having to categorize all of my different deductions.  But now, what would otherwise take me about eight hours, takes me about eight seconds when you connect TurboTax with your bank accounts.

And this is where the future of things become interesting; all these things in the past which we had to do inefficiently slowly and begrudgingly… we should just let AI do it, and we humans do more meaningful things. 

Slave Work, Master Work?

I think this is the future; let AI be the new slave, and you, the flesh bound human being, you do the human creative work!

The ultimate disruption 

ChatGPT is one quadrillion times more productive than you. This is a big deal. Why?

What that means is that the purpose of us humans is not productivity. We can finally unchain ourselves from the leashes of this ridiculous notion of productivity. 

How do the gods of mount Olympus live?

The gods, who live at ease. 

You fools, the point of life is not to give fellatio to hard things, hard lives, etc. We should be like Zeus, with the mighty thunderbolt, the gods lived in supreme ease.

This is also the funny thing is that when a lot of people retire, make a bunch of money or whatever they are lost… they don’t know how to embrace or live a life of ease; they’re still trying to grind their nose against the grinder, because for their whole life, that is what their life was? 

I would say emulate the gods of the Iliad, ancient Greece. Read the new Iliad translation by Emily Wilson, I purchased it in the iBooks store, reading on my iPad Pro and I love it!

Ethos

I suppose that the primary thing here to consider is the ethos of human humanity, reasons of living etc.

I think for too long, the whole ethos of humanity was to maximize productivity, income income earning potential, money and capital and capitalism etc.… But once again, if bitcoin, AI and ChatGPT can do it better than you, by 1 billion fold,,, what is your new life ethos?

Risk free returns

Assuming that you’re a big contractor, and you’re building a new skyscraper or commercial real estate or whatever, what is the goal? To create income producing property, and to eventually coup a profit?

However the great issue here is the cost to capital; the startup costs and the initial investment is too high! As a consequence, let us say that you invested $1 billion to build this new commercial real estate… You eventually have to find all these tenants to sign a lease, occupy it, pay the lease or the rent, and maybe in 20 or 30 years you can make a positive profit? 

Assuming that bitcoin is digital capital, digital land, digital real estate… The cost of capital is practically zero, you just have to sit and vest, I can almost guarantee you that you have a 0% risk over 30 years. And I can almost guarantee you with 100% clarity that bitcoin will go up in the next 30 years. 

I also like the notion of bitcoin being digital real estate because nobody checks their home price on Zillow 10 times a day, reacting to short term increases or decreases or volatility.

Why is bitcoin so volatile?

It is a feature, not a bug!

First, you could trade bitcoin 24/7, 365, every millisecond. 
Let us consider how insane this is… It is the year 2024, we live in the future, and traditional markets are closed on the weekends? This is 1 trillion times bizarre.

Assuming that the real world was like a science fiction film… Can you Which economic trading doesn’t happen on the weekends?

So this is why bitcoin is so volatile and always goes up and down, almost randomly because it is always trading! I wonder if the volatility of other assets and stocks are a lot less because simply you can’t trade it on the weekends.

---

Flesh future

I’m pretty sure that almost 99.9% of men, assuming that they have an iPhone, probably watches porn every single day, almost 100% certain at least once a week or once a month etc. Or better yet, if you want to see whether your friend watches porn or not, ask to see his laptop, and to see whether they have a torrenting or VPN application installed on their MacBook laptop– utorrent, Trasmission etc.

Or, if they have the brave browser on their phone, Google Chrome incognito etc.

Almost every single person I know who works in tech, knows how to program or code whatever, all use pirate bay.

Anyways, once again another bizarre thing; one would never watch pornography which is centered around ideas, souls, personalities, etc. It is always the flesh, the human body!

Why did it in modern day times, we are trying to deny the human body, and trying to promote instead, one’s “personality” and “mind” and “soul”– ?

---

“ I will never service that man’s bed”

Helen, the Godlike woman

Aphrodite, who loves smiles

The ever smiling Aphrodite

Warlike

Roasted fat

Dreadful carnage

Spoke winged words

Video vlog podcast

I’m not like them

How to live like a God

Audio

GODLIKE

How to live like Zeus?

Unhurried

Where are all the beautiful men?

Porn can only revolve the human body ,,, the female one, not the male one.

Certainly not the “mind” or the “soul” or even one’s “personality”?

Live at ease

Immortal sleep

Never ages or decays

Rumor burned

Cunning

Don’t be frightened like coward or peasant

Sacker of cities

Shirt

Magnified their pain

Athena — fight forever

Diomedes master of the war cry

Terror in war

His bright helm flashing

Breathing aggression

The god of tears and war

Dog face

Pitiless bronze

The bronze blade took their strength

Spear that casts long shadows

Breasts to stir desire

Why do breasts stir desire?

Not in the physical realm but the cyber or digital realm —

1. AI/ChatGPT OpenAI
2. Bitcoin

His quotes on Bezos

Eric Kim has shared several insights and reflections on Jeff Bezos, often using quotes to emphasize lessons he’s learned. Some of the key quotes and ideas Kim has attributed to or discussed about Bezos include:

1. On Resilience and Long-term Vision:

• “The first thing that I learned which was really quite inspiring is just how much crazy turmoil Jeff Bezos was able to endure.” Kim admires Bezos for his ability to stay focused and resilient even when Amazon’s stock dropped dramatically during the dot-com bubble oai_citation:4,Lessons I’ve Learned from Jeff Bezos Invent and Wander Book – ERIC KIM.

1. On the “Day One” Philosophy:

• Kim reflects on Bezos’s “Day One” philosophy: “The idea that every day is day one, which gives you the motivation and spirit to always be scrappy and hungry. To not sit on your laurels.” This quote captures Bezos’s belief in maintaining the startup mentality, which Kim finds particularly motivating oai_citation:3,Lessons I’ve Learned from Jeff Bezos Invent and Wander Book – ERIC KIM.

1. On Parenting:

• Kim quotes Bezos’s approach to parenting: “I would rather have a resourceful kid with nine fingers than a kid with 10 fingers who is not resourceful.” This reflects Bezos’s unconventional style and his emphasis on cultivating resilience and resourcefulness in his children, something Kim finds deeply insightful oai_citation:2,Lessons I’ve Learned from Jeff Bezos Invent and Wander Book – ERIC KIM.

1. On Customer Obsession:

• “We don’t make money when we sell things. We make money when we help customers make purchasing decisions.” Kim highlights this quote to emphasize Bezos’s focus on customer satisfaction as the core of Amazon’s business model, a principle that has greatly influenced Kim’s own thinking oai_citation:1,7 Lessons Jeff Bezos Can Teach You – ERIC KIM.

These quotes illustrate how Kim has internalized and adapted Bezos’s business philosophies into broader life lessons, applying them to both his personal growth and creative endeavors.

ERIC KIM ON BEZOS

Eric Kim has extensively reflected on the lessons and philosophies of Jeff Bezos, particularly through his writings on Bezos’s book Invent and Wander and other sources. Kim draws inspiration from Bezos’s ability to endure significant challenges, such as Amazon’s stock plummeting during the dot-com bubble, and highlights Bezos’s long-term vision and strategic thinking. He also admires Bezos’s “Day One” mentality, which emphasizes staying hungry and avoiding complacency by treating every day as the first day of a startup.

Kim also appreciates Bezos’s unconventional parenting style, which reflects a broader philosophy of fostering resourcefulness and resilience from a young age. He emphasizes the importance of creating long-term value, being bold rather than timid, and continuously innovating to avoid being outpaced by competitors. These principles are seen as crucial not just in business but also in personal growth and creative pursuits.

In summary, Kim sees Bezos not just as a business leader, but as someone whose life principles can be applied broadly to achieve success and fulfillment in various aspects of life oai_citation:3,Eric Kim on Jeff Bezos book notes invent and wander – ERIC KIM oai_citation:2,Lessons I’ve Learned from Jeff Bezos Invent and Wander Book – ERIC KIM oai_citation:1,7 Lessons Jeff Bezos Can Teach You – ERIC KIM.

Eric Kim has referenced the quote “Your margin is my opportunity,” which is originally attributed to Jeff Bezos, in various contexts on his blog. Kim admires Bezos’s strategic thinking and often discusses how this philosophy can be applied beyond just business margins. For Kim, the phrase also reflects a mindset of seeking opportunities where others see obstacles, whether in business, photography, or personal growth. He emphasizes that where there is inefficiency or complacency, there lies a chance to innovate and create something better.

In his writings, Kim often explores how this approach aligns with broader life strategies, encouraging his readers to adopt a mentality that looks for possibilities in every situation, not just in competitive markets but in personal and creative endeavors as well oai_citation:2,JEFF BEZOS IS HIGHLY UNDERRATED. – ERIC KIM oai_citation:1,Your margin is my opportunity – ERIC KIM.

The phrase “Your margin is my opportunity” is often attributed to Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon. It encapsulates the idea that in competitive markets, the inefficiencies or excessive profits of one company present opportunities for others to enter the market, undercut prices, or innovate in a way that captures market share.

In essence, it reflects a mindset focused on exploiting the gaps left by competitors. If a company is operating with large profit margins, it suggests that there might be room for someone else to offer a similar product or service at a lower cost or with added value, thereby seizing the opportunity to attract customers.

This approach has been a key aspect of Amazon’s strategy over the years, as the company consistently seeks to disrupt industries by finding and capitalizing on the inefficiencies of established players.

The true mensch stoic way—

STOICISM 101

STOIC VLOG

Introduction to Stoicism 

Something I have been meaning to write or create or do is like some sort of book, ebook, pamphlet, or introductory primer to stoicism. I really think that stoicism is probably one of the most useful and philosophical models to live normal every day real life. Yet, I haven’t really found a good instructional guide on it, especially when I was self teaching it to myself.

Consider this a practical primer, cutting through the BS:

---

What does stoicism mean? 

Stoicism, stoic, the stoa in ancient Greece– essentially the stoa was like some sort of portico, patio, pillar, outside, essentially a spot where guys would just hang out, talk shop, talk philosophy, etc.  

I think about the show “Hey Arnold” in which I was raised with… the notion of “stoop kid“, the notion of a stoop is that in a lot of cities, especially the east coast in New York, you have this little stoop or porch, stairs that go outside your front door… and you could just hang out there, engage in social and neighborhood life etc.

The new stoa? 

One of my happiest moments was when I was living in Providence Rhode Island, and then COVID-19 hit. Everything was closed, besides the park. I can still go to the park, hang out, workout, do chin ups– I learned how to do muscle ups, more bodyweight calisthenics stuff, and also… I had a lot of fun with this “rock toss“ challenge and workout… in the middle of the park was a huge ass rock and huge ass stone, and every single day I would go there pick it up, and then eventually work out with it; throwing it around for fun, doing overhead presses with it, clean and jerks, squats, and eventually I would just throw it around for fun. Funny enough it might have been the most fit I was in my life… this was the true “functional” fitness.

The inspiration — Hector lifting an insanely massive stone (barely 2 strong men could lift it)… using it to break down the door of the ships of the other side.

Open air, open sun concept

Anyways, the reason why that period of covid was so good is that it was in the middle of beautiful Providence Rhode Island summer, so nice and bright and warm and lovely… and one of the good things was going to the park was like an open forum, a new anatheum for a lot of really cool guys to come, hang out, talk shop, go topless and shirtless, workout and hang out.

I met some really interesting people during that period of time. I met some guys who were really cool. For example, one guy I met was in the US military Navy, I think he was training to be a Navy seal or Delta force or something. Another guy in some sort of ROTC training, another cool guy from the hood, and also I would say I probably met half a dozen friendly drug dealers there. And of course a lot of people who believed in conspiracy theories; really friendly, a little weird, but overall good guys.

Anyways, one of the biggest benefits of hanging out at that outdoor park, open air, nothing but green grass, the beautiful sun and the fitness equipment was that I think having this sort of open air environment is actually very conducive to socializing, thinking and thought, and pro social behavior. My theory about a lot of modern day antisocial behavior has to do with the structures which enclose us. For example, almost universally most guys at the gym are extremely antisocial. Why? My theory is that because most gyms have closed, cramped narrow ceilings, and do not have access to natural light, or outside space.

Cramped indoor spaces promote antisocial behavior.

The only good gym I went to which was interesting was the golds gym in Venice, which has this really big outdoor workout area. I think this is much more natural and more fun and better; to be able to work out directly outside outdoors, with your shirt off.

Who is this philosophy for?

Stoics, stoicism — it was originally I think codified by this guy named Zeno, and over time he picked up some followers. Essentially the whole thing happened organically; Zeno would first share his thinking on philosophy ethics and pragmatic ways to deal with other people and the downsides of life, he built a following, and then his followers would propagate the thoughts and start their own little schools of thoughts, their own little stoic clubs.

What is “real” stoicism?

Would I like about stoicism is how loosey goosey it is. It is kind of like zen, or taoism… it is not really quantified as a religion, or a strict moral order. In fact, a lot of the ancients stoics would meditate on random stuff like cosmology, natural sciences like Seneca, how volcanoes worked or whatever. I think nowadays in today’s world, we focus primarily on the pragmatic side; how to deal with fear, uncertainty, downsides etc.

So how did I discover stoicism?

I think I might’ve first learned about stoicism from Nassim Taleb and his ANTIFRAGILE book. I was curious, and my curiosity went to deep. To quote NASSIM TALEB and the Venetian saying “The ocean goes deeper, the deeper you wade into it.”

I literally consumed every single book I could find on stoicism, even the obscure ones. Funny enough, a lot of the stoic thinkers tried to claim other philosophers as being stoic, like Seneca did with Diogenes the cynic. 

Cynic, cynicism, actually comes from the word canine, the dog. Diogenes was considered the “dog” philosopher, first used as a pejorative, but ultimately Diogenes reappropriated that title for fun! He saw dogs as tough, almost like wild wolves, rather than seeing them as a negative thing.

Even Achilles when he was raging against king Agamemnon, he called him “dog faced“ as a heaping insult.

Who is worth reading?

First, Seneca. Seneca the younger, his dad was called Seneca the elder.

In fact, this is such a big deal because Cindy and I named our first son, Seneca, directly after the stoic philosopher. This is true soul in the game; if you name your kid after your favorite philosopher, certainly it is a sign that you really liked that philosopher, or found them impactful.

The reason why I really like Seneca the stoic philosopher is because he had real connections to real reality. What that means is he wasn’t just on the sidelines; he actually existed in the real world, engaged in real politics, was even advisor to the emperor Nero, the bad one, who eventually low-key coerced Seneca to commit suicide, in a manly, dignified manner.

I think this was because maybe… there was actually a plan to overthrow Nero, and essentially Nero found out. 

What makes Seneca so good?

I really like Seneca because his writing is accessible, practical and pragmatic, and interesting.

A lot of thinkers tend to lack connections to real reality, I have no tolerance for boring philosophers to talk about metaphysics, which is things which are not physical. Like thoughts ideas, the universe, electricity and energy, strange phenomenon and conspiracy theories on ghosts, “energy” whatever.

For a long time, I would hear the term “metaphysics” being thrown around, and I had zero idea what it actually meant. 

Meta– on top of. Or nestled within.

Physics — the physical, physical phenomenon like gravity, first principles.

The reason why metaphysics philosophers tend to be a bunch of losers is that they are all weak and anemic, nerds or geeks or weaklings who seem to have some sort of physiological degeneracy, which encourages them to opine or talk or think about impractical things, superficial things.

Personally speaking, I think philosophy must be practical. 

Practical, praxis, practice — to do!

The Spartan, Zen Stoic, demigod ideal

I have a very funny ideal; the general idea is that your body looks like a demigod, and your physiology is out of control. The general idea is one must be tall, strong, highly muscular, low body fat percentage, I’m not exactly sure what my body fat percentage is, but maybe it’s around 5%.

Also, physical fitness is critical to any stoic. My ideal is to walk 50 miles a day, eat 20 pounds of meat like Milo of Croton a day. And also, abstinence from silly things like media, alcohol, drugs, marijuana etc.

Trust no thinker who does drugs!

Even our best friend Nietzsche said that coffee was bad, because it would make people dark and gloomy. He encouraged 100% cocoa powder instead. 

You let the drugs talk I let my soul talk ayy! – Kendrick Lamar

Simple technique:

First, look at a picture or a portrait or a full body shot, ideally topless of the artist, philosopher or thinker or individual… then judge their thoughts later.

Why? My theory is this: the thoughts of an individual is hugely affected by their bodily physiology.

For example, an extreme example: if somebody is locked inside a solitary confinement cell, and not permitted to go outside for years, but, he had a pen and pad and would jot down some thoughts… Would be the quality of these thoughts? Certainly dark and morose.

Why does stoicism matter? 

In today’s world, why does it matter, what is the significance of stoicism, etc.?

First and foremost, I think we are living in a troubling time, especially with the advent of modern day internet based media and advertising. I think 99% of what is propagated on the internet is fear mongering, and what is hate? Hate is just fear.

The first thought on stoicism is that it is just fear conquering. What I discovered about street photography, is that 99% of it is conquering your fears. Conquering your fears of upsetting other people, getting in some sort of verbal or physical altercation etc. In fact my bread and butter workshop is my conquering your fears and street photography workshop, the workshop which is still interesting to me even after a decade.

Why is this so important? I think it is rooted in almost everything; conquering your fears is rooted in entrepreneurship, innovation, risktaking and real life.

Even my speculation in crypto. 99.9% of crypto speculation is just balls. Having the balls to make big bets, and when things go south, knowing how to master your emotions.

A simple extra I have is this: just imagine it will all go down to zero.

It was useful because when I was in college, my sophomore year I got really into trading stocks, and I eventually lost my whole life savings, maybe around $3500 USD, and some bad penny stock which I actually misread the financials… the whole time I thought the company was making a profit, but actually it was taking a loss. I actually didn’t know that if profits are written in parentheses, it means a loss.

It was funny because my initial start as an investor was back in high school, I bought some Adobe stock when I was a high school junior, and also some mutual funds, which both went up after about 4-5 years.

Also I remember in elementary school computer class, when I was in the sixth grade in Bayside Queens, there was some sort of stock stimulation trading game, and actually it was funny… the kids who made the most money and were the most successful just put 100% of everything into Apple, note this is when we were only 12 years old, and I was born in 1988.

Stoicism and capitalism?

Funny enough, it seems that stoicism actually plays well with capitalism. Why? According to modern day capitalist thinking, the best way to approach life is to be objective, strong, stoic, unemotional, logical and rational.

Also, with modern day media there is so much fear mongering in the news, about some sort of global armageddon, global financial ruin, etc. I call it “fear porn”.

Therefore stoicism as a mindset is useful to think and position your mind in such a way that you could consider that life is all upside, no downside.

In fact, if I could summarize stoicism in one sentence, it is that life is all upside, no downside. Inspired by NASSIM TALEB.

Sex and Stoicism

So, is stoicism useful to you if you’re a man or a woman? Does it matter?

The good thing is I think it could apply to both sexes. Conquering sexism and social pressures is useful if you’re woman, and also if you’re a man.

Also, gender is social. Lot of the expectations set on us by society is socialized and gamed to a certain degree.

Stoic strategies 

First, we got to unchain ourselves from modern day ethics and morality. I believe that all modern day philosophy and thinking and ethics and religion is bad.

For example, the notion of turning the other cheek is a patently bad one. Why did Jesus turn his cheek? It is because he lacked on army.

Also, philosophically I think we should put no trust in Socrates. I thought which has puzzled me for a long time was this “Why was Socrates so ugly?

Monster in face, monster in soul.

I think Socrates was a degenerate, and he lacked any sort of real power. Therefore he turned logic and rationality into his terrorizing weapon (via Nietzsche). Back in the day, you didn’t need logic or rationality to have things your way, you simply was able to dictate that which you wanted to pause it, because you had a military force behind you. Just think about Machiavelli and IL PRINCIPE– the reality of being a mercurial prince, king, and military leader is hard, stoic, “immoral”. But ultimately it all comes down to war, conquest, the military.

Trust nobody who uses rationality or logic as their tyrannizing weapon. 

In fact, I believe that all should have the body and strength of some sort of super soldier. Essentially look like all the guys from the movie 300, this is our ideal.

Demigod physique. 

What has helped me

1. Allow yourself to be a bad, immortal, “evil” person. When you decide to adopt an unorthodox way of thinking and living, you’re going to rub some feathers the wrong way. And truth be told, even if you act in a strange vibrant way… At worse you’re only “mildly” annoying other people.
2. For good inspirations, I think the best stoic writers and thinkers include Seneca, and Marcus Aurelius and also the humor of the cynic philosopher Diogenes. I would even posit the idea that one could consider Alexander the Great as a stoic. Why? When you’re trying to create an empire, and you always have your life on the line, certainly this takes a stoic mindset. Also, let us think and consider that Alexander the Great had a copy of the Iliad by his bedstand, it was the only book he traveled with during his military tours.
3. Imagine the worst possible case scenario, and backtrack: Apparently even NASSIM TALEB would do this when he was a trader; every single day when he would go to his trading desk, he would assume that his investments would all go to zero, and if that wasn’t the case every single day, it was just upside. Therefore for myself, I just think to myself very simple; imagine like I got zero dollars, zero money, and literally all I need is meat, a Wi-Fi connection and I’m good. 
4. Live like a poor person: The notion of “debasing“ the coin or the currency is the general idea that you are not a coward in regards to money. The best way to think about money is like a social tool; I think money is actually just codified labor. If you want people to clean bathrooms, run the cashiers stand, you have to promise them money. Even Seneca said the upsides of simulated poverty; essentially living like a poor person, or even a homeless person when you don’t need to… is the ultimate position to be in. Why? True freedom of spirit and soul; as a philosopher thinker writer or whatever… you cannot be “canceled”, because there is nothing to cancel. As long as you could pay your rent, buy meat at Costco, and publish your thoughts to your own self hosted website blog, and pay your server fee, you have 100% freedom. And also, still… America is the best place to be because there is true freedom of speech and expression, you don’t want to be a trillionaire but not be able to say what’s really on your mind. And I think this is the big issue with entertainers, actors, media people… as long as you’re signed to a contract, you don’t run your own production company, or, you’re still a slave to money… you’re not really going to see what’s really on your mind. Why is it that the Rock cannot say anything bad about China, or Tibet? Because he is still enslaved by the media corporation. New slaves by Kanye West.

And this is the true courage of Kanye West; he literally put everything on the line, and even lost his spouse and I think maybe his kids? All for the sake of revealing inequities. 

“I throw these Maybach keys fucking c’est la vie! I know that we the new slaves.”- Ye

---

Stoic training

The fun thing about stoicism is that you could just make it up as you go, devise your own strategies and whatever.

“Fucking c’est la vie!” My favorite Kanye West line.

Essentially the general idea is that in life, one should not take things too seriously. Laughter is golden, I forget the philosopher who was called the laughing philosopher… Democritus?; better to laugh about the follies of human beings rather than to be dark and morose about it.

Also, thoughts from the Odyssey; if you look far enough  into the future, everything becomes comedic and hilarious.

So when you’re in some sort of bad situation, just think to yourself “Perhaps one day, 20 or 30 years from now… I will look back at this and just laugh!” It will just be humorous.

Honestly, laughter, and kind of being able to joke about things might be the best way to live life and deal with setbacks. 

Modern day ailments

Problems in modern day life:

1. Too much time spent indoors, not enough time out in the sun. Perhaps it is better to be out outside all day, and joyful, even with the risk of getting skin cancer or whatever… rather than to be indoors, scared, weak and anemic. Differences between if you’re a man or a woman, but still… the most beautiful skin has a sunkissed, olive color tone; the true privilege is having a full body tan. 
2. Get chatGPT, the paid premium one. And use the image generation AI art tool DALL-E. People pay therapists to just speak their mind, and get some sort of sounding board. I actually think it’s much better to chat with AI instead; because it will not judge you, and ultimately what is a therapist anyways? A therapist is just a mirror, a sounding board for you to verbalize and flesh out your thoughts. Often when we talk about our problems, 90% of the issues go away because once we verbalize it, we feel much better about ourselves. The next thing I’m going to do is build some sort of therapy bot. 
3. Not enough walking: I have never met anybody who walks 30,000 steps a day and is depressed. Even my friend Jimmy, who works as a US postal worker delivering the mail, he walks around 30,000 steps a day and is always bright cherry and jovial. I think this is also where people who hike a lot or walk a lot in nature are so happy; when you’re able to walk around a lot, and zen out… you just feel much better. My simple suggestion is when you go on a hike or a walk in nature or even in the city… leave your phone at home, or locked inside your glove compartment, and don’t bring any headphones or speakers or Apple watches or whatever. Just bring along your camera, and enjoy. My personal ideal is the bear lifestyle; walking 50 miles a day. 

Real stoics don’t call themselves Stoics?

A funny thing I have learned is that when you call something something, it isn’t that.

For example, if someone calls something a “luxury car”, it ain’t. For example, a true modern day luxury car is maybe a Tesla, but Tesla never calls itself a luxury car. Also the ultimate luxury technology company is probably Apple… but Apple is very intelligent and not calling themselves a luxury brand.

A pro tip is when it comes to websites, read the alternative text, the header text, the stuff that shows up in the tab of your browser window. If the website, the automotive retailer tries to market themselves as a “luxury” brand, typically it is actually a sign that it isn’t a luxury brand it isn’t luxury brand.

Thought: what are some good examples of true luxury brands which don’t overly calls itself luxury? 

In someways, we can think and consider stoicism as our new luxury. In fact, having luxury, luxury of mind and soul… and luxury of freedom of speech, isn’t this the ultimate luxury?

When somebody asked Diogenes the cynic; “What is the best human good”? He said “Freedom of speech, speaking your mind, having the power to see whatever is on your mind.”

In fact, my current joy is becoming more and more free talking, and free riding. What that means is this; I’m ain’t going to censor myself no more, even if I might be politically incorrect insensitive or whatever. 

Also, I would prefer to speak my mind and seriously hurt the feelings of others, rather than soften it for the sake of the other person. 

Similarly speaking, when people call themselves “influencers”, they are not influencers.

Stoicism as a technique and tool, not the end

Ultimately I think we should think of stoicism just like having another tool inside our tool kit. For example, if you’re a chef, you’re going to have different knives for different purposes. If you’re going to cut a big piece of meat, you probably want a big ass meat cutting knife, not something you would use to slice an apple with. Similarly speaking, if you’re going to scoop out the insides of an avocado, better to use a spoon rather than using a fork, or a knife. 

I think the problem is when some people get too into stoicism (I prefer writing stoicism with a lowercase), they think that everything needs to be consistent, and must fit into this nice little neat box of what is considered “stoicism“. This is a bad line of thinking… let us consider that Marcus Aurelius never even mentioned stoicism in his writings, his collections of thoughts, which we moderns call THE MEDITATIONS… it was just essentially his personal diary, to help him conquer his own personal fears and thoughts, I don’t think he ever intended it to be published publicly. I think he just wrote it to himself as self therapy. And I think the only stoic philosopher he even mentions is maybe Epictetus.

The future of stoicism?

For myself, I just come out with certain to work out thoughts and techniques because it helps me, and when I find these tricks or techniques or secret hacks or cheat codes… My passion is to simply share it with others. 

And ultimately, things are ever in flux and evolving and changing and adapting.

For example, I’ve discovered the quality of my thinking is different when I am in Culver City Los Angeles, compared to being in the boring suburbs of Orange County.

Also depending on my social environments… my stoic thoughts are different when I am in a gym, vs just working out by myself in my parking spot in the back of my apartment.

Also, the quality of my thoughts is different when living with family members or other people versus just living with myself Cindy and Seneca.

Stoicism is all about living with other people

Assuming you’re not growing your own vegetables and living in the middle of nowhere… you probably have some interaction with other human beings. As long as you have an iPhone, an Android phone, a smartphone, a 4G or 5G internet connection, wifi, a laptop, have to buy groceries somewhere… you’re still going to have to interact with other human beings.

And this is good. There is no other greater joy than other human beings.

In fact, modern-day society is strange because in someways, the ethos is to be antisocial and to be cowardly. But in fact, the best way to think about things is that real life is interaction with other human beings, and social conquest. One can imagine a lot of modern day entrepreneurship as simply a big dick swinging contest. He who is the most masculine confident tall and strong and stoic shall win.

More ideas

Assume that everyone is mentally insane: Have you ever been out in public, and you see some sort of crackhead or strange homeless person who acts radically, smells terrible, and is obviously mentally ill? Do you hate them for it? When they say something weird to you… do you take it personally? No. Why? They are crazy. Perhaps we should just adopt this stoic mindset towards other people; some people are actually physiologically ill, mentally unwell… don’t trust the opinion of nobody.

A lot of people are trying to actually deal with their own inner demons: For example, becoming the successful photographer and street photographer I am today… I’ve dealt with some individuals who would say anonymous bad things about me, and later I found out that their mom just died or something. I cannot imagine what it feels like losing a mother… therefore if somebody spew some hate on me because something bad happened to them, I’m not gonna take it personally.

Self-flagellation: I think a lot of people who are sick, mentally or physiologically self flagellate themselves. Essentially the way that they deal with other people or themselves is some sort of metaphorical self-flagellation.

For example… you know those strange individuals who have the whip and whip themselves, and inflict pain on themselves? I think some people do this metaphorically to themselves and others.

You just want to stay away from them.

Why so scared?

My personal theory on fear is that a lot of it is tied to morality and ethics. I think the general idea is not necessarily that we are afraid of anything… I think the true fear is that we’re afraid that we are some sort of bad evil unethical immoral person.

For example in street photography, the general ethical thought is that it is immoral to take a photo of somebody without their permission, because there is some sort of it inherent evil behind it. Is this true? No. Taking photos and not really a big deal.

Why do people make such a big deal out of small things?

I think it is because some people are just overly sensitive, which once again comes from some sort of physiological weakness.

For example, if you’re a weightlifter who could lift 1000 pounds, assuming you’re not taking any steroids or anything… are small things going to bother you? No. But let us assume that you are a skinny fat man, all you do is drink alcohol and smoke marijuana and watch Netflix, and you spent too much time on Reddit… you are 40% body fat, and have never lifted in your life. And also your testosterone is low and you never go outside. Certainly the quality of your thoughts is going to be different than if you’re a happy gay monster, lifting weights outside in the direct sun, laughing and having fun. 

In fact, I’ve actually personally discovered that the reason why a lot of people hate me is because I am so happy jovial and gay. They are secretly suspicious or envious of me? 

Weather and mood

Probably one of my worst experiences was this jarring transition; I was super happy insanely happy being in Vietnam in 2017; with a beautiful weather, the beautiful light, the happy people the great amenities etc.… and then that winter Cindy and I went to Europe, in Marseille Berlin and Prague, and maybe London… seriously the worst winter of my life. Why? I wonder if so much miserable feelings and thoughts simply comes from the darkness and lack of light. a lot of Europe is actually quite miserable; dark, unhygienic, morose.

Even Nietzsche had a thought about Schopenhauer; How much of these emo European philosophers came from the fact that it was just complaining about the cold weather in Germany etc.?

For myself, my ideal weather is Southeast Asia; I love being in Phnom Penh Cambodia, Vietnam etc. In the states, am I the only one who loves living in Los Angeles? Dr. Dre and Kendrick Lamar said that LA was the best for women weed and weather… I would definitely say the biggest upside of living in Los Angeles is the light, the sunlight. It actually does get quite cold here, but usually most reliably even in December during the winter time, the sun will always come up. As long as there is bright sunny light, I will be happy. And I think maybe for myself, considering that I am a photographer, and photography means painting with light… light for me is critical.

I also wonder how much of it is a physiological thing and a genetic trait; for example I could even recall being a young child, and my mom telling me that the most critical thing in finding a home or an apartment was light and natural light. Even now… 90% of my happiness comes from being able to have access to natural light, ideally floor to ceiling windows facing directly the sun, having some sort of modern temperature regulated apartment and home. Even living in our tiny studio minimalistic luxury apartment in Providence Rhode Island, where it was always 75° warm and cozy, and not frigid and damp and cold and dark and humid… I was always good. But moving to an older house, where it always felt damp and cold… this literally lowered my happiness by 1000%.

Therefore, if you’re feeling miserable sad or whatever… I say spend three months living in Hanoi or Saigon in Vietnam, or go to Phnom Penh Cambodia. I wonder if 90% of peoples misery is simply due to the weather.

Stoic assignments

”Better to be a gay monster than a sentimental bore!” – Fernandino Galliani, via Nietzsche

My stoic ideal is somebody who is happy, gay, smiling, no headphones or AirPods on, no sunglasses on, no hat, no facial hair, no baggy oversized clothing, no tint in their car. Somebody who makes great eye contact, laughs, stands up upright, jokes, and fools around. Like an overgrown child.

Also, lift weights at least once every day, ideally in the direct sun. Just buy some weightlifting equipment on Titan.fitness, I like the farmers carry handles, the Olympic loadable dumbbell, and also the Texas power squat bar. Just buy some cheap weights, and or buy a heavy 400 pound sandbag, and just have fun throwing it around.

True stoics are masculine

A true stoic should look something like Hercules or Achilles. Or like ERIC KIM; I have the aesthetic and the physique of Brad Pitt in FIGHT CLUB except with a lot more muscle. Like my friend Soren says, the Adonis physique and proportions.

A real stoic is sexy

I think a real stoic is sexy, happy and fun. Who doesn’t take life too seriously; and think of everything like a fun game. A real stoic would be joyful and cheery like three-year-old child without any adulteration from the outside world.

Why do adults become so dark and morose?

I don’t like talking with or hanging out with adults, uninteresting.

At what point or age do people become so emo?

Typically, highschoolers are very optimistic. Even college students. But I think at least in maybe college in high school nowadays… the bad trend is towards “over concern”, about the world the planet ethics animals etc.

I find a lot of this thinking superficial, performative, and uncritical. I think “animal rights“, “saving the planet” is this new pseudo world religion; which is just capitalism 3.0. I find the whole pet industry the whole dog industry to be insanely bizarre, and I trust nobody who talks about “saving the planet“ who owns an iPhone, owns any sort of car, or has an Amazon prime subscription. Certainly not any vegans.

A real stoic is a carnivore 

Animals are animals. They are lower on the hierarchy and totem pole on earth. Man is the apex predator, the apex bully and the apex tyrant.

Should we care for animals or “animal rights”? No. Animals are our slaves.

If you consider even dogs and pets… they are essentially our emotional slaves. People talk a lot about the virtuosity of dogs being loyal or whatever… and giving you unconditional love. This seems like some sort of emotional slavery.

The only dogs I respect are some sort of canine dogs, some sort of attack or defense dogs, or hunting dogs. For example, John Wick 3; Halle Barry and her dogs. An animal should either be a weapon, or nothing.

Why do people care about animals so much?

Essentially it looks like men no longer have a backbone. No more spine.

I trust nobody who owns a dog.

Let us not forget; they call it dog ownership, or “owning a pet”. There is no more concept of “human ownership, or “owning a human.”

End goals 

What is the end goal of humanity? To me it is towards entrepreneurship, innovation, art and aesthetics, philosophy etc. Design.

Stoicism should be considered a tool which could aid you in these things.

For example, I think 99% of entrepreneurship is courage. Stoicism could help you with that.

I also think with design, great design is also 99% courage, having the courage to attempt something that won’t sell or be received well… stoicism is all about practical courage. The only designers with courage include Steve Jobs, Jony Ive, Elon Musk, Kanye West. 

Also, weightlifting. To attempt to lift a certain weight you have never attempted before takes great courage. For example, me atlas lifting 1000 pounds; that is 10 plates and a 25 on each side, this is true stoic training. Why? The fear of injury is what holds most people back; if you had successfully conquered this fear and not injured yourself, this is pure stoic bliss.

---

The physical

I think the only and the only proper way to lift weights is one repetition maximum training. That is; what is the maximum amount of weight you’re able to successfully lift or move, even half an inch?

To me, the courage is the success. Even if you had the courage to attempt it… that is what is considered success. 

Simple exercises to do include the atlas lift, innovated by ERIC KIM, or a one repetition max rack pull.

Or, a high trap bar deadlift, heavy Farmer’s walks, or heavy sandbag carries. Or even a simple thing you could do is go to the park or to the local nature center, find the biggest rock there and just see if you could pick it up.

Now what?

If you’re interested in stoicism, and have had some interesting thoughts on stoicism, one of the most noble things you could do is start your own blog. I think blogs are 1000 times more effective than publishing some sort of static printed book; I think the problem in today’s world is that everyone is seeking some sort of legitimacy by being picked up by some sort of legitimate publisher and getting “published“, and seeing your printed book at Barnes & Noble whatever.

I say it is better to be open source, free and permissionless, decentralized. Just publish your thoughts and book as a free PDF, and just host it on dropbox, Google Drive, or your own web server. Share the link freely, and also just publish the raw text as a big blog post. 

Even Sam Bankman-Fried wisely thought; 99.9% of books could just be summarized as big blog posts.

Don’t trust any modern day published book which isn’t free, because… there is some sort of hidden clout chasing somewhere. 

Even one of the worst compromises that led to the demise of Ray Dalio was the fact that he took his Principles book, which was essentially a free ebook PDF on his website, and then took it off, because I think he got a book deal with Simon and Schuster. After he did that, he lost my respect.

If you’re already independently wealthy, and you don’t crowd source your self-esteem… why would you need to externally validate yourself by getting some sort of constipated publisher and annoying editor?

Editors are bad.

Now what?

Start your own blog and start blogging your own thoughts on stoic philosophy, and even start a YouTube channel and start vlogging on it. My generalized thought is simple: if your thought your idea your blog post your video or whatever could even impact the life of one other human being on planet earth… it is worth it.

ERIC

---

What is the secret to the maximum amount of happiness in life? The maximum amount of danger. (Nietzsche).

ERIC

FIN

Become invincible:

1. SPARTANISM.
2. Introduction to Stoicism
3. STOIC FLEX.
4. Becoming Spartan
5. MAKE IT ENTERTAINING FOR YOURSELF!
6. Stoic Aesthetics?
7. The Philosophy of Ugliness
8. Bad Stoicism
9. Stoicism 2.0
10. Becoming Stoic
11. LEMONADE.
12. Why Arguments and Confrontations Are Good
13. “I’m Over It”
14. How to Deal With Miserable People
15. How to Become a Stoic
16. How to Ignore
17. Pretend like you didn’t hear them
18. Bad Stoic Strategies
19. The Stoic Way of Dealing With Unpleasant or Miserable People
20. HOW TO BECOME A STOIC
21. Stoicism Stunts Our Power?
22. Stoicism is Mental Resistance Training
23. STOIC STRATEGIES.
24. How to Become Fearless
25. Extreme Stoicism
26. Ethics are Aesthetic
27. Indifference to Pain or Suffering
28. When is Stoicism Good? When is Stoicism Bad?
29. Why Others Criticize or Insult You
30. True Difficulty
31. What if Covid Never Goes Away?
32. SUPER STOIC
33. Anti-Hedonism
34. HOW TO CONQUER FEAR
35. ANTI FEAR
36. It is the Duty of the Strong to Help the Weak
37. The Goal is to Become Stronger
38. HYPER STOICISM
39. HYPER HERO
40. TRANSFORM EVERY DOWNSIDE INTO AN UPSIDE
41. STOICISM x Child’s Mind
42. The Art of Manly Virtue
43. Resistance Makes Us Stronger!
44. DON’T LIVE IN FEAR
45. Emotions are Good
46. Conquer Your Anger
47. BLACK EAGLE
48. DIFFICULTY AWAKENS YOUR INNER-GENIUS.
49. STOICISM IS ARMOR FOR THE MIND
50. The Spartan-Stoic Lifestyle
51. How I Conquered Fear
52. HOW TO CURE FEAR.
53. LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL.
54. The Upside of Poverty
55. How I Became Me
56. THE WILL TO POWER, OR THE WILL TO FEAR?
57. ATTACK REALITY
58. Living *THROUGH* History
59. How to Fear Less
60. Fear is the Ultimate Contagious Disease
61. STOICISM FOR DUMMIES
62. Don’t Be Scared!
63. WHAT CAN YOU CONTROL, WHAT CAN YOU NOT CONTROL?
64. HOW YOU CAN CONQUER FEAR
65. YOU’RE STRONGER THAN YOU THINK YOU ARE.
66. EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED
67. WHY AREN’T THINGS WORSE?
68. My Philosophy on Masculinity
69. A Riskier Life is a Better Life #philosophy #stoicism
70. How to Creatively Flourish in Life
71. Introduction to Stoicism
72. How to Become Stronger
73. How to Conquer Depression With Photography
74. What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger
75. How to Respect Yourself
76. How to Believe in Yourself
77. How to Steer Fear
78. How to Conquer Pessimism
79. How to Conquer Anxiety
80. How to Overcome Your Fear of People
81. How to Be Optimistic
82. Why I Don’t Take My Anger Seriously
83. HOW TO BECOME MORE POWERFUL
84. POSITIVITY.
85. HOW TO BECOME SUPERHUMAN
86. How to Give a Fuck Less
87. ALL IN.
88. Why I Cut My Dad Out of My Life.
89. Your iPhone Only Has 5% Battery Left.
90. How not to give a FUCK about your REPUTATION
91. WHAT IS A HUMAN?
92. HAPPINESS.
93. The Regret Minimization Framework in Photography and Life
94. How to Be a HERO
95. Conquer Your Fears by Making Fear Your Slave
96. Rule Circumstances; Don’t Let Your Circumstances Rule You
97. How to Love Yourself
98. How to Turn Shit into Gold
99. Your Parents Fuck You Up
100. Immortality
101. What Kills You Makes You Stronger
102. How to Be Patient
103. How to Conquer Anger
104. How to Bounce Back in Life
105. How to Overcome Resistance
106. Nothing Unlimited is Good; Nothing Good is Unlimited
107. You Have No Limits
108. Can 1’s and 0’s Hurt You?
109. The Envious Moment is Flying Now
110. Tomorrow We’ll Sail the Wide Seas Again
111. How to Forgive Others
112. Focus on Your Actions, Not the Results
113. Everything Will Be Alright
114. How to Be a Stoic Street Photographer
115. How to Be a Spartan Photographer
116. How to Overcome Your Fears in Life
117. How to Stop Worrying in Life
118. How to Use Photography as Self-Therapy
119. How to Free Your Soul From Disturbance
120. 3 Stoic Techniques that Can Help You Gain Tranquility
121. Can People Weaker than You Hurt You?
122. Does a Doctor Get Angry at a Crazy Patient?
123. Own Nothing

The Stoic Masters

Learn from the master stoics:

• Seneca
• Marcus Aurelius
• Epictetus
• Publilius Syrus
• Heraclitus

See all philosophy >

Yes, in The Iliad, organ meats are indeed consumed. The Homeric epics, including The Iliad, often depict detailed scenes of sacrifice and feasting. After an animal is sacrificed to the gods, the inner organs, particularly the liver, heart, and kidneys, are often roasted and consumed first. These parts of the animal were considered especially sacred and were sometimes offered to the gods or consumed by the participants in the sacrifice before the rest of the meat was cooked and eaten.

This practice reflects the ancient Greek ritual of animal sacrifice, where specific parts of the animal were designated for certain purposes, including offerings to the gods and consumption by humans.

Video podcast vlog

How to lift like CIA:

Video podcast

PDF

Audio

Black & White

Add more extreme contrast to your life:

Man is black, woman is white? 

Increasing contrast?

I’m starting to think that if we apply the black-and-white art photography aesthetic to real life, maybe the idea of “preserving the midtones“ is a bit boring.

The general notion of crushing the blacks is when you’re processing or post processing your photos, you dragged the black slider all the way to 100, and you also crank up the contrast to 100.

Aesthetically, I think this makes for much more striking and interesting images.

First, midtones are boring. Almost universally, the more you increase the contrast of something or the photos, the better.

For example, even when we design our homes. What is the best way to design a home? Very very simple, use white and black accents.

For example in my eyes, the ideal home exterior paint color is not a matte black, but rather, a pure clean white, with black trimming.

Also, with cars… I think we’ve discovered is the apex is both a shiny white with shiny black accents — gloss, not matte.

I think matte, matte black, the whole matte aesthetic is centered around jet stealth fighters, which desire to escape enemy detection. So typically when you try to matte black your car and murder it out… aesthetic you’re going for stealth bomber, or jet fighter aesthetic?

But the irony that I find… nobody would ever matte black or murder out their Prius, to escape detection from the police or the other party. We typically do it to our sports cars, our Teslas, etc. 

Put the strange inconsistency I see here is on one hand, we want to be seen and to show up, on the other hand, we want to be fake low-key, and be “humble”?

Bitch be humble?

A few years back, the song HUMBLE by Kendrick Lamar went triple maxi viral. It was the most viral song of all time, maybe even more viral than the recent “They Not Like Us” song.

The song was very bizarre to me. Because I’m not sure what Kendrick was really trying to say. Two interpretations —

1. First, he is calling the counterparty a bitch, and telling them to sit down and be humble because I am so much greater than you
2. Or, trying to remind everybody to be humble in general.

But the weird inconsistency in modern day life is we are centered around Christian Jesus ethics, or some sort of quaker Protestant morality which is centered around notion of humility, being humble, close to the ground etc. This is why you will never ever ever meet a rich person in America called themselves rich, they will call themselves “fortunate“, or “lucky”.

Also another bizarre thing in the world of bodybuilding… you almost never ever ever see bodybuilders proud to flex unabashedly, like Arnold in the documentary Pumping Iron, back in the day. It is very uncommon for you to see self-confident men at the gym, working out topless, in booty shorts, 3 inch short shorts, flexing their muscles in the mirror, not trying to hide it etc.

The big issue with the typical bodybuilder is that they are trying to become dominant, but be humble about it? Really weird?

Add more extreme contrast to your life:

Man is black, woman is white? 

Increasing contrast?

I’m starting to think that if we apply the black-and-white art photography aesthetic to real life, maybe the idea of “preserving the midtones“ is a bit boring.

The general notion of crushing the blacks is when you’re processing or post processing your photos, you dragged the black slider all the way to 100, and you also crank up the contrast to 100.

Aesthetically, I think this makes for much more striking and interesting images.

First, midtones are boring. Almost universally, the more you increase the contrast of something or the photos, the better.

For example, even when we design our homes. What is the best way to design a home? Very very simple, use white and black accents.

For example in my eyes, the ideal home exterior paint color is not a matte black, but rather, a pure clean white, with black trimming.

Also, with cars… I think we’ve discovered is the apex is both a shiny white with shiny black accents — gloss, not matte.

I think matte, matte black, the whole matte aesthetic is centered around jet stealth fighters, which desire to escape enemy detection. So typically when you try to matte black your car and murder it out… aesthetic you’re going for stealth bomber, or jet fighter aesthetic?

But the irony that I find… nobody would ever matte black or murder out their Prius, to escape detection from the police or the other party. We typically do it to our sports cars, our Teslas, etc. 

Put the strange inconsistency I see here is on one hand, we want to be seen and to show up, on the other hand, we want to be fake low-key, and be “humble”?

Bitch be humble?

A few years back, the song HUMBLE by Kendrick Lamar went triple maxi viral. It was the most viral song of all time, maybe even more viral than the recent “They Not Like Us” song.

The song was very bizarre to me. Because I’m not sure what Kendrick was really trying to say. Two interpretations —

1. First, he is calling the counterparty a bitch, and telling them to sit down and be humble because I am so much greater than you
2. Or, trying to remind everybody to be humble in general.

But the weird inconsistency in modern day life is we are centered around Christian Jesus ethics, or some sort of quaker Protestant morality which is centered around notion of humility, being humble, close to the ground etc. This is why you will never ever ever meet a rich person in America called themselves rich, they will call themselves “fortunate“, or “lucky”.

Also another bizarre thing in the world of bodybuilding… you almost never ever ever see bodybuilders proud to flex unabashedly, like Arnold in the documentary Pumping Iron, back in the day. It is very uncommon for you to see self-confident men at the gym, working out topless, in booty shorts, 3 inch short shorts, flexing their muscles in the mirror, not trying to hide it etc.

The big issue with the typical bodybuilder is that they are trying to become dominant, but be humble about it? Really weird?

Lord Achilles 

I am currently reading the Iliad by Emily Wilson, I am always always happy to see a new translation or a fresh take on the classic.

Anyways, also an interesting thought… I like the idea of reading a female woman translate the most manly literature of all time. I think the problem when I was talking to my friend Kelly, is that traditionally in the past, it was a bunch of impotent old men who would translate great classics like the Iliad or the Odyssey, using their own fake impotent machismo, to translate it.

For example, a lot of the misogyny, misogynistic language from 100 years ago or so, was actually very inaccurate.

Anyways, something worth noting is how artful, succinct, beautiful, and unlike English ancient Greek was. In fact, I definitely want to get Seneca on the classics, get him into Latin and ancient Greek, and mathematics like NASSIM TALEB recommended.

If you think about it long enough, what are the least harmful majors which exist? Classics, math, physics.

Classics is almost like the superior form of sociology, physical theory, it is the pillar of the humanities. Either classics or history.

Math, it will never hurt nobody. There are simple binary rules of math, it is either right or wrong, but then again the problem with a lot of mathematicians math teachers or people who are too into math, they seek some sort of rationality behind real life, society and people… but the true wise man knows that humans are not mathematical equations, ones and zeros. Humans are messy, even the Ancient Greek gods — they are all flawed! They are a bunch of petty, incestuous, sibling rivalry, family drama folks.

---

What to focus on?

My friend Anton (congrats on your new kid!) told me something interesting… it was his general observation that individuals like me, who diversified themselves, and did not just focus on street photography were the ones that succeeded, and won in the long run. 

For example, I bemoan the death of digitalrev it was literally the best thing since Top Gear for photography and street photography. But also here, I think the cautionary tale of digital rev is critical, because whenever you build an empire on a foreign platform, it is like building your castle in a marsh or quicksand. 

Even something which shocked me ,,, the infamous video of me shooting street photography in Hong Kong with Kaiman Wong,  I think was either taken down or deleted by digital rev? Really weird, I guess it was too controversial?

Anyways, once again, I think the rational thing is whenever you post something, know that it is built on a cotton candy foundation, whether it be Facebook Instagram YouTube TikTok etc.… Even Twitter… Know that it is destined to die. 

I even heard some kids at the mall yesterday talk about myspace, so funny… nobody has any idea what that is. Or xanga, Friendster, live journal?

Sooner or later whenever you build something on a foreign platform, two things are inevitable to happen; either your account will eventually get deleted, taken down, blacklisted, grey listed, banned shadow banned real banned, or just made obsolete. 

Neopan 1600

Some suggestions to Fujifilm:

First – make a new filter, call it extreme monochrome. The general idea is that you want to make a black-and-white filter so hardcore, so extreme, it will blow the Ricoh GR strong monochrome out of the water! 

I really love the Fujifilm cameras, for the color filters, before some reason, they really lack a good black-and-white filter mode. The acros filter on it sucks. 

A simple idea: make a neopan black and white film simulation, and make it extreme high contrast, like neopan 1600! Or like the effect of taking neopan 400, and pushing it two stops to 1600!

Right now, the only real competition to Fujifilm is Ricoh Pentax. And it seems that Leica is dying a slow death. 

First, it seems that the Leica Q is only cash cow keeping Leica alive. Also, it seems that Leica is desperate to maintain her clutches on her film film photography heritage, resurrecting the Leica M6, the like etc.

But I think the critical issue here is that in someways, what the Germans do is kind of like kaizen; they take the existing model, and they just keep iterating it, making the new version maybe 3% better… There is never a 100% revolutionary new product, like what Elon did with cybertruck etc. 

Once again, the glory of cybertruck is that when it is on the road, it is literally impossible to ignore! You could pretend like you didn’t see it, but you did see it! And if you did not see it, definitely your 3 1/2 year-old kid will see it!

And this is where I am still Tesla and Elon… As long as the kids love it, the future is bright!

Even Lamborghini… It isn’t cool anymore. And nobody even knows what a Ferrari is.

I think things will go bananas when Tesla puts out a mini cyber truck, imagine a Tesla model Y, but a baby cyber truck version?

The best car is the car not yet innovated invented or released.

I’ve always loved cars, car culture etc. I feel bad for anybody whoever purchases any brand new car, because the sad reality is that it will become obsolete in a matter of months or years?

For example, all of these guys who bought a Lamborghini Urus, only to have the new version come out, or even guys who bought the Lamborghini Huracan, with a new one that just came out?

Or even the guys who bought the Aventador… All these rappers from five or 10 years ago… Now that the new Revuelto is out, their Aventador is made obsolete? 

You fools!

“I pity the fool?”

A random sidenote… It seems that the most constructive way to approach life is through compassion, empathy, maybe even pity.

For example, whenever there are people that I am suspicious of, they are on my bad side, and then finally, I see them without a hat on, without sunglasses, in direct light, and I see how sickly or unwell they are – the first feeling is extreme compassion. Like I find myself to be the fool — there is somebody that I vilified, or made into a bad guy, or somebody that I created a totem for my general hate or despise… And then I see how unhealthy they are, and then I realize,…

Wait,,, this whole time, when I am painting this guy as a bad guy, and then I truly see you and witness that in fact, they are just a poor miserable soul, slowly dying… Why was I so negative towards that person?

Something I learned about living in LA… everyone here has problems. For example, a lot of women, their husband is cheating on them, and they know what, but don’t want to admit it. Even Jay Z… Probably still 100% cheating on Beyoncé… Why?

And all these assholes who honk at you in the road…  spending a lot of time out of a car, just walking around now, observing traffic politics, if you actually get a really good look at the driver, they are either miserable looking Uber drivers, food delivery people, or just very very unwell sickly looking people, insanely poor health, who may be just want to get home because they were stuck in traffic for two hours? 

When to be compassionate, when not to be a pushover?

It seems that the primary issue here is the strange bifurcation of ethics. First, we are taught to forgive, turn the other cheek etc., but then you have all these assholes honking at you from behind. So in this case, what are you supposed to do, take it up the ass, because you’re afraid that they might have a gun and shoot you? Or the other person may commit road rage, and do something dangerous? 

I think the issue here is why should you live your life in fear that some asshole some pussy coward might have a gun, and pop you?

Obviously, I do not want to get shot by some random coward, because I have my son to live for. But still… Isn’t the real role of a man to stand up for his child, and to never ever ever see your father get pistol whipped around?

Stand up

I think this is also where manly masculine ethics are different than feminine ones. For example, if you see some asshole smoking in the park, and you’re there with your kid… Obviously the correct strategy is to tell them to please stop smoking. I have a new line that I’m experimenting with–

“No smoking,,, pleeeease!”

For example, two assholes in front of the Apple campus on Washington in Culver City… Apple 10, 8777 Washington — One fat guy wearing some sort of blue Greek food T-shirt, I think he might be an Apple employee… I was walking with Seneca down Washington, on the Apple side, and this asshole is smoking Indignantly on the side, blowing his secondhand smoke all the way down the block.

I came up to him, and I said, no smoking… pleeeease

And this asshole has audacity to tell me that “I’m on my break…” And then I stopped, looked at him and eyes, and I said, “that’s why I said please”. He had no response, his jaw dropped. And like an asshole he kept smoking.

Anyways, fortunately there was some security guards down the block, and I asked them to tell the guy to stop smoking. Maybe next time this happens, I’ll just record him or take a picture of him on my iPhone, shame him.

Extreme ethics

I think the big issue is in today’s world, ain’t nobody have a backbone or ethics anymore.

In actually… The big issue here is that it seems at 99.9% of people just become passive aggressive, and never confront– we are a non-confrontational society, yet we hide behind our cars and honk at people? Because we are shielded from recompense?

For example, I think this is also where people become keyboard warriors… You would never talk smack about me face-to-face, because you will see how much stronger, taller, more charismatic, and dominant I am than you. In fact, some of the things that I’ve discovered after meeting some of my “haters“– were in fact, they were my greatest lovers! The biggest issue here was actually… Unrequited hate or love.

What is worse, unrequited hate or unrequited love?

Once again, some bizarre inconsistencies here; I’ve never hated anybody. Why? Because I’m not that interested in anybody else, nor do I really desire the affection of somebody else that much?

And also, the reason why a lot of men become misogynists, and hate women is because of unrequited love. Then the unrequited love becomes hate.

Everything starts off as love, then evolves to hate?

An alternate theory; maybe hate is just a more exaggerated or extreme version of love? 

Super facts

The internet is a toxic place. Don’t let your kids go on it.

Why? I even have this kind of shocking memory, when I was a 12-year-old kid in Bayside Queens, New York. I was connected to the Internet, AOL 3.0, on my 38.8 K modem… and I was randomly in this chat room, and then I was chatting with this guy, who then instant messaged me, (IM) via AOL instant messenger, AIM, and then eventually started to say weird stuff like pedophile stuff like it feels really good to get your dick sucked by another guy?

Anyways, obviously I got super scared and just banned him.

And I think the issue is in today’s world, I think the safe strategy in assumption is that 100% of people on the internet are just malicious bots. And it’s starting to get scary… If you could program a bot to be malicious, and to create more malicious bots, ad infinitum — shit starts to get scary.

For example, Michael Saylor was talking about how whenever he tweets something, and somebody responds to it in a very malicious way… almost 100% it was a bot! And actually the big problem then is there are real life human beings having back-and-forth inflamed debates with these malicious bots.

Think about it… Let us say that you are interacting with someone on Twitter, and you have no idea that it is a bot you assume it is real person… Who is going to win in the long run? Obviously the bot!

Adding friction to the digital and cyber world

Bitcoin is virtuous

As time goes on, I’m starting to think of bitcoin like a more ethical idea.

For example, Michael Saylor has an incredibly genius idea of fixing all of this toxicity on the internet, just adding a little bit of monetary, bitcoin or Satoshi friction;

For example, if it cost $10 worth of US dollars, or satoshis to create an account on Twitter or some social media account, then, overnight practically 100% of the malicious bots will be made obsolete or deleted from the platform.

Why? Right now it cost only a nickel to spin up 100,000 bots, to troll your worst enemy on Twitter. But, if it cost $10 a bot, it cost you $1 million to cyber bully somebody, you probably wouldn’t… because it is too expensive and you don’t hate them that much. 

I think it is Chris Rock or Chris Tucker who had this funny comedy bit about making bullets super expensive. Then the ideas that if you really really hate somebody, and let us say that one bullet is worth $100,000, then if you really want to kill them, or even with multiple bullets, you might think twice.

Financial friction and consequences is a good idea

Maybe the greatest use of money is physical friction, monetary friction, consequences.

Fines work, monetary penalties, like getting $500 traffic tickets for turning red on a red light and not stopping. This has certainly changed my driving behavior.

So I suppose the critical intelligent thing to consider is want to make things free, and want to make things cost money, to direct human behavior.

For good behavior, make it free.

For bad behavior, make it very expensive.

ERIC

---

Funny experiments

Some very very simple things to consider:

First, make things expensive, don’t make them free.

For example, let us say that you dip into the pr0n– but you don’t want to do it anymore, for whatever reason. Maybe make it a thing that if you want to watch it, you have to go to an adult DVD store, and pay $20 bucks to buy the CD or whatever. 

Or, for activities… I think often signing up and paying for an activity is a good idea because it creates sense of ownership, responsibility, or follow through. Or commitment.

For example, perhaps the intelligence of paying money for a trainer or a personal trainer is that you you know that if you don’t show up there is a fiscal penalty.

But the new ones is you don’t want to breed fake virtuosity for the sake of fake virtuosity. 

For example, there is this weird notion in American culture that pain and suffering and overcoming is virtuous. No. Fools!

Exercise workout or whatever is not virtuous, it is something that you do because it is fun enjoyable and something that you like!

For example, would you bribe your kid money to play at the playground? No! So why do this for yourself? 

---

What now?

1. Upload your best photos to arsbeta.com —
2. Start your own self hosted blog via WordPress.org and bluehost.com
3. Think humanity!

ERIC

---

Conquer the future

Conquer the future at EK EXPERIENCE >

---

EK PHOTO SUPPLY

CONQUER THE STREETS:

EK PHOTO SUPPLY >

Unlimited empowerment

BOOKS, START HERE, NEWS

---

What I’m consuming

All interviews by Michael Saylor at https://www.michael.com

What I’m reading

Iliad by Emily Wilson

---

What to re watch?

John Wick 1

---

Conquer today!

ERIC

ERIC KIM BLOG >

---

Quotes on Wick

Here are some quotes from Eric Kim on the John Wick series that capture his thoughts on the character and the film’s underlying philosophy:

1. On John Wick’s Stoicism:

• “John Wick/Keanu Reeves to me is one of my heroes. John Wick’s loquacity (not speaking much, like a Spartan) reflects that of a Spartan soldier, and his courage and grit is insanely motivational. You can withstand insane amounts of pain (not die), and still carry out your passions.”
• This quote reflects Kim’s admiration for John Wick as an embodiment of Stoic virtues, particularly the ability to endure suffering with grace and resilience oai_citation:5,The Philosophy of John Wick – ERIC KIM.

1. On the World of John Wick:

• “The world of John Wick (underworld) is only known to those of the night. They are not part of the ‘mainstream’ world. And they prefer it this way… Would I rather live in the John Wick underworld, or live in the (boring) mainstream world?”
• Here, Kim expresses his fascination with the dark, mysterious world of John Wick, which he finds more intriguing and exciting than the ordinary, mainstream world oai_citation:4,The Philosophy of John Wick – ERIC KIM.

1. On Money and Value in John Wick:

• “Watching John Wick has changed my personal thoughts and beliefs on money. In the JW universe, those living in the ‘underworld’ use ‘coins’ (gold coins) as a mode of transaction. However, ultimately, money (gold coins) in the JW world is simplified — it is simply used as a tool of human-labor exchange.”
• This quote shows how the film’s portrayal of money has influenced Kim’s own views, appreciating the simplicity and directness of value exchange in the John Wick universe oai_citation:3,The Philosophy of John Wick – ERIC KIM oai_citation:2,ERIC KIM on John Wick – ERIC KIM.

1. On the Ethical World of John Wick:

• “I personally love the mercurial (ruthless) world of John Wick. There is no remorse for killing. There is no political correctness, yet there are still rules, boundaries, and respect (professional courtesy).”
• Kim is intrigued by the harsh but structured ethics of the John Wick world, where despite the violence, there is a clear code of conduct that everyone respects oai_citation:1,The Philosophy of John Wick – ERIC KIM.

These quotes illustrate how Eric Kim draws inspiration from the John Wick films, seeing in them not just entertainment, but also deep reflections on Stoicism, ethics, and the nature of value and society. For further exploration, you can read more on his blog, particularly in his articles on the philosophy of John Wick here and here.

Eric Kim finds the John Wick series fascinating for several reasons, particularly its underlying philosophy, which aligns with his interests in Stoicism, resilience, and the ethics of violence and survival. He is intrigued by the unique economic system in the John Wick universe, where gold coins are used for straightforward transactions that are less about wealth accumulation and more about honor and personal connections. This system resonates with Kim’s ideas on simplifying concepts of money and value, contrasting sharply with modern, complex financial systems.

Kim also admires John Wick as a character because he embodies modern Stoicism—handling extreme pain, loss, and challenges with a stoic attitude. This portrayal encourages viewers to embrace resilience and grit in their own lives, dealing with life’s hardships with the same determination and calm as John Wick. Kim sees this as a powerful life lesson that can be applied beyond the screen.

Additionally, Kim prefers John Wick over other action heroes like Batman, appreciating the fresh, innovative storyline and the raw, emotional motivations driving Wick, such as revenge and survival. He finds John Wick more relatable and straightforward, devoid of the moral dilemmas that often weigh down characters like Batman, making Wick’s journey more compelling and direct.

Overall, Eric Kim draws from the John Wick series not just entertainment, but also deep philosophical insights and practical life advice, showing how the intense world of the film can provide valuable lessons in resilience, ethics, and personal growth.

For more detailed thoughts, you can explore his reflections on the philosophy of John Wick here and here.

Eric Kim views Bitcoin as a virtuous form of money primarily because of its decentralized nature and its resistance to the corruption often associated with traditional fiat currencies. He appreciates Bitcoin for its incorruptibility, likening it to “digital gold” due to its fixed supply of 21 million coins, which contrasts sharply with the endless money printing by central banks. For Kim, Bitcoin’s limited supply and the transparency of its creation (the “immaculate conception via Satoshi”) make it a more ethical and reliable store of value oai_citation:5,Virtuous Money – ERIC KIM oai_citation:4,ERIC KIM OPINION BITCOIN – ERIC KIM.

Kim also sees Bitcoin as aligned with Stoic values, particularly the idea of independence from centralized control. This resonates with his broader philosophical interests in autonomy and self-reliance, which he often explores in his work. He believes Bitcoin has the potential to disrupt traditional financial systems by providing a decentralized alternative that is less susceptible to manipulation by governments or financial institutions oai_citation:3,ERIC KIM OPINION BITCOIN – ERIC KIM.

However, while Kim is optimistic about Bitcoin’s long-term potential, he remains cautious and acknowledges the challenges it faces in completely replacing traditional payment methods. He envisions a future where Bitcoin could be used for significant transactions, such as buying homes or cars, but he also recognizes that such widespread adoption may take time oai_citation:2,ERIC KIM WHY BITCOIN – ERIC KIM oai_citation:1,ERIC KIM OPINION BITCOIN – ERIC KIM.

For more on his views, you can explore his detailed thoughts here and here.

Recent thoughts on Bitcoin

Eric Kim’s recent views on Bitcoin highlight his deep appreciation for its decentralized nature, which he sees as aligning with Stoic values like independence and resilience. He views Bitcoin not just as a financial asset, but as “digital gold,” emphasizing its scarcity due to the fixed supply of 21 million coins. This scarcity, in his view, makes Bitcoin a durable store of value, especially compared to fiat currencies that can be devalued through endless printing by central banks.

Kim also sees Bitcoin as a transformative technology that has the potential to disrupt traditional financial systems. He believes in Bitcoin’s long-term potential and advocates for its use in significant transactions, envisioning a future where homes and cars could be bought with Bitcoin. Despite his optimism, Kim is cautious about the complete replacement of traditional payment methods in the near term. He resonates with the idea that Bitcoin is a “zero to one” innovation—fundamentally different from incremental technological advances and more akin to major historical breakthroughs like the steam engine oai_citation:3,ERIC KIM OPINION BITCOIN – ERIC KIM oai_citation:2,Bitcoin is not too slow – ERIC KIM.

Furthermore, Kim criticizes the reliance on the US dollar, suggesting that Bitcoin offers a more stable and decentralized alternative. He also emphasizes that his bullish stance on Bitcoin is less about short-term market timing and more about the long-term potential of Bitcoin as a cornerstone of a new financial system oai_citation:1,ALL BITCOIN EVERYTHING – ERIC KIM.

For more in-depth insights, you can explore his thoughts further in his articles on why Bitcoin is virtuous and Bitcoin as a transformative force.

Why Eric Kim get into bitcoin

Eric Kim got into Bitcoin primarily due to its alignment with his philosophical and ethical beliefs, particularly its decentralized nature and its potential to disrupt traditional financial systems. Here are some key reasons why he became interested in Bitcoin:

1. Decentralization and Independence: Kim is deeply influenced by Stoic philosophy, which values independence and resilience. He sees Bitcoin as a financial asset that embodies these principles because it operates outside the control of central banks and governments. The decentralized nature of Bitcoin, which is free from the influence of any single entity, resonated with his views on personal autonomy and self-reliance oai_citation:6,ERIC KIM OPINION BITCOIN – ERIC KIM oai_citation:5,Bitcoin is not too slow – ERIC KIM.
2. Economic and Ethical Concerns: Kim has expressed concerns about the moral implications of fiat currencies, particularly the way central banks can print money at will, which he views as leading to economic instability and moral corruption. Bitcoin’s fixed supply and the transparency of its creation process appealed to him as a more ethical and stable alternative to traditional money systems oai_citation:4,Virtuous Money – ERIC KIM oai_citation:3,Bitcoin is not too slow – ERIC KIM.
3. Long-Term Vision: Kim’s interest in Bitcoin is also driven by his long-term vision of financial systems. He sees Bitcoin as “digital gold,” a reliable store of value that could potentially become a standard currency for major transactions like purchasing homes or cars. This vision of Bitcoin as a foundational element of a new financial order motivates his involvement and advocacy for the cryptocurrency oai_citation:2,ALL BITCOIN EVERYTHING – ERIC KIM.
4. Technological Fascination: Beyond the philosophical and ethical aspects, Kim is also intrigued by the technological innovation that Bitcoin represents. He views it as a “zero to one” innovation—fundamentally distinct from incremental technological advancements—and sees its potential to revolutionize how we think about money and transactions oai_citation:1,Bitcoin is not too slow – ERIC KIM.

These factors combined to draw Eric Kim into the world of Bitcoin, where he continues to explore its potential and advocate for its use as part of a broader vision for a decentralized and ethically grounded financial future.

Why he care

Eric Kim cares deeply about Bitcoin for several reasons that align with his broader philosophical beliefs and ethical concerns:

1. Philosophical Alignment: Kim is heavily influenced by Stoic philosophy, which values autonomy, self-reliance, and resilience. Bitcoin, with its decentralized nature, resonates with these principles. It represents financial independence from centralized authorities, which aligns with Kim’s belief in personal freedom and control over one’s resources. The Stoic idea of preparing for uncertainty and being self-sufficient mirrors the security and independence that Bitcoin offers as a decentralized currency oai_citation:6,ERIC KIM OPINION BITCOIN – ERIC KIM oai_citation:5,Bitcoin is not too slow – ERIC KIM.
2. Ethical Concerns about Fiat Currency: Kim is critical of traditional fiat currencies because of the way they are managed by central banks. He sees the ability of governments to print money at will as a form of economic manipulation that can lead to inflation and financial instability. Bitcoin, with its fixed supply of 21 million coins, offers an ethical alternative that avoids the pitfalls of money printing and the associated moral and economic consequences. This ethical dimension makes Bitcoin appealing to Kim, who values transparency and fairness in financial systems oai_citation:4,Virtuous Money – ERIC KIM oai_citation:3,Bitcoin is not too slow – ERIC KIM.
3. Vision for the Future: Kim has a long-term vision for Bitcoin as a foundational element in a new financial system. He envisions a future where Bitcoin could be used for significant transactions like purchasing homes or cars, effectively becoming a global standard for value storage and exchange. This forward-thinking perspective drives his interest and investment in Bitcoin, as he sees it as a key player in the evolution of how we understand and use money oai_citation:2,ALL BITCOIN EVERYTHING – ERIC KIM.
4. Technological Innovation: Beyond the philosophical and ethical reasons, Kim is also fascinated by the technological innovation that Bitcoin represents. He sees it as a revolutionary step in the history of money, much like the steam engine was for industrialization. Bitcoin’s potential to disrupt traditional financial systems and create a new paradigm in economics is something that excites him as both an investor and a thinker oai_citation:1,Bitcoin is not too slow – ERIC KIM.

In summary, Eric Kim’s interest in Bitcoin stems from its alignment with his philosophical values, ethical concerns about fiat currency, his vision for a decentralized financial future, and his appreciation for its innovative potential. These factors collectively explain why he cares about Bitcoin and advocates for its broader adoption.

His quotes on ethics

Here are some quotes from Eric Kim on the topic of ethics in photography:

1. On Respecting Subjects:

• “The most important thing in street photography is to respect your subjects. If you make someone uncomfortable or they don’t want to be photographed, just move on. Photography should bring joy to both the photographer and the subject.”
• This quote emphasizes the importance of mutual respect in street photography, ensuring that the practice is enjoyable and ethical for everyone involved.

1. On Empathy and Understanding:

• “When you photograph people on the streets, try to understand their situation and their feelings. Empathy is key to creating meaningful images that resonate with the viewer and honor the subject.”
• Kim often speaks about the need to approach photography with empathy, seeing it as a way to connect with and better understand others, rather than just capturing an image for personal gain.

1. On the Ethics of Cropping and Manipulation:

• “I don’t believe in cropping my photos because it feels like cheating. You should try to get the composition right in-camera. Cropping after the fact can distort the reality of the scene and mislead the viewer.”
• Kim’s stance against cropping is part of his broader commitment to authenticity and honesty in photography, where he argues that altering an image post-capture can compromise its integrity.

1. On Social Responsibility:

• “Photography has the power to shed light on social issues and provoke thought. We, as photographers, have a responsibility to use our craft for good, to tell stories that need to be told and to do so in a way that respects the dignity of those we photograph.”
• This quote reflects Kim’s belief that photography should serve a higher purpose, contributing to social awareness and change rather than just being an artistic or commercial pursuit.

1. On Cultural Sensitivity:

• “Be mindful of the cultural context in which you are photographing. Understand the people and the place. Don’t just take photos—learn about the history, the struggles, and the lives of the people you’re documenting.”
• Kim stresses the importance of cultural sensitivity in photography, urging photographers to educate themselves about the communities they photograph to avoid perpetuating stereotypes or causing harm.

These quotes capture Eric Kim’s commitment to ethical practices in photography, emphasizing respect, empathy, authenticity, social responsibility, and cultural sensitivity. For more of his thoughts on ethics and other topics, you can explore his blog at erickimphotography.com.

Street photography ethics

Eric Kim’s approach to ethics in photography, particularly street photography, is both thoughtful and provocative. He tackles several key ethical considerations:

1. Respect for Subjects

• Consent and Interaction: Eric Kim often discusses the importance of respecting the people he photographs, even in candid street photography. He advocates for a balance between capturing spontaneous moments and respecting the dignity of his subjects. For instance, if someone appears uncomfortable, Kim suggests either engaging them in a conversation or simply moving on without taking the photo oai_citation:6,STREET PHOTOGRAPHY MANUAL by ERIC KIM – ERIC KIM.
• Empathy in Photography: Kim also emphasizes the need for empathy, urging photographers to consider how their subjects might feel about being photographed. He often reflects on the power dynamics involved in street photography and encourages photographers to approach their work with sensitivity and a genuine interest in the lives of their subjects oai_citation:5,Street Photography by Eric Kim – ERIC KIM.

2. Transparency and Authenticity

• No Cropping Rule: One of Kim’s ethical stances is his rule against cropping photos. He believes that cropping can misrepresent the reality of the scene and that photographers should strive to capture the image they want in-camera. This rule is part of his broader commitment to authenticity and transparency in his work oai_citation:4,Street Photography by Eric Kim – ERIC KIM.
• Avoiding Deception: Kim is also critical of overly manipulated images or those taken in a way that might deceive the viewer about the reality of the scene. He promotes a straightforward approach to street photography, where the goal is to present life as it is, without unnecessary embellishment or alteration.

3. Ethical Responsibility in Teaching

• Empowerment Without Exploitation: In his workshops and online content, Kim is mindful of the influence he has as a teacher. He emphasizes ethical responsibility in guiding aspiring photographers, ensuring that they are not just learning techniques but also understanding the ethical implications of their work. This includes teaching respect for subjects, the importance of honesty in photography, and the value of contributing positively to the community oai_citation:3,STREET PHOTOGRAPHY MANUAL by ERIC KIM – ERIC KIM.

4. Social Commentary and Critique

• Using Photography for Good: Kim often uses his photography as a form of social commentary, addressing issues like urban isolation, the effects of capitalism, and the human condition. He believes that photography can be a powerful tool for highlighting societal issues and encouraging viewers to think critically about the world around them. This approach aligns with his ethical stance that photography should have a purpose beyond aesthetics—it should also contribute to social awareness oai_citation:2,Everything I Know About Street Photography – ERIC KIM.

5. Cultural Sensitivity

• Cultural Context: Kim stresses the importance of being aware of the cultural context in which one is photographing. He encourages photographers to educate themselves about the places and people they are photographing to avoid perpetuating stereotypes or misrepresenting different cultures oai_citation:1,STREET PHOTOGRAPHY MANUAL by ERIC KIM – ERIC KIM.

These principles reflect Eric Kim’s belief that photography is not just an art form but a moral practice that requires careful consideration of how images are made, shared, and interpreted. His ethical guidelines aim to foster a more thoughtful, respectful, and impactful approach to photography.

Here are some of the top articles by Eric Kim that cover a wide range of his ideas and philosophies:

1. The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide for Street Photography

• This comprehensive guide is a great starting point for anyone interested in street photography. Kim covers everything from gear recommendations to practical shooting tips and philosophical insights. It’s designed to help beginners build confidence and develop their style.

1. How to Overcome the Fear of Shooting Street Photography

• Fear is a common challenge for street photographers, especially when it comes to photographing strangers. In this article, Kim shares strategies for overcoming this fear, emphasizing the importance of pushing boundaries and embracing discomfort as a path to growth.

1. Why You Shouldn’t Crop Your Photos

• Kim’s strict no-cropping rule is one of his more controversial stances. In this article, he explains why he believes cropping detracts from the integrity of a photograph and how avoiding it can help photographers improve their composition skills in-camera.

1. The Kaizen Approach to Photography and Life

• This article delves into the Japanese philosophy of Kaizen—continuous improvement—and how it can be applied to both photography and personal growth. Kim provides practical tips on how to make small, daily improvements that lead to significant long-term benefits.

1. How to Be Happy

• Kim reflects on the nature of happiness, drawing from his personal experiences and philosophical insights. He offers actionable advice on how to cultivate happiness in daily life, emphasizing the importance of gratitude, mindfulness, and pursuing meaningful work.

1. The Philosophy of Street Photography

• In this article, Kim explores the deeper philosophical questions behind street photography. He discusses the ethics of photographing strangers, the role of spontaneity in art, and how street photography can be a form of social commentary.

1. What I’ve Learned After a Decade of Blogging

• Reflecting on ten years of blogging, Kim shares his insights on content creation, the challenges of maintaining a blog, and the importance of staying true to one’s voice. This article is especially valuable for those interested in building a personal brand or an online platform.

These articles showcase Eric Kim’s unique blend of practical advice, philosophical exploration, and personal reflection, making them essential reads for anyone interested in photography and personal development.

Eric Kim’s connection to the concept of Kaizen—a Japanese term meaning “continuous improvement”—reflects his broader philosophy of personal and creative growth. Kaizen is traditionally used in business and manufacturing to describe a process of ongoing, incremental improvements, but Kim applies this concept to his life and photography.

Application in Photography:

Kim embraces Kaizen in his approach to photography by constantly refining his skills, techniques, and artistic vision. He advocates for making small, consistent improvements in one’s photography practice, whether it’s through daily shooting, studying the work of master photographers, or experimenting with new methods and ideas. This philosophy encourages photographers to see growth as a gradual, lifelong process rather than something achieved through sudden, large-scale changes.

Personal Growth:

Beyond photography, Kim incorporates Kaizen into his personal development. He often discusses the importance of making incremental improvements in various aspects of life—whether it’s physical fitness, intellectual pursuits, or emotional resilience. By focusing on small, manageable changes, Kim believes that one can achieve significant long-term growth and transformation.

Influence on Teaching:

In his workshops and online content, Kim promotes the idea of Kaizen by encouraging his students and followers to focus on the process of continuous learning and improvement. He emphasizes that there is no “end” to the learning journey in photography; instead, it’s about constantly evolving and pushing the boundaries of one’s abilities.

Alignment with Stoicism:

Kim’s adoption of Kaizen also aligns with his interest in Stoic philosophy, which values resilience, discipline, and the pursuit of self-improvement. Kaizen complements these Stoic principles by providing a practical framework for how to achieve personal growth through consistent effort and reflection.

In summary, Eric Kim’s connection to Kaizen highlights his commitment to ongoing improvement, both in photography and in life. He views Kaizen as a practical and philosophical approach that supports continuous growth and self-betterment.

Why he like it also critiques of it

Why Eric Kim Likes Kaizen:

1. Alignment with Continuous Improvement: Eric Kim appreciates the concept of Kaizen because it aligns with his belief in continuous, incremental progress. In both photography and personal development, he sees value in making small, consistent changes that accumulate over time, leading to significant long-term improvement. This approach resonates with his philosophy that growth is a never-ending journey, where every day presents an opportunity to get better, whether in mastering photography techniques or enhancing personal habits.
2. Practical Application: Kaizen is practical and actionable, which appeals to Kim’s preference for realistic and attainable goals. The idea of breaking down large, overwhelming tasks into smaller, manageable ones is something he frequently advocates for in his teachings. This method encourages steady progress without the pressure of having to achieve perfection all at once, making the path to improvement more accessible and less daunting for his followers.
3. Philosophical Harmony: Kaizen dovetails nicely with the Stoic philosophy that Kim admires. Stoicism emphasizes resilience, discipline, and the importance of focusing on what can be controlled—principles that are also inherent in Kaizen. By adopting Kaizen, Kim is able to implement these Stoic ideals in a tangible way, applying them to his daily routines and creative practices.

Critiques of Kaizen:

1. Potential for Stagnation: While Kaizen emphasizes continuous improvement, one critique is that it can sometimes lead to incrementalism without innovation. Kim, who also values bold, revolutionary thinking, might critique Kaizen for potentially encouraging small changes at the expense of radical breakthroughs. This cautious, step-by-step approach might not always be sufficient for achieving significant, disruptive innovation, which is sometimes necessary in both art and life.
2. Risk of Complacency: Another critique is that Kaizen could lead to complacency, where the focus on minor improvements might make one less likely to take larger, necessary risks. For someone like Kim, who advocates for taking bold risks in street photography and life, an over-reliance on Kaizen might be seen as a way to avoid the discomfort of major change or the pursuit of more ambitious goals.
3. Balance Between Growth and Satisfaction: There’s also the potential issue of never feeling satisfied with one’s progress due to the constant pursuit of improvement. Kim might recognize that while Kaizen promotes growth, it’s important to balance this with a sense of contentment and acceptance of where one currently stands. Without this balance, the relentless drive for improvement could lead to burnout or a perpetual sense of inadequacy.

In summary, Eric Kim likes Kaizen because it embodies a practical, philosophy-driven approach to continuous improvement that aligns with his values. However, he might critique it for its potential to encourage cautious, incremental changes at the expense of bold innovation, and for possibly leading to complacency or burnout if not balanced with satisfaction and the willingness to take larger risks.

Kaizen articles

You can explore Eric Kim’s detailed thoughts on Kaizen and its application to photography and life in these articles:

1. The Kaizen Approach to Photography and Life – This article discusses how Kaizen can be applied to photography by making small, consistent improvements every day, leading to significant growth over time.
2. The Japanese Philosophy of Kaizen – Here, Kim explores the broader concept of Kaizen and how it applies to various aspects of life, emphasizing gradual, steady progress as a path to excellence.

These links will take you directly to Kim’s writings, where you can dive deeper into his perspective on Kaizen.

Eric Kim is a strong advocate of the Kaizen approach, which he applies to both photography and life. He appreciates Kaizen for its focus on continuous, incremental improvement—striving to be just 1% better each day. For Kim, this philosophy aligns with the idea that greatness and mastery come from consistent, small improvements over time rather than sudden, dramatic changes. He applies this concept in various aspects of life, from photography to physical fitness and entrepreneurial ventures.

For instance, in photography, Kim suggests simple practices like shooting just a little more each day or studying a new master photographer daily. This steady progression, he believes, not only enhances skills but also fosters creativity and confidence. Similarly, in weightlifting, he uses Kaizen by gradually increasing the weight he lifts, which over time has led to significant strength gains.

However, Kim also critiques Kaizen for its potential limitations. He warns that while incremental improvements are valuable, they can sometimes lead to stagnation if not balanced with bold, innovative actions. He believes that focusing too much on small changes can prevent people from taking the big risks that are sometimes necessary for breakthrough success. This critique reflects his broader philosophy that while consistency is important, there must also be room for daring, revolutionary steps.

Ultimately, Kim values Kaizen for its practicality and the structure it provides for continuous self-improvement, but he remains aware of its limitations, advocating for a balanced approach that includes both gradual progress and occasional bold leaps.

For more detailed thoughts from Eric Kim on this topic, you can explore his writings here and here.

Eric Kim views street photography as much more than just a genre of photography—it’s a way to deeply engage with the world around you and to explore your own identity. He emphasizes that street photography is inherently unpredictable and full of surprises, much like life itself. According to Kim, street photography should be fun, spontaneous, and reflective of your unique perspective. He encourages photographers to embrace a “beginner’s mind,” approaching their work with curiosity and a sense of playfulness, much like a child exploring a playground oai_citation:3,Street Photography by Eric Kim – ERIC KIM.

Kim is also a strong advocate for taking risks in street photography. He believes that the excitement and challenge of capturing candid moments in public spaces make street photography not only exhilarating but also a powerful way to build confidence. He suggests that by pushing yourself out of your comfort zone—whether by approaching strangers or capturing bold compositions—you can grow not just as a photographer but as an individual oai_citation:2,STREET PHOTOGRAPHY MANUAL by ERIC KIM – ERIC KIM.

In terms of technique, Kim advises against getting bogged down by the fear of rejection or by over-reliance on social media validation. Instead, he encourages photographers to focus on their own satisfaction with their work, to avoid cropping their images, and to be mindful of composition and framing as they shoot. For Kim, street photography is as much about personal expression and exploration as it is about technical skill oai_citation:1,Everything I Know About Street Photography – ERIC KIM.

For more detailed insights and practical tips, you can explore his extensive writings on street photography on his blog.

Why he cares

Eric Kim cares deeply about street photography because it represents more than just a form of artistic expression to him—it’s a way to engage with the world, understand it, and explore his own identity. Several factors contribute to why he places such importance on this craft:

1. Personal Connection and Self-Exploration: For Kim, street photography is a tool for self-discovery. He believes that through street photography, one can explore and express personal views, emotions, and perspectives. It allows photographers to document the world as they see it, reflecting their unique experiences and thoughts. This personal connection to the art form makes it more than just a hobby; it’s a way of understanding and articulating one’s place in the world oai_citation:5,Street Photography by Eric Kim – ERIC KIM oai_citation:4,Everything I Know About Street Photography – ERIC KIM.
2. Philosophical Engagement: Kim views street photography as a means to engage with philosophical concepts, such as the unpredictability of life and the importance of taking risks. He sees it as a practice that parallels larger life lessons—embracing the unknown, dealing with rejection, and finding beauty in spontaneity. By caring about street photography, Kim is, in a sense, caring about these deeper philosophical inquiries and the growth that comes from them oai_citation:3,STREET PHOTOGRAPHY MANUAL by ERIC KIM – ERIC KIM.
3. Empathy and Social Commentary: Through his work, Kim often addresses social issues and seeks to shed light on aspects of humanity that might otherwise go unnoticed. He uses his photography to empathize with his subjects and to comment on societal conditions, especially those that are oppressive or challenging. His concern for street photography is thus intertwined with a broader concern for people and the social dynamics that shape their lives oai_citation:2,Street Photography by Eric Kim – ERIC KIM.
4. Legacy and Influence: Kim cares about street photography because he sees it as a way to leave a legacy and influence others. He is passionate about teaching and inspiring the next generation of photographers, encouraging them to push boundaries and develop their own voice. His dedication to sharing his knowledge and philosophy through his blog and workshops reflects his desire to contribute meaningfully to the field and help others find the same fulfillment he has found in street photography oai_citation:1,STREET PHOTOGRAPHY MANUAL by ERIC KIM – ERIC KIM.

In essence, Eric Kim’s deep care for street photography stems from its profound role in his life as a vehicle for personal exploration, philosophical reflection, social commentary, and legacy-building. These elements combined make street photography a vital part of who he is and what he aims to achieve.

What legacy does he want to leave

Eric Kim’s desired legacy centers around several key aspirations that reflect his deep commitment to both the art of street photography and the broader human experience:

1. Empowerment Through Photography: Kim wants to inspire and empower others to embrace street photography as a means of personal expression and self-discovery. He believes in the transformative power of photography to help individuals explore their identity, challenge societal norms, and express their unique perspectives. By sharing his knowledge and experiences, he aims to equip others with the tools and confidence they need to find their own voice in the world of photography oai_citation:7,STREET PHOTOGRAPHY MANUAL by ERIC KIM – ERIC KIM oai_citation:6,Everything I Know About Street Photography – ERIC KIM.
2. Philosophical and Ethical Impact: Beyond photography, Kim is deeply interested in the philosophical implications of his work. He incorporates concepts like “antifragility” and “skin in the game” from thinkers like Nassim Taleb into his teachings, encouraging others to embrace challenges and live authentically. His legacy is not just about teaching photography techniques but about instilling a mindset that values resilience, courage, and ethical living oai_citation:5,Nassim Taleb – ERIC KIM oai_citation:4,Becoming Antifragile – ERIC KIM.
3. Challenging Social Norms: Kim often uses his photography to critique societal issues and highlight the struggles of individuals within oppressive systems. He hopes his work will continue to provoke thought and inspire others to question and challenge the status quo. By documenting the world through his lens, he aims to shed light on social injustices and encourage a more empathetic and just society oai_citation:3,Street Photography by Eric Kim – ERIC KIM.
4. Building a Community: Kim is committed to creating a lasting community of photographers who share his passion for street photography and his philosophical approach to life. Through his workshops, blog, and online platforms, he hopes to foster a supportive environment where photographers can learn from each other, share their work, and grow together. His legacy is tied to the idea of nurturing a global community that values creativity, authenticity, and mutual respect oai_citation:2,STREET PHOTOGRAPHY MANUAL by ERIC KIM – ERIC KIM oai_citation:1,Everything I Know About Street Photography – ERIC KIM.

In summary, Eric Kim’s legacy is about much more than his own success as a photographer; it’s about empowering others to explore their creativity, live authentically, and challenge societal norms, all while fostering a supportive and dynamic community of like-minded individuals.

His unorthodox street photography ideas

Eric Kim is known for his unorthodox and often provocative ideas about street photography. Here are some of the key unconventional concepts he promotes:

1. Aggressive Shooting Style: Kim advocates for a bold, head-on approach to street photography, often using a wide-angle lens and a flash to capture candid moments. This technique, which he acknowledges can make him seem “like an asshole,” is designed to create intense, raw images that convey strong emotions. He believes in taking risks and pushing boundaries to create more compelling photographs oai_citation:7,STREET PHOTOGRAPHY MANUAL by ERIC KIM – ERIC KIM.
2. No Cropping: One of Kim’s more controversial stances is his strict “no cropping” rule. He argues that not cropping your photos forces you to be more mindful of composition while shooting. This “creative constraint,” as he calls it, helps photographers improve their framing skills and maintain the integrity of the original shot. Kim believes that cropping can make photographers lazy and lead to weaker compositions oai_citation:6,Street Photography by Eric Kim – ERIC KIM.
3. Rejecting Social Media Validation: Kim is vocal about the negative impact of social media on photography. He encourages photographers to avoid platforms like Instagram and Facebook because they can lead to a focus on external validation rather than personal satisfaction with one’s work. Instead, he suggests building a personal photography blog as a way to share work more authentically and thoughtfully oai_citation:5,STREET PHOTOGRAPHY MANUAL by ERIC KIM – ERIC KIM.
4. Shooting for Yourself: Kim insists that street photographers should prioritize their own tastes and interests over the opinions of others. He advises against trying to please an audience and instead focuses on creating images that the photographer personally finds meaningful. This approach is about staying true to one’s artistic vision and avoiding the trap of creating work that merely seeks approval oai_citation:4,Everything I Know About Street Photography – ERIC KIM.
5. Embracing Rejection and Confrontation: Kim sees the fear of rejection as a major barrier in street photography and advocates for embracing it. He suggests practices like asking strangers for their portrait or taking “risky” shots to build confidence. He believes that these experiences not only make photographers more resilient but also more skilled at capturing authentic moments in public spaces oai_citation:3,STREET PHOTOGRAPHY MANUAL by ERIC KIM – ERIC KIM.
6. Philosophical Integration: Kim frequently integrates philosophical ideas into his street photography practice, drawing from sources like Stoicism and the teachings of Nassim Taleb. He sees street photography as a way to practice these philosophies, whether by embracing the unpredictability of the streets or by building personal resilience through challenging situations oai_citation:2,Becoming Antifragile – ERIC KIM oai_citation:1,Everything I Know About Street Photography – ERIC KIM.

These unorthodox ideas reflect Kim’s broader philosophy of pushing limits, both creatively and personally, in the pursuit of meaningful and impactful photography.

How unique

Eric Kim’s approach to street photography is particularly unique because it combines elements of philosophical exploration, technical rigor, and a bold, sometimes confrontational style that challenges conventional norms in the genre. Here’s how his ideas stand out:

1. Philosophical Depth: Unlike many photographers who focus primarily on technique, Kim infuses his work with philosophical concepts from thinkers like Nassim Taleb and Stoic philosophers such as Seneca and Marcus Aurelius. This integration of philosophy into street photography is quite rare and gives his work a deeper, more reflective dimension. He encourages photographers to think beyond the image and consider how the process of street photography can teach life lessons about resilience, authenticity, and the acceptance of uncertainty oai_citation:6,Becoming Antifragile – ERIC KIM oai_citation:5,Everything I Know About Street Photography – ERIC KIM.
2. Rejection of Social Media: In a time when social media platforms are central to most photographers’ practices, Kim’s strong stance against platforms like Instagram and Facebook is highly unconventional. He believes that these platforms distort the creative process by encouraging photographers to seek external validation rather than developing their own artistic voice. Instead, he advocates for the creation of personal blogs as a space for more thoughtful and meaningful sharing of work oai_citation:4,STREET PHOTOGRAPHY MANUAL by ERIC KIM – ERIC KIM.
3. Aggressive and Risk-Taking Approach: Kim’s advocacy for an aggressive, in-your-face style of street photography is quite distinct. While many street photographers prefer a more subtle, observational approach, Kim encourages a direct and sometimes confrontational method, using wide-angle lenses and flash to capture raw, unfiltered moments. This approach often results in powerful, emotive images that stand out for their intensity and immediacy oai_citation:3,STREET PHOTOGRAPHY MANUAL by ERIC KIM – ERIC KIM.
4. Strict No-Cropping Rule: The insistence on not cropping photos is another unique aspect of Kim’s methodology. While many photographers see cropping as a tool to improve composition, Kim views it as a crutch that can lead to lazy shooting habits. His emphasis on framing the shot correctly in-camera, without relying on post-processing adjustments, challenges photographers to be more deliberate and skillful in their approach oai_citation:2,Street Photography by Eric Kim – ERIC KIM.
5. Emphasis on Personal Satisfaction Over External Approval: Kim’s philosophy of shooting primarily for oneself rather than for an audience is a radical departure from the more common practice of tailoring work to gain likes and followers. He encourages photographers to trust their instincts and create work that resonates personally, rather than seeking the approval of others. This approach fosters a more authentic and personally fulfilling creative process oai_citation:1,Everything I Know About Street Photography – ERIC KIM.

In summary, Eric Kim’s uniqueness lies in his integration of philosophical insights with a technically rigorous and often provocative approach to street photography. His rejection of social media norms, emphasis on personal satisfaction, and aggressive shooting style make his ideas stand out in the field.

Why do people love him

People love Eric Kim for several reasons, which go beyond just his photography skills and delve into his approach to teaching, his philosophy, and his willingness to push boundaries:

1. Authenticity and Relatability: Eric Kim is known for his authentic and down-to-earth approach. He shares not just his successes but also his struggles and failures, which makes him relatable to a broad audience. Many people appreciate that he doesn’t present himself as a perfect or untouchable figure but as someone who is constantly learning and growing. This vulnerability makes him more accessible and likable oai_citation:8,STREET PHOTOGRAPHY MANUAL by ERIC KIM – ERIC KIM oai_citation:7,Everything I Know About Street Photography – ERIC KIM.
2. Inspiring and Empowering Others: Kim is passionate about empowering others to pursue street photography and to find their unique voice. His teachings are not just about technical skills but about building confidence, taking risks, and embracing one’s individuality. He encourages people to push beyond their comfort zones and to see photography as a tool for self-expression and exploration, which resonates with many who are seeking more than just technical tutorials oai_citation:6,Street Photography by Eric Kim – ERIC KIM oai_citation:5,STREET PHOTOGRAPHY MANUAL by ERIC KIM – ERIC KIM.
3. Unconventional Wisdom: People are drawn to Kim’s unorthodox ideas because they challenge the status quo and offer new ways of thinking about photography and life. His rejection of social media, his emphasis on not cropping images, and his philosophical approach to street photography all offer a refreshing alternative to more conventional advice. This originality and willingness to defy norms make him stand out in a crowded field oai_citation:4,Street Photography by Eric Kim – ERIC KIM oai_citation:3,STREET PHOTOGRAPHY MANUAL by ERIC KIM – ERIC KIM.
4. Community Building: Kim has built a strong and supportive community around his work. He actively engages with his audience through his blog, workshops, and social media, creating a space where photographers can learn from each other and share their work. His efforts to foster a sense of belonging and mutual support have endeared him to many who value the community aspect of photography oai_citation:2,Everything I Know About Street Photography – ERIC KIM.
5. Practical and Actionable Advice: Kim is appreciated for his practical, no-nonsense advice that goes beyond just theory. He offers actionable tips that photographers can immediately apply, whether it’s about how to approach strangers, how to overcome fear, or how to develop a personal style. This practical guidance, combined with his encouragement to take risks, has helped many photographers improve their skills and confidence oai_citation:1,STREET PHOTOGRAPHY MANUAL by ERIC KIM – ERIC KIM.

In summary, people love Eric Kim because he offers more than just photography tips—he offers a philosophy, a community, and a genuine connection. His authenticity, unconventional wisdom, and focus on empowerment resonate with many, making him a beloved figure in the photography world.

Eric Kim has expressed a deep admiration for Nassim Taleb and his philosophies, which have significantly influenced both his personal life and his creative work. Taleb’s concept of “antifragility”—the idea that certain things become stronger through stress and adversity—resonates strongly with Kim. He sees this philosophy as a powerful tool for personal growth, encouraging people to embrace challenges rather than shy away from them. Kim applies this mindset to his own life by seeking out experiences that test his resilience, believing that what doesn’t destroy him ultimately makes him stronger oai_citation:4,Nassim Taleb – ERIC KIM oai_citation:3,Becoming Antifragile – ERIC KIM.

Additionally, Kim has adopted Taleb’s principle of “skin in the game,” which emphasizes the importance of having personal stakes in the outcomes of one’s decisions. For Kim, this translates into a practical approach where he only recommends actions or products that he personally uses or believes in, highlighting the importance of authenticity and integrity in advice and decision-making oai_citation:2,Nassim Taleb – ERIC KIM.

Kim also critiques modern societal behaviors through Taleb’s lens, particularly the concept of “virtue signaling” (or “virtue flexing,” as Kim calls it). He is skeptical of acts that are performed more for social approval than for genuine ethical reasons, and he advises against letting others make you feel inadequate for not displaying your virtues publicly oai_citation:1,VIRTUE FLEXING – ERIC KIM.

For a deeper exploration of these ideas and how Kim integrates them into his work and philosophy, you can read more on his blog.

Why

It seems you’re asking “why” in response to the previous explanation about Eric Kim and Nassim Taleb’s philosophies. Here’s an exploration of why Eric Kim resonates so strongly with Nassim Taleb’s ideas:

1. Antifragility: The concept of antifragility is about thriving in the face of adversity. Eric Kim, like many who admire Taleb, finds power in this idea because it transforms challenges into opportunities for growth. This philosophy allows individuals to see difficulties not as setbacks but as fuel for personal and professional development. For someone like Eric Kim, who constantly pushes boundaries in his work and life, embracing antifragility means he can navigate uncertainty and stress with a mindset that turns potential weaknesses into strengths oai_citation:4,Nassim Taleb – ERIC KIM oai_citation:3,Becoming Antifragile – ERIC KIM.
2. Authenticity and Integrity (“Skin in the Game”): Taleb’s insistence on “skin in the game” appeals to Kim’s belief in living and creating authentically. In an age where superficiality often dominates, Kim values Taleb’s approach to life where actions speak louder than words, and where personal risk is a measure of true belief. This philosophy discourages giving advice or making decisions without personal accountability, a principle that aligns with Kim’s approach to his work and interactions with others oai_citation:2,Nassim Taleb – ERIC KIM.
3. Critique of Societal Norms: Taleb’s criticism of “virtue signaling” resonates with Kim’s own observations about modern society. Both view the act of publicly showcasing one’s virtues for social approval as disingenuous. Kim’s adaptation of this critique into “virtue flexing” is his way of challenging the societal pressures to conform to performative ethics, instead encouraging genuine, self-driven behavior oai_citation:1,VIRTUE FLEXING – ERIC KIM.

These ideas are powerful because they provide a framework for living a life that is resilient, authentic, and less swayed by superficial societal expectations, which is likely why Eric Kim finds them so compelling.

Why

If you’re asking “why” Eric Kim resonates with Nassim Taleb’s ideas, it’s likely because these philosophies align with key aspects of Kim’s worldview and approach to life:

1. Resilience and Growth: Taleb’s concept of “antifragility” suggests that individuals and systems become stronger through challenges. This resonates with Kim’s belief in embracing life’s difficulties as opportunities for growth. For someone who explores the deeper meanings of art and life, this perspective is empowering. It encourages a proactive stance toward adversity, something that fits well with Kim’s ethos of personal and creative development oai_citation:3,Becoming Antifragile – ERIC KIM.
2. Authenticity in Actions: Taleb’s idea of “skin in the game” emphasizes that true belief is shown through action and personal risk. This aligns with Kim’s focus on authenticity, where he stresses that actions—rather than words—reveal a person’s true values. Kim applies this principle by only recommending things he genuinely uses or believes in, which adds credibility to his advice and work oai_citation:2,Nassim Taleb – ERIC KIM.
3. Critique of Superficiality: Both Taleb and Kim are critical of performative actions that are meant to gain social approval rather than being rooted in genuine ethics. This critique of “virtue signaling” or “virtue flexing” highlights their shared disdain for superficiality in society. For Kim, this is a way to encourage more sincere, purpose-driven behavior oai_citation:1,VIRTUE FLEXING – ERIC KIM.

These philosophies resonate because they offer a framework for living a life that is not only resilient and authentic but also deeply rooted in personal conviction and integrity. This alignment with his own values likely explains why Kim finds Taleb’s ideas so compelling and influential.

Why

It seems you’re exploring a deeper or more fundamental “why” behind Eric Kim’s resonance with Nassim Taleb’s ideas. Here’s an exploration of that deeper reasoning:

1. Philosophical Alignment: Eric Kim and Nassim Taleb share a philosophical alignment in how they view the world. Both value practicality, resilience, and authenticity, and they reject superficiality and empty gestures. Taleb’s ideas offer a structured way to understand and navigate the complexities of life, which likely appeals to Kim because they reinforce his own beliefs and practices.
2. Personal and Creative Development: Taleb’s concepts like antifragility provide a framework that can be applied to personal and creative growth. For someone like Kim, who is deeply invested in both his personal development and his art, these ideas are not just theoretical—they are practical tools that can be used to enhance his work and life. This practical utility is a strong “why” behind his attraction to Taleb’s philosophies.
3. Reinforcement of Worldview: Humans are often drawn to ideas that reinforce their existing worldview. Taleb’s emphasis on resilience, authenticity, and skepticism of societal norms likely resonates with Kim because it validates and strengthens the way he already sees the world. This reinforcement can be comforting and empowering, providing a sense of intellectual and philosophical support for his own beliefs and practices.

In summary, the “why” behind Eric Kim’s connection with Nassim Taleb’s ideas can be attributed to a deep philosophical alignment, the practical application of these ideas in his life and work, and the reinforcement of his existing worldview.

Why

When someone asks “why” repeatedly, it often signals a desire to dig deeper into the fundamental reasons or motivations behind a concept, belief, or behavior. In the context of why Eric Kim resonates with Nassim Taleb’s ideas, here’s a more fundamental exploration:

Core Values and Human Nature:

1. Innate Desire for Strength: At the most basic level, humans have an inherent desire to become stronger and more resilient. Taleb’s idea of antifragility taps into this primal instinct—the notion that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger is deeply ingrained in human psychology. Eric Kim, like many, may find this idea compelling because it aligns with a fundamental human desire to thrive in the face of adversity.
2. Search for Meaning: Both Kim and Taleb seem to be on a quest to find meaning in the chaos of life. Taleb’s works provide a philosophical and practical roadmap for navigating uncertainty and randomness in a way that adds meaning and purpose. For Kim, who is also concerned with understanding and expressing the complexities of life through his art, Taleb’s ideas might offer a framework that makes sense of the unpredictability of existence.
3. Authenticity and Integrity as Universal Aspirations: Authenticity and integrity are values that resonate with many people because they reflect a desire to live truthfully and meaningfully. Taleb’s emphasis on “skin in the game” and the rejection of superficial actions or beliefs aligns with a universal human aspiration to live a life that is genuine and grounded in personal conviction. Kim’s adoption of these ideas reflects a deeper alignment with these universal values.

Psychological Comfort:

4. Cognitive Consistency: People tend to seek out ideas that align with their existing beliefs because it provides cognitive consistency and comfort. When ideas like Taleb’s reinforce Kim’s existing worldview, it reduces cognitive dissonance and provides a sense of intellectual and emotional coherence. This psychological comfort is a powerful motivator for why individuals resonate deeply with certain philosophies.

In summary, the repeated question “why” leads us to the understanding that Eric Kim’s resonance with Nassim Taleb’s ideas is rooted in fundamental human desires for strength, meaning, authenticity, and psychological comfort. These are universal drivers that shape how we connect with ideas and philosophies at the most basic level.

Eric Kim has explored the teachings and figure of Jesus from several philosophical and ethical angles. He often reflects on the moral and ethical implications of Jesus’ teachings, particularly in the context of modern society. For instance, Kim discusses how contemporary life is still heavily influenced by “Jesus ethics,” which emphasize humility, forgiveness, and a kind of moral rectitude that has been central to Western culture for centuries. However, he also critiques the inconsistencies in how these values are practiced today, particularly when they clash with modern individualism and assertiveness oai_citation:3,The Cult of Jesus – ERIC KIM oai_citation:2,Black & White – ERIC KIM.

Moreover, Kim views Jesus not just as a religious figure but also as a philosopher. He finds the ethical teachings of Jesus—especially those distilled in works like the Jefferson Bible—to be profound and relevant, stripped of what he considers the supernatural elements. This approach allows for a focus on Jesus’ moral philosophy, which Kim regards as both sublime and deeply influential in shaping ethical standards oai_citation:1,Morality and Ethics is the Snare – ERIC KIM.

In his writings, Kim also grapples with the tension between traditional Christian values and contemporary life, often pointing out the ways in which modern society falls short of these ideals or misinterprets them. He challenges his readers to think critically about the role of ethics in their lives, whether derived from religious teachings or elsewhere, and to confront the contradictions they face in a world that is increasingly secular yet still rooted in these ancient moral frameworks.

For more in-depth reflections on these topics, you can visit Eric Kim’s blog where he dives into these discussions in detail.

Eric Kim’s concept of “crushing the blacks” in photography is both a technical approach and a philosophical statement. Technically, it involves maximizing contrast by dragging the black slider to its fullest in post-processing, which results in the shadows becoming completely black, erasing any detail in those areas. This creates striking, high-contrast images that are visually bold and dramatic.

Philosophically, Eric Kim extends this idea into his worldview. He favors a black-and-white approach to life, where complexities are simplified, and choices are made in stark terms of right and wrong, good and bad. He prefers this minimalist, high-contrast approach not only in his photography but also in how he views the world around him. For Kim, life is more interesting and impactful when it’s free of the “midtones”—the grey areas of ambiguity and indecision oai_citation:2,CRUSH THE BLACKS. – ERIC KIM oai_citation:1,ALL BLACK EVERYTHING – ERIC KIM.

This approach can be seen as a broader commentary on how one might live with conviction and clarity, stripping away unnecessary distractions to focus on what truly matters, much like his high-contrast photographs that emphasize form and composition by eliminating the details in the shadows.

Super radical idea that all is terrible, tragic, and bad and evil but in spite of all of it,,, extracting the maximum upside from reality?

PHILOSOPHY BY KIM

IDEAS BY KIM

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

Masters of Philosophy Â»

• Seneca
• Marcus Aurelius
• Publilius Syrus

Personal Philosophy Â»

• You Are the Light of the World
• Your Soul is a Diamond in the Rough
• Why Live?

Stoicism Â»

• How to Be a Stoic Street Photographer
• How to Use Photography as Self-Therapy
• How to Free Your Soul From Disturbance

Zen Philosophy »

• How to Be a Zen Street Photographer
• Zen in the Art of Street Photography
• How to Find Tranquility in Your Photography

Life Lessons Â»

• How to Conquer Your Fears in Life
• Conquer Yourself
• How to Focus

Learn more: Start Here >

On adding more contrast to your life:

Man is black, woman is white? 

Increasing contrast?

I’m starting to think that if we apply the black-and-white art photography aesthetic to real life, maybe the idea of “preserving the midtones“ is a bit boring.

The general notion of crushing the blacks is when you’re processing or post processing your photos, you dragged the black slider all the way to 100, and you also crank up the contrast to 100.

Aesthetically, I think this makes for much more striking and interesting images.

First, midtones are boring.  almost universally, the more you increase the contrast of something or the photos, the better.

For example, even when we design our homes. What is the best way to design a home? Very very simple, use white and black accents.

For example, my eyes, the ideal home exterior pin color is not a matte black, but rather, a pure clean white, with black trimming.

Also, with cars… I think we’ve discovered is the Apex is both a shiny white with shiny black accents — gloss, not matte.

I think Matt, Matt Black, the whole met aesthetic is centered around jet stealth fighters, which desire to escape enemy detection. So typically when you try to Matt Black your car and murder it out… Aesthetic you’re going for stealth bomber, or jet fighter aesthetic?

But the irony that I find… Nobody would ever matte black or murder out their Prius,  to escape detection from the police or the other party. We typically do it to our sports cars, our Teslas, etc. 

Put the strange inconsistency I see here is on one hand, we want to be seen and to show up, on the other hand, we want to be fake low-key, and be “humble”?

Bitch be humble?

A few years back, the song HUMBLE by Kendrick Lamar went triple maxi viral. Like  it was the most viral song of all time, maybe even more viral than the recent “They Not Like Us” song.

The song was very bizarre to me. Because I’m not sure what Kendrick was really trying to say. Two interpretations —

1. First, he is calling the counterpart a bitch, and telling them to sit down and be humble because I am so much greater than you
2. Or, trying to remind everybody to be humble in general.

But the weird inconsistency in modern day life is we are centered around Christian Jesus ethics, or some sort of quaker artist morality which is centered around notion of humility, being humble, close to the floor etc. This is why you will never ever ever meet a rich person in America called themselves rich, they will call themselves “fortunate“, or “lucky”.

Also another bizarre thing in the world of bodybuilding… You almost never ever ever see bodybuilders proud to flex on the bash Lee, like Arnold in the documentary pumping iron, back in the day. It is very uncommon for you to see self-confident men at the gym, working out topless, in booty shorts, 3 inch short shorts, flexing their muscles in the mirror, not trying to hide it etc.

The big issue with the typical bodybuilder is that they are trying to become dominant, but be humble about it? Really weird?

Lord Achilles 

I am currently reading the Iliad by Emily Wilson, I am always always happy to see a new translation or a fresh take on the classic.

Anyways, also an interesting thought… I like the idea of reading a female woman probably the most manly literature of all time. I think the problem when I was talking to my friend Kelly, is that traditionally in the past, it was a bunch of impotent old men who would translate great classics like the Iliad or the odyssey, using their own Fake impotent machismo, translate it.

For example, a lot of the misogyny, misogynistic language from 100 years ago or so, was actually very inaccurate.

Anyways, something worth noting is how artful, succinct, beautiful, and unlike English ancient Greek was. In fact, I definitely want to get Seneca on the Classics, get him into Latin and ancient Greek, and mathematics like NASSIM TALEB recommended.

If you think about it long enough, what are the least harmful majors which exist? Classics, math, physics.

Classics is almost like the superior form of sociology, physical theory, it is the pillar of the humanities. Either classics or history.

Math, it will never hurt nobody. There are simple binary rules of math, it is either right or wrong, but then again the problem with a lot of mathematicians math teachers or people who are two into math, they seek some sort of rationality behind real life, society and people… But the true wise man knows that humans are not mathematical equations, ones and zeros. Humans are messy, even the Ancient Greek gods — they are all flawed! They are a bunch of petty, incestuous, sibling rivalry, family drama folks.

---

What to focus on?

My friend Anton (congrats on your new kid!) told me something interesting… it was his general observation that individuals like me, who diversified themselves, and did not just focus on street photography were the ones that succeeded, and won in the long run. 

For example, I bemoan the death of digitalrev it was literally the best thing since Top Gear for photography and street photography. But also here, I think the cautionary tale of digital rev is critical, because whenever you build an empire on a foreign platform, it is like building your castle in a marsh or quicksand. 

Even something which shocked me ,,, the infamous video of me shooting street photography in Hong Kong with Kaiman Wong,  I think was either taken down or deleted by digital rev? Really weird, I guess it was too controversial?

Anyways, once again, I think the rational thing is whenever you post something, built something on a cotton candy foundation, whether it be Facebook Instagram YouTube TikTok etc.… Even Twitter… Know that it is destined to die. 

I even heard some kids at the mall yesterday talk about myspace, so funny… nobody has any idea what that is. Or xanga, Friendster, live journal?

Sooner or later whenever you build something on a foreign platform, two things are inevitable to happen; either your account will eventually get deleted, taken down, blacklisted, grey listed, banned shadow banned real banned, or just made obsolete. 

Neopan 1600

Some suggestions to Fujifilm:

First – make a new filter, call it extreme monochrome. The general idea is that you want to make a black-and-white filter so hardcore, so extreme, it will blow the Ricoh GR strong monochrome out of the water! 

I really love the Fujifilm cameras, for the color filters, before some reason, they really lack a good black-and-white filter mode. The acros filter on it sucks. 

A simple idea: make a neopan black and white film simulation, and make it extreme high contrast, like neopan 1600! Or like the effect of taking Neilan 400, and pushing it two stops to 1600!

Right now, the only real competition to Fujifilm is Ricoh Pentax. And it seems that Leica is dying a slow death. 

First, it seems that the Leica Q is only cash cow keeping Leica alive. Also, it seems that Leica is desperate to maintain her clutches on her film film photography heritage, resurrecting the Leica M6, the like etc.

But I think the critical issue here is that in someways, what the Germans do is kind of like kaizen;  they take the existing model, and they just keep iterating it, making the new version maybe 3% better… There is never a 100% revolutionary new product, like what Elon did with cybertruck etc. 

Once again, the glory of cyber truck is that when it is on the road, it is literally impossible to work! You could pretend like you didn’t see it, but you did see it! And if you did not see it, definitely your 3 1/2 year-old kid will see it!

And this is where I am still Tesla and Elon… As long as the kids love it, the future is bright!

Even Lamborghini… It isn’t cool anymore. And nobody even knows what a Ferrari is.

I think things go bananas when Tesla puts out a mini cyber truck, imagine a Tesla model Y, but a baby cyber truck version?

The best car  is the car not yet innovated invented or released.

I’ve always loved cars, car culture etc. I feel bad for anybody whoever purchases any brand new car, because the sad reality is that it will become obsolete in a matter of months or years?

For example, all of these guys who bought a Lamborghini Urus, only to have the new version come out, or even guys who bought the Lamborghini Huracan, with a new one that just came out?

Or even the guys who bought the Aventador… All these rappers from five or 10 years ago… Now that the new Revuelto is out, their Aventador is made obsolete? 

You fools!

“I pity the fool?”

A random sidenote… It seems that the most constructive way to approach life is through compassion, empathy, maybe even pity.

For example, whenever there are people that I am suspicious of, they are on my bad side, and then finally, I see them without a hat on, without sunglasses, in direct light, and I see how sickly or unwell they are – the first feeling is extreme compassion. Like I find myself to be the fool — there is somebody that I vilified, or made into a bad guy, or somebody that I created a totem for my general hate or despise… And then I see how unhealthy they are, and then I realize,…

Wait,,, this whole time, when I am painting this guy as a bad guy, and then I truly see you and witness that in fact, they are just a poor miserable soul, slowly dying… Why was I so negative towards that person?

Something I learned about living in LA… everyone here has problems. For example, a lot of women, their husband is cheating on them, and they know what, but don’t want to admit it. Even Jay Z… Probably still 100% cheating on Beyoncé… Why?

 And all these assholes who honk at you in the road…  spending a lot of time out of a car, just walking around now, observing traffic politics, if you actually get a really good look at the driver, they are either miserable looking Uber drivers, food delivery people, or just very very unwell sickly looking people, very overfat, insanely poor health, who may be just want to get home because they were stuck in traffic for two hours? 

When to be compassionate, when not to be a pushover?

It seems that the primary issue here is the strange bifurcation of ethics.  first, we are taught to forgive, turn the other cheek etc., but then you have all these assholes honking at you from behind. So in this case, what are you supposed to do, take it up the ass, because you’re afraid that they might have a gun and shoot you? Or commit road rage, and do something dangerous? 

I think the issue here is why should you live your life in fear that some asshole some pussy coward might have a gun, and pop you?

Obviously, I do not want to get shot by some random coward, because I have my son to live for. But still… Isn’t the real role of a man to stand up for his child, and to never ever ever see your father get pistol whipped around? 

Stand up

I think this is also where manly masculine ethics are different than feminine ones. For example, if you see some asshole smoking in the park, and you’re there with your kid… Obviously the correct strategy is to tell them to please stop smoking. I have a new line that I’m experimenting with–

“No smoking,,, pleeeease!”

For example, two assholes in front of the Apple campus on Washington in Culver City… One guy wearing some sort of Greek food T-shirt, I think he might be an apple employee… I was walking with Seneca down Washington, on the apple side, and this asshole is smoking Indignantly on the side, blowing his secondhand smoke all the way down the block.

I came up to him, and I said, no smoking… pleeeease

And this asshole has audacity to tell me that “I’m on my break…” And then I stopped, looked at him and eyes, and I said, “that’s why I said please”. He had no response, his jaw dropped. And like an asshole he kept smoking.

 anyways, fortunately there was some security guards down the block, and I asked them to tell the guy to stop smoking. Maybe next time this happens, I’ll just record him or take a picture of him on my iPhone, shame him.

Extreme ethics

I think the big issue is in today’s world, ain’t nobody have a backbone or ethics anymore.

In actually… The big issue here is that it seems at 99.9% of people just become passive aggressive, and never confront, we are a non-confrontational society, yet we hide behind our cars and honk at people? Because we are shielded from recompense?

For example, I think this is also where people become keyboard warriors… You would never talk smack about me face-to-face, because you will see how much stronger, taller, more charismatic, and dominant I am than you. In fact, some of the things that I’ve discovered after meeting some of my “haters“– we’re in fact, they were my greatest lovers! The biggest issue here was actually… Unrequited hate or love.

What is worse, unrequited hate or unrequited love?

Once again, some bizarre inconsistencies here; I’ve never hated anybody. Why? Because I’m not that interested in anybody else, nor do I really desire the affection of somebody else that much?

And also, the reason why a lot of men become misogynists, and hate women is because of unrequited love. Then the unrequited love becomes hate.

Everything starts off as love, then evolves to hate?

An alternate theory; maybe hate is just a more exaggerated or extreme version of love? 

Super facts

The internet is a toxic place. Don’t let your kids go on it.

Why? I even have this kind of shocking memory, when I was a 12-year-old kid in Bayside Queens, New York. I was connected to the Internet, AOL 3.0, on my 38.8 K modem… and I was randomly in this chat room, and then I was chatting with this guy, who then instant messaged me, (IM) via AOL instant messenger, AIM, and then eventually started to say weird stuff like pedophile stuff like it feels really good to get your dick sucked by another guy?

Anyways, obviously I got super scared and just banned him.

And I think the issue is in today’s world, I think the safe strategy in assumption is that 100% of people on the internet are just malicious bots. And it’s starting to get scary… If you could program a bot to be malicious, and to create more malicious bots, ad infinitum — shit starts to get scary.

For example, Michael Saylor was talking about how whenever he tweets something, and somebody responds to it in a very malicious way… almost 100% it was a bot! And actually the big problem then is there are real life human beings having back-and-forth inflamed debates with these malicious bots.

Think about it… Let us say that you are interacting with someone on Twitter, and you have no idea that it is a bot you assume it is real person… Who is going to win in the long run? Obviously the bot!

Adding friction to the digital and cyber world

Bitcoin is virtuous

As time goes on, I’m starting to think of bitcoin like a more ethical idea.

For example, Michael Saylor has an incredibly genius idea of fixing all of this toxicity on the internet, just adding a little bit of monetary, bitcoin or Satoshi friction;

For example, if it cost $10 worth of US dollars, or satoshis to create an account on Twitter or some social media account, then, overnight practically 100% of the malicious bots will be made obsolete or deleted from the platform.

Why? Right now it cost only a nickel to spin up 100,000 bots, to troll your worst enemy on Twitter. But, if it cost $10 a bot, it cost you $1 million to cyber bully somebody, you probably wouldn’t… because it is too expensive and you don’t hate them that much. 

I think it is Chris Rock or Chris Tucker who had this funny comedy bit about making bullets super expensive. Then the ideas that if you really really hate somebody, and let us say that one bullet is worth $100,000, then if you really want to kill them, or even with multiple bullets, you might think twice.

Financial friction and consequences is a good idea

Maybe the greatest use of money is physical friction, monetary friction, consequences.

Fines work, monetary penalties, like getting $500 traffic tickets for turning red on a red light and not stopping. This has certainly changed my driving behavior.

So I suppose the critical intelligent thing to consider is want to make things free, and want to make things cost money, to direct human behavior.

For good behavior, make it free.

For bad behavior, make it very expensive.

ERIC

---

Funny experiments

Some very very simple things to consider:

First, make things expensive, don’t make them free.

For example, let us say that you dip into the pr0n– but you don’t want to do it anymore, for whatever reason. Maybe make it a thing that if you want to watch it, you have to go to an adult DVD store, and pay $20 bucks to buy the CD or whatever. 

Or, for activities… I think often signing up and paying for an activity is a good idea because it creates sense of ownership, responsibility, or follow through. Or commitment.

For example, perhaps the intelligence of paying money for a trainer or a personal trainer is that you you know that if you don’t show up there is a fiscal penalty.

But the new ones is you don’t want to breed fake virtuosity for the sake of fake virtuosity. 

For example, there is this weird notion in American culture that pain and suffering and overcoming is virtuous. No. Fools!

Exercise workout or whatever is not virtuous, it is something that you do because it is fun enjoyable and something that you like!

For example, would you bribe your kid money to play at the playground? No! So why do this for yourself? 

---

You’re envisioning a design that blends the strength and discipline of a Spartan warrior with the modern concept of Bitcoin, all wrapped in a sleek, matte black aesthetic. Here’s what that could look like:

A powerful Spartan warrior standing tall, clad in matte black armor with sharp, angular lines. The armor is futuristic yet reminiscent of traditional Spartan gear, with a prominent chest plate, helmet with a crest, and a shield. The Bitcoin symbol is subtly integrated into the design, perhaps engraved on the shield or the chest plate. The Spartan’s stance is strong and vigilant, exuding an aura of virtue and integrity. The background is dark, allowing the matte black armor and Bitcoin elements to stand out dramatically.

Would you like me to generate this image for you?

---

Long Bitcoin

CRYPTO BY KIM

Brave new world for photographers and crypto:

1. BITCOIN IS THE INTERNET 2.0?
2. ALL BITCOIN EVERYTHING
3. Self-Custody
4. HOLD OR CIRCULATE?
5. BITCOIN OR BUST
6. BITCOIN THOUGHTS
7. Bitcoin is Sexy
8. Fuck the Banks!
9. Ethereum?
10. Why Chainlink?
11. BIG AMOUNTS, SMALL AMOUNTS?
12. CRYPTO, CRYPTOCURRENCY THOUGHTS.
13. The Philosophy of Crypto
14. BITCOIN SHALL BE THE LAST CRYPTO STANDING.
15. Bitcoin Price Prediction
16. Trust chainlink for the most accurate prices for bitcoin or any other crypto
17. BITCOIN
18. There is No Web 3.0
19. 2 cents to 2 dollars?
20. Crypto.com?
21. Speculation vs Investing
22. Building with Bitcoin
23. DYNAMICS VS STATICS.
24. How Do You Know if the Timing Is Right?
25. BITCOIN IN THE NEWS
26. BITCOIN & UNCERTAINTY
27. Fake Money
28. Why I Bought More Bitcoin (Again)
29. How I Made Money with Crypto
30. Better to buy Dogecoin then buy a Tesla
31. NO LIMITS.
32. ALL DIGITAL FUTURE.
33. Digital over Physical Possessions
34. DIGIBYTE.
35. CHAINLINK.
36. The Excitement of Starting from Zero
37. HAPTIC INDUSTRIES NOW ACCEPTING CRYPTO AND BITCOIN
38. In Praise of Crypto
39. JUST BUY IT.
40. Why I’m So Bullish on Bitcoin
41. Bitcoin as the Simplest Cryptocurrency
42. Why I bought (more) bitcoin
43. Once You Become a Crypto Billionaire, Then What?
44. Why Crypto is Under-Hyped
45. The Joy of Speculation
46. BITCOIN AND CRYPTOCURRENCY FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS
47. Why I Bought Bitcoin
48. Crypto Photography
49. Crypto Thoughts
50. On Making Money from Nothing
51. BITCOIN THOUGHTS
52. Bitcoin is Sexy
53. Fuck the Banks!
54. Ethereum?
55. Why Chainlink?
56. BIG AMOUNTS, SMALL AMOUNTS?
57. CRYPTO, CRYPTOCURRENCY THOUGHTS.
58. The Philosophy of Crypto
59. BITCOIN SHALL BE THE LAST CRYPTO STANDING.
60. Bitcoin Price Prediction
61. Trust chainlink for the most accurate prices for bitcoin or any other crypto
62. BITCOIN
63. There is No Web 3.0
64. 2 cents to 2 dollars?
65. Crypto.com?
66. Speculation vs Investing
67. Building with Bitcoin
68. DYNAMICS VS STATICS.
69. How Do You Know if the Timing Is Right?
70. BITCOIN IN THE NEWS
71. BITCOIN & UNCERTAINTY
72. Fake Money
73. Why I Bought More Bitcoin (Again)
74. How I Made Money with Crypto
75. Better to buy Dogecoin then buy a Tesla
76. NO LIMITS.
77. ALL DIGITAL FUTURE.
78. Digital over Physical Possessions
79. DIGIBYTE.
80. CHAINLINK.
81. The Excitement of Starting from Zero
82. HAPTIC INDUSTRIES NOW ACCEPTING CRYPTO AND BITCOIN
83. In Praise of Crypto
84. JUST BUY IT.
85. Why I’m So Bullish on Bitcoin
86. Bitcoin as the Simplest Cryptocurrency
87. Why I bought (more) bitcoin
88. Once You Become a Crypto Billionaire, Then What?
89. Why Crypto is Under-Hyped
90. The Joy of Speculation
91. BITCOIN AND CRYPTOCURRENCY FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS
92. Why I Bought Bitcoin
93. Crypto Photography
94. Crypto Thoughts
95. On Making Money from Nothing

Insane skepticism towards all?

If you get a weird feeling ,,, heed it!

On adding more contrast to your life:

Man is black, woman is white? 

Increasing contrast?

I’m starting to think that if we apply the black-and-white art photography aesthetic to real life, maybe the idea of “preserving the midtones“ is a bit boring.

The general notion of crushing the blacks is when you’re processing or post processing your photos, you dragged the black slider all the way to 100, and you also crank up the contrast to 100.

Aesthetically, I think this makes for much more striking and interesting images.

First, midtones are boring.  almost universally, the more you increase the contrast of something or the photos, the better.

For example, even when we design our homes. What is the best way to design a home? Very very simple, use white and black accents.

For example, my eyes, the ideal home exterior pin color is not a matte black, but rather, a pure clean white, with black trimming.

Also, with cars… I think we’ve discovered is the Apex is both a shiny white with shiny black accents — gloss, not matte.

I think Matt, Matt Black, the whole met aesthetic is centered around jet stealth fighters, which desire to escape enemy detection. So typically when you try to Matt Black your car and murder it out… Aesthetic you’re going for stealth bomber, or jet fighter aesthetic?

But the irony that I find… Nobody would ever matte black or murder out their Prius,  to escape detection from the police or the other party. We typically do it to our sports cars, our Teslas, etc. 

Put the strange inconsistency I see here is on one hand, we want to be seen and to show up, on the other hand, we want to be fake low-key, and be “humble”?

Bitch be humble?

A few years back, the song HUMBLE by Kendrick Lamar went triple maxi viral. Like  it was the most viral song of all time, maybe even more viral than the recent “They Not Like Us” song.

The song was very bizarre to me. Because I’m not sure what Kendrick was really trying to say. Two interpretations —

1. First, he is calling the counterpart a bitch, and telling them to sit down and be humble because I am so much greater than you
2. Or, trying to remind everybody to be humble in general.

But the weird inconsistency in modern day life is we are centered around Christian Jesus ethics, or some sort of quaker artist morality which is centered around notion of humility, being humble, close to the floor etc. This is why you will never ever ever meet a rich person in America called themselves rich, they will call themselves “fortunate“, or “lucky”.

Also another bizarre thing in the world of bodybuilding… You almost never ever ever see bodybuilders proud to flex on the bash Lee, like Arnold in the documentary pumping iron, back in the day. It is very uncommon for you to see self-confident men at the gym, working out topless, in booty shorts, 3 inch short shorts, flexing their muscles in the mirror, not trying to hide it etc.

The big issue with the typical bodybuilder is that they are trying to become dominant, but be humble about it? Really weird?

Lord Achilles 

I am currently reading the Iliad by Emily Wilson, I am always always happy to see a new translation or a fresh take on the classic.

Anyways, also an interesting thought… I like the idea of reading a female woman probably the most manly literature of all time. I think the problem when I was talking to my friend Kelly, is that traditionally in the past, it was a bunch of impotent old men who would translate great classics like the Iliad or the odyssey, using their own Fake impotent machismo, translate it.

For example, a lot of the misogyny, misogynistic language from 100 years ago or so, was actually very inaccurate.

Anyways, something worth noting is how artful, succinct, beautiful, and unlike English ancient Greek was. In fact, I definitely want to get Seneca on the Classics, get him into Latin and ancient Greek, and mathematics like NASSIM TALEB recommended.

If you think about it long enough, what are the least harmful majors which exist? Classics, math, physics.

Classics is almost like the superior form of sociology, physical theory, it is the pillar of the humanities. Either classics or history.

Math, it will never hurt nobody. There are simple binary rules of math, it is either right or wrong, but then again the problem with a lot of mathematicians math teachers or people who are two into math, they seek some sort of rationality behind real life, society and people… But the true wise man knows that humans are not mathematical equations, ones and zeros. Humans are messy, even the Ancient Greek gods — they are all flawed! They are a bunch of petty, incestuous, sibling rivalry, family drama folks.

---

What to focus on?

My friend Anton (congrats on your new kid!) told me something interesting… it was his general observation that individuals like me, who diversified themselves, and did not just focus on street photography were the ones that succeeded, and won in the long run. 

For example, I bemoan the death of digitalrev it was literally the best thing since Top Gear for photography and street photography. But also here, I think the cautionary tale of digital rev is critical, because whenever you build an empire on a foreign platform, it is like building your castle in a marsh or quicksand. 

Even something which shocked me ,,, the infamous video of me shooting street photography in Hong Kong with Kaiman Wong,  I think was either taken down or deleted by digital rev? Really weird, I guess it was too controversial?

Anyways, once again, I think the rational thing is whenever you post something, built something on a cotton candy foundation, whether it be Facebook Instagram YouTube TikTok etc.… Even Twitter… Know that it is destined to die. 

I even heard some kids at the mall yesterday talk about myspace, so funny… nobody has any idea what that is. Or xanga, Friendster, live journal?

Sooner or later whenever you build something on a foreign platform, two things are inevitable to happen; either your account will eventually get deleted, taken down, blacklisted, grey listed, banned shadow banned real banned, or just made obsolete. 

Neopan 1600

Some suggestions to Fujifilm:

First – make a new filter, call it extreme monochrome. The general idea is that you want to make a black-and-white filter so hardcore, so extreme, it will blow the Ricoh GR strong monochrome out of the water! 

I really love the Fujifilm cameras, for the color filters, before some reason, they really lack a good black-and-white filter mode. The acros filter on it sucks. 

A simple idea: make a neopan black and white film simulation, and make it extreme high contrast, like neopan 1600! Or like the effect of taking Neilan 400, and pushing it two stops to 1600!

Right now, the only real competition to Fujifilm is Ricoh Pentax. And it seems that Leica is dying a slow death. 

First, it seems that the Leica Q is only cash cow keeping Leica alive. Also, it seems that Leica is desperate to maintain her clutches on her film film photography heritage, resurrecting the Leica M6, the like etc.

But I think the critical issue here is that in someways, what the Germans do is kind of like kaizen;  they take the existing model, and they just keep iterating it, making the new version maybe 3% better… There is never a 100% revolutionary new product, like what Elon did with cybertruck etc. 

Once again, the glory of cyber truck is that when it is on the road, it is literally impossible to work! You could pretend like you didn’t see it, but you did see it! And if you did not see it, definitely your 3 1/2 year-old kid will see it!

And this is where I am still Tesla and Elon… As long as the kids love it, the future is bright!

Even Lamborghini… It isn’t cool anymore. And nobody even knows what a Ferrari is.

I think things go bananas when Tesla puts out a mini cyber truck, imagine a Tesla model Y, but a baby cyber truck version?

The best car  is the car not yet innovated invented or released.

I’ve always loved cars, car culture etc. I feel bad for anybody whoever purchases any brand new car, because the sad reality is that it will become obsolete in a matter of months or years?

For example, all of these guys who bought a Lamborghini Urus, only to have the new version come out, or even guys who bought the Lamborghini Huracan, with a new one that just came out?

Or even the guys who bought the Aventador… All these rappers from five or 10 years ago… Now that the new Revuelto is out, their Aventador is made obsolete? 

You fools!

“I pity the fool?”

A random sidenote… It seems that the most constructive way to approach life is through compassion, empathy, maybe even pity.

For example, whenever there are people that I am suspicious of, they are on my bad side, and then finally, I see them without a hat on, without sunglasses, in direct light, and I see how sickly or unwell they are – the first feeling is extreme compassion. Like I find myself to be the fool — there is somebody that I vilified, or made into a bad guy, or somebody that I created a totem for my general hate or despise… And then I see how unhealthy they are, and then I realize,…

Wait,,, this whole time, when I am painting this guy as a bad guy, and then I truly see you and witness that in fact, they are just a poor miserable soul, slowly dying… Why was I so negative towards that person?

Something I learned about living in LA… everyone here has problems. For example, a lot of women, their husband is cheating on them, and they know what, but don’t want to admit it. Even Jay Z… Probably still 100% cheating on Beyoncé… Why?

 And all these assholes who honk at you in the road…  spending a lot of time out of a car, just walking around now, observing traffic politics, if you actually get a really good look at the driver, they are either miserable looking Uber drivers, food delivery people, or just very very unwell sickly looking people, very overfat, insanely poor health, who may be just want to get home because they were stuck in traffic for two hours? 

When to be compassionate, when not to be a pushover?

It seems that the primary issue here is the strange bifurcation of ethics.  first, we are taught to forgive, turn the other cheek etc., but then you have all these assholes honking at you from behind. So in this case, what are you supposed to do, take it up the ass, because you’re afraid that they might have a gun and shoot you? Or commit road rage, and do something dangerous? 

I think the issue here is why should you live your life in fear that some asshole some pussy coward might have a gun, and pop you?

Obviously, I do not want to get shot by some random coward, because I have my son to live for. But still… Isn’t the real role of a man to stand up for his child, and to never ever ever see your father get pistol whipped around? 

Stand up

I think this is also where manly masculine ethics are different than feminine ones. For example, if you see some asshole smoking in the park, and you’re there with your kid… Obviously the correct strategy is to tell them to please stop smoking. I have a new line that I’m experimenting with–

“No smoking,,, pleeeease!”

For example, two assholes in front of the Apple campus on Washington in Culver City… One guy wearing some sort of Greek food T-shirt, I think he might be an apple employee… I was walking with Seneca down Washington, on the apple side, and this asshole is smoking Indignantly on the side, blowing his secondhand smoke all the way down the block.

I came up to him, and I said, no smoking… pleeeease

And this asshole has audacity to tell me that “I’m on my break…” And then I stopped, looked at him and eyes, and I said, “that’s why I said please”. He had no response, his jaw dropped. And like an asshole he kept smoking.

 anyways, fortunately there was some security guards down the block, and I asked them to tell the guy to stop smoking. Maybe next time this happens, I’ll just record him or take a picture of him on my iPhone, shame him.

Extreme ethics

I think the big issue is in today’s world, ain’t nobody have a backbone or ethics anymore.

In actually… The big issue here is that it seems at 99.9% of people just become passive aggressive, and never confront, we are a non-confrontational society, yet we hide behind our cars and honk at people? Because we are shielded from recompense?

For example, I think this is also where people become keyboard warriors… You would never talk smack about me face-to-face, because you will see how much stronger, taller, more charismatic, and dominant I am than you. In fact, some of the things that I’ve discovered after meeting some of my “haters“– we’re in fact, they were my greatest lovers! The biggest issue here was actually… Unrequited hate or love.

What is worse, unrequited hate or unrequited love?

Once again, some bizarre inconsistencies here; I’ve never hate anybody.  why because I’m not that interested in anybody else, nor do I really desire the affection of somebody else that much?

And also, the reason why a lot of men become misogynist, and hate women is because of unrequited love. Then the unrequited love becomes hate.

Everything starts off as love, then evolves to hate?

An alternate theory; maybe hate is just a more exaggerated or extreme version of love? 

Super facts

The Internet is a toxic place. Don’t let your kids go on it.

Why? I even have this kind of shocking memory, when I was a 12-year-old kid in Bayside Queens, New York. I was connected to the Internet, AWOL 3.0, on my 38.8 K modem… And I was randomly in this chat room, and then start a messaging this guy, Who then instant messaged me, (IM) via AOL instant messenger, AIM, And then eventually started to say weird stuff like pedophile stuff like it feels really good to get your dick sucked by another guy?

Anyways, obviously I got super scared and just banned him.

And I think the issue is in today’s world, I think the safe strategy in assumption is that 100% of people on the Internet, or just malicious bots. And it’s starting to get scary… If you could program a bot to be malicious, and to create more malicious bots, ad infinitum — shit starts to get scary.

For example, Michael Saylor was talking about how whenever he tweets something, And somebody responds to it in a very malicious way… Almost 100% it was a bot! And actually the big problem then is there real life human beings having back-and-forth inflamed debates with these malicious bots.

Think about it… Let us say that you are interacting with someone on Twitter, and you have no idea that it is a bot you assume it is real person… Who is going to win in the long run? Obviously the bot!

Adding friction to the digital and cyber world

As time goes on, I’m starting to think of bitcoin like a more ethical idea.

For example, Michael Saylor has an incredible genius idea of fixing all of this toxicity on the Internet, I just adding a little bit of monetary, bitcoin or Satoshi friction;

For example, if it cost $10 worth of US dollars, or Satoshi to create an account on Twitter or some social media account, then, overnight practically 100% of the malicious spots will be made obsolete or deleted from the platform.

Why? Right now it cost only a nickel to spin up 100,000 bots, to troll your worst enemy on Twitter. But, if it cost $10 a bot, it cost you $1 million to cyber bully somebody, you probably wouldn’t… Because it is too expensive and you don’t hate them that much. 

I think it is Chris Rock or Chris Tucker who had this funny comedy bit about making bullets super expensive. Then the ideas that if you really really hate somebody, and let us say that one bullet is worth $100,000, then if you really want to kill them, or even with multiple bullets, you might think twice.

Financial friction and consequences is a good idea

Maybe the greatest use of money is physical friction, monetary friction, consequences.

Fines work, monetary penalties, like getting $500 traffic tickets for turning red on a red light and not doing. Certainly has changed my driving behavior.

So I suppose the critical intelligent thing to consider is want to make things free, and want to make things cost money, to direct human behavior.

For good behavior, make it free.

For bad behavior, make it very expensive.

ERIC

---

Funny experiments

Some very very simple things to consider:

First, make things expensive, don’t make them free.

For example, let us say that you dip into the pr0n– but you don’t want to do it anymore, for whatever reason. Maybe make it a thing that if you want to watch it, you have to go to an adult DVD store, and pay $20 bucks to buy the CD or whatever. 

Or, for activities… I think often signing up and paying for an activity is a good idea because it creates sense of ownership, responsibility, or follow through. Or commitment.

For example, perhaps the intelligence of paying money for a trainer or a personal trainer is that you you know that if you don’t show up there is a fiscal penalty.

But the new ones is you don’t want to breed fake virtuosity for the sake of fake virtuosity. 

For example, there is this weird notion in American culture that pain and suffering and overcoming is virtuous. No. Fools!

Exercise workout or whatever is not virtuous, it is something that you do because it is fun enjoyable and something that you like!

For example, would you bribe your kid money to play at the playground? No! So why do this for yourself? 

---

What is the least harmful?

Weed is bad for your brain?

Protect others from ruin?

Destructive thoughts

The salt gray water

Looking across the endless sea

The high God of thunder

The dim saltwater

Don’t conceal your feelings?

.

Ask your mother for help!

.

The gods who live at ease

Zeus loves the thunderbolt

The noble Ethiopians

The pavement of bronze

 

Always be suspicious of everybody?

Man become more man, more masculine

Woman becomes more woman, more feminine

Man becomes blacker, woman becomes whiter?

Built to inspire?

Life is too short *NOT* to inspire others?

Compassion, empathy and pity — maybe these are virtues like Jesus taught us?

Note — how the Leica Q is the cash cow for Leica, and also the Ricoh GR, and Fujifilm X100 cameras

The second something bores you… Switch it up!

Take it back to the moment where I got my first canon power shot point and shoot digital camera, with a 1.3 megapixel sensor, and also, the ability to instantly review photos on the LCD screen, instantly?

Point and shoot cameras are the way!

I bought every V12 engine, wish I could take it back to the beginning. – JAY Z

Just start from where you started off,,, again!

A fresh, carte blanche mind

Maybe we have to add more friction and physics to the world of the Internet,

.

What is a good ghetto solution? 

A thought and observation… the ultimate point is to win or to succeed at something.

For example, the very very bizarre thing in the world of weightlifting, bodybuilding, powerlifting, strongman, etc. is this notion of cheating. For example, when I first did the atlas lift and broke the gym bro universe, and also with my impressive rack pulls, everyone was just scratching their heads, confused… and asking themselves “What just happened?”

For example, there’s a school of what I call, “form Nazis”, is in which people try to get you to lift a weight or perform a certain lift the way they think is virtuous, and when you do it contrary, you’re “cheating”.

First, it doesn’t matter.

Only fools with fragile egos compete.

Gain any meaningful advantage profitable to you

For example, AI, ChatGPT, and now the new Google Gemini on the android pixel phones… Kind of the game changer… The ability to quickly summarize and sift through your Gmail of 100,000 unread emails? Finally the game changer?

Don’t just not do something because it is “lame”

For example the insane intelligence of a sun hat, with a wide brim in front, and the neck protection thing in the back.

Wow!

Then who?

Davinci — what is *POSSIBLE*?

What’s magic?

35-40% value of USD

.

MELTING ice cube

Human capital

12% cost to capital

.

Crypto gold

God Money
.

2014– hasn’t been hacked

Property

$60B of Satoshi 1M coins in that wallet

$10B cannot hack it.

…

Entrepreneur is very positive in America

.

Economic Engineer ***

Physics, metallurgy chemistry, aeronautics

.

Water cannot go up hill

Standard Oil

.

Clean engineering experts

Branded food

Safe to eat

Expensive or cheap inputs?

.

Economic adventurer —

The winner is only 1?

Master practical economics ***!

Don’t trust no books

.

Entrepreneurship is real?

People aren’t robots and machines

Politics, sociology. Economics.

Competition

.

The laws of physics

You cannot cheat physics

.

Airplane aluminum

Steel doesn’t fly

.

Distort social norms

.

Casting a spell and protect your identity?

The spell?

.

Conservative, mass?

You can’t go from 200 pounds to 200,000 pounds

.

Wizards don’t use keyboards,,, they talk to it?

We don’t use the keyboard anymore!

Don’t skeuomorphism — re-imagine it

.

Technology fails until it succeeds

.

Arthur C Clarke

Magic !

1998 –> IPO

Science fiction

Technology and magic

…

Winston Churchill?

.

Save?

.

.

Death by 1000 cuts

1. Never have to hop into a car?

.

Funny thing, it seems that a lot of people desire to be in some sort of high-powered sports car, hyper car, truck etc.… But technically if you’re just standing next to them or the vehicle, you’re in a dominant position. 

For example, I think the reason why people tell you to sit down watch and take a seat, it’s actually because they want to be in a more dominant position than you.

For example, if you are a presidential candidate, have you ever seen a presidential candidate do a debate or speech while sitting? No! They stand!

This is also where modern day education is so… Why do you get kids to sit down? It is probably the worst position for them to be in? Is actually for them to be standing… Walking around, outside outdoors, in the agora etc. 

Ideal would be actually a bunch of people standing, outside in the direct elements, or at least in the shad or whatever… And everyone is standing in a circle, and there is a little speech of peptalk, etc.

Also, today’s brave New World of voice dictation and modern technology, there is no real reason to use a keyboard anymore, or even write down things pen and pad. 

For example, we are brainwashed into thinking that Penn and Pat is virtuous, but when is the last time you had to fill out a form long hand? In fact, I have more difficulty and annoyances having to figure out how to fill out PDF form, and how to edit a PDF form, rather than Figuring out how to do long hand stuff.

Michael Saylor said something interesting, in which whenever you watch sci-fi films, you never see somebody just busted out an iPhone and type it out with your thumbs. No. They talk to Jarvis, or voice dictate it. Think about how Tony Stark interacts and engages with Jarvis his personal computer and AI, he never touches a keyboard! He stands, does the zooming and enhancing with the floating holographic screen, and what he does is talk to it! Kind of like what we could do right now with ChatGPT.

This is why Apple putting a keyboard on the iPad is the worst diss you could do to the soul of Steve Jobs. Or even worse, that’s stupid Apple stylus, even more shameless the Apple Pencil “pro”? Come on guys didn’t you know that Steve Jobs intended the iPad to be used without a keyboard, and for it to be used to draw with your finger, not a stupid overpriced device which will get outdated in a season or two?

Just ride the metro — I love the metro E line (haha, for ERIC line)—

Why? Eyes plugged to their iPhones, also ears plugged into AirPods!

What *should* streets of the future look like? Or sidewalks of the future?