Author: ERIC KIM

  • How to live in cyberspace forever

    The right age?

    Being 35, 36… Peak age for a man?

    Fortress

  • Cheaper price is the ultimate advantage 

    Economy run on information 

    Upgrading or not?

    Fire power

    English is simpler

    Marginal production costs dropped

    Ghost in the machine of markets  

    Portable information

    Printing finally made information portable

    Exhilarating sense of discovery 

    Less capital is needed

    Risk less

    Pure information

    Being naked is the best Outfit

    Polarizing is good

    ,

    Spartans are all on the same side 

    On the same side

    Perhaps nationalism is a good thing? 

  • Straight is Best

    Straight barbells, straight line philosophy & living

  • REAL MEN DRIVE PRIUSES

    Only pussies drive Porsches

  • Bitcoin will first eat gold

    Then proceed

    Frank Giustra (gold proponent) got DEMOLISHED by Michael Saylor — great watch.

  • How To Transform Your Body Into a Cybertruck? 

    Cybertruck Body?

    A funny thought; ultimately, our bodies are supreme. But for us in our modern day capitalistic consumer society, we purchased vehicles which we believe to be an externalization of our own bodies and selves.

    For example, why is it that you see so many middle-aged, or older men purchase muscle cars, Corvettes etc.? It is because they have lost their potency, their own real physiological muscle, and they convert their economic energy (money) into these cars.

    Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful

    I suppose one of my great joys of living in Los Angeles is this idea of social theater and social performance.

    What that means is this; if you live in Los Angeles, and walk around, essentially the way you walk, engage on the streets is assigned of who you are.

    For example, when we think about fashion, in someways it is some sort of social armor; most people take the cowardly stance and just cover themselves up, limo tinted sunglasses, so nobody could see their eyeballs. Also, they plug up their ears with noise canceling headphones, another point of cowardice, the cover up their heads in their faces with baseball caps, another point of cowardice, and maybe where from close to hide the silhouette of their skinny fat bodies.

    Stainless steel exoskeleton

    An interesting thought I cleaned from Michael Saylor is that in superhero theory, the best super power is indestructibility. What that means is if your enemy could shoot to an atomic nuke at you, and it cannot kill you, in theory you could just walk around with a machine gun until everyone else dies.

    I also suppose this was the appeal of Superman, not necessarily that he could fly, but that theory, he is indestructible. This is why they call him demand of steel; from a metallurgical sciences perspective, apparently steel is the apex metal.

    Maybe now it is titanium, but for the most part titanium is too expensive.

    Cybertruck goals

    I love what cyber truck represents, I love Elon Musk and Tesla, the cyber truck is the baddest, best, most superior and supreme car on the road, may I say, car or automobile which has ever been created in all time.

    First, it is practically indestructible. A car made out of stainless steel? You could probably take an AK-47 to it in the hood, people attack it with baseball bats or sledgehammers, and you and your family inside will be safe. I’m not sure what the crash safety ratings are yet, but in theory, I would feel very safe driving my most precious assets in the car inside, which is Cindy Seneca and theoretical other children.  

    Second, the height. I think one of the greatest things about cyber truck is the height. First what is actually very interesting is that it is quite high up, but not that high. Not ridiculously high like some of these lifted trucks. In fact it in real life, it is quite impressive in size, but not too big. You could probably park it anywhere.

    Third, the geometric shapes, the impossible angles. I think the reason why whenever you see a cybertruck on the road, the reason why it turns so many heads is that it seems to defy physics and reality. Typically in the past we have always thought that the cars were the most aerodynamic had curves, but in actuality, the most superior and the most supreme shapes are perfectly angular, pointed. 

    Also a random point about cars, I think for the most part, we could think about feminine versus masculine aesthetics in cars.

    For example, for guys who are into cars, they always like to talk about the “curves” of a car, likening it to a female body.  This is where the Porsche car becomes so bizarre and fascinating to me; on one hand, it seems to be a desirable body shape because it has curves that simulate a woman’s body, note that the Porsche Carrera in the car movie, was the girl/woman of the movie. Put on the other hand, it seems to be the prototypical signal or status simple of success for men in LA, to drive a Porsche 911. Not the Porsche 718, I say if you want a Porsche, either get the 911 or nothing. And none of the Porsche SUV cars, or the fake electric cars, they are all essentially fakes; rebranded Volkswagen Toureg cars, or rebranded Volkswagen ID Cars (apparently these cars suck). Volkswagen which produces Audi, Porsche, even Lamborghini… They really do not understand electric nor Hybrid. Let us also consider the whole diesel gate incident with Volkswagen; it seems that the Germans are good at doing is just taking the same old thing, and making a little better, kind of like the Japanese and the whole kaizen process. But the problem with the Germans is that they like radical innovation like their Americans; no way in hell a cyber truck been approved by the Volkswagen automotive group.

    Truth be told whenever I go to Germany and Berlin; people feel a little bit stifled there, entrepreneurs hit an upper limit and upper ceiling. They would prefer to be in America instead. 

    Even in Sweden, I’ve met a lot of entrepreneurs, but one thing I learned is apparently the tax structure there is too repressive, it makes it too difficult for sole proprietors and entrepreneurs to start off. 

    Stainless steel

    What is really fascinating about cyber truck is when you see it driving on the road, in full bright sun in Los Angeles. The way it refracts light  is really fascinating; it is really really shiny, but muted at the same time. Not like chrome which is too cheesy, stainless steel is a bit more matte, and subtle.

    By the Culver City steps downtown, I actually met a dude who had a brand new cyber truck with the mat black rep street from the factory. It was cool, but I think I prefer the stainless steel;  from a Japanese craftsman aesthetic ideal; the materials must be honest. To wrap some things simply with a vinyl wrap is dishonest because the underlying nature of the material underneath is obscured. And also, the durability of even the best three vinyl car wrap is very poor; maybe three years tops. In theory with stainless steel, and the cyber truck, it will outlast you. 

    The ultimate utility?

    I like to troll Zillow for fun, looking at home prices, simply for fun and kicks. I don’t actually have any serious plans of purchasing any home for real.

    I think a very funny thought is that in theory, cheaper and more efficient and effective to just live in your cyber truck, then purchase a home. It seems that the trunk is big enough.

     the only thing I can predict that might go bad is the battery overtime. But everything else should last practically forever.

    Early adopter versus late adopter?

    When is it useful to be an early adopter or a late adopter?

    Well with bitcoin, or a lot of cryptocurrencies or crypto securities, having been an early adopter was a very good idea. For example, I still remember when I was in Vietnam in 2017, at one of my favorite coffee shops in Saigon; in the Japanese district, on zerohedge looking that bitcoin was $300 and $600 a bitcoin. Then I remember some funny headlines of a guy saying that he would eat his balls live on TV if bitcoin did not hit at least $1000 a bitcoin. 

    I got into the game still pretty early, I think 2018, when bitcoin was still only about $6900 a bitcoin.

    It’s never too late

    People always be on the fact that it is too late to get into stuff; fitness, a new hobby, investing etc. But actually, today is always the best day.

    For example, people now think that bitcoin is too expensive, they wish they bought it when it was cheaper. But then again, the people who bought it cheaper wish they bought it cheaper.

    Health and fitness; not true. Even my 69-year-old mom started doing hard-core daily yoga with Cindy for a month, and she did it consistently every single day for 30 days straight, and it looks like my mom is not in the best shape of her life.

    Also, I’m 36 years old, to my infamous thousand pound atlas lift at the age of 35; I feel like I was 100 times stronger at the age of 35, then even when I was in my mid 20s.

    Apparently, when King Leonidas did his last stand against king xerxes and the Persians, he was in his 40s? 

    There are also Spartan sayings, real Spartans sayings of Spartans with gray hair in their 60s, still putting on their helmet to go to war.

    ***

  • Dollar supremacy?

    Us technology supremacy

    American Supremacy

    2-3M people , 1 million people a week investing

    Most popular asset ?

    1/2 of American public owns Bitcoin?

    .

    Base layer fin tech

    The sentiment

    Livy

    History knowledge is power

    .

    Smartphones and iPhones are useless without ChatGPT

    .

    Make it stock again

    Uncompetitive

    Hypothecation

    .

    Armored shell

    693% vs 4.66 percent for gold

    $1–> $136

    .

    190% decade every year .

    Sharp ratio?

    Sharpe ratio?

    Risk adjustment

    95% of the gold was confiscated over the last 100 years

    Gold slides

    .

    Toyota sequoia?

    693% in 9 months

    .

    Binance

    .

    Historical Performance

    Objective clean slate

    If bitcoin works, Gold won’t.

    $4b choice –> price suppression

    Rigging is child’s play

    Legendary volatility

    LeBron James at age 19–> more volatile, the more better

    .

    Change your mind change your soul

    .

    Seizure risk

    .

    Hybrid is best?

    .

    Independent thinking

    .

    You buy it to hold for long periods of time

    .

    Not running out with gold

    .

    Only 21M!

    If I have 16 bitcoin, what percentage of that is out of 21 million?
    .

    All in

    Inevitable?

    .

    I don’t know

    The laws of physics and technology dynamics

    You cannot stop people using iPhones or the Internet or YouTube

    .

    Rescue stranded energy

    Never happened before in history

    Global renaissance

    .

    Follow the leader?

    Borrow it don’t own it?

    Bitcoin Owner

    .

    Singapore AFFECTING America?

    Innovation in other countries will drive up your property ***

    .

    Market cap

    Stock to flow goes to infinity

    .

    Money is technology

    .

    Technology issue

    .

    Bitcoin is a money virus

    Bitcoin is offense, 200% step

    Next step is everyone ***

    Strong money problem

    .

    When Apple joins

    Moral imperative

    The greatest money app

    .

    Life liberty and property

    Digital transformation

  • Just rethink the whole thing

    I think the critical fallacy here is that we are still stuck with the same old analogies of thinking.

    For example, traditional K-12 education; why are we still thinking and behaving in the same way? Why these arbitrary regimented classes, with arbitrary subjects, none which I imagine will actually be useful when Seneca becomes 21.

  • Competing, competition is Bad

    When we companies try to compete with others, we end up failing.

    For example, two very bad news for Apple; first, the new Apple intelligence stuff, is trying to compete with ChatGPT, but it will end up getting destroyed.

    Second, Apple Vision Pro, also very bad, it is trying to compete with Meta and the Meta quest, but Facebook and oculus had almost a seven year head start.

    What Apple should be trying to do is to just focus on her core products; first, make the iPhone insanely great again. Now it sucks.

  • Insanely Appealing

    The simple thought: you just have to make things insanely appealing

  • Money is Muscle

    don’t drain your muscle! GAINZZZ is the goal!

  • Think Your Own Mind

    I believe the great tragedy that we have in the 21st-century is that people lack the chutzpah to think for themselves, by themselves, etc.

    For example, if I think about traditional K-12 education, the primary focus should be teaching critical thinking, independent thinking, etc. Yet, traditional schools rather seem to be more about teaching obedience, grammar Nazi rules, etc.

    For example, grammar. I think grammar is probably the biggest skins out there; some basic magic grammar is critical to just communicate basic things and ideas. Yet, when we enforce grammar for the sick grammar, we are missing the point.

    For example, Seneca, at age 3 years, three months old; he knows Korean Vietnamese is in English, also Spanish. Yet, there is basic things I am teaching him like present future desires etc. These basic grammar rules are critical for higher order communication, but after that, grammar is not very necessary.

    Also, street smarts, world Smarts.

    What is the number one most critical thing in the child? Make sure your kid doesn’t die in a car accident, getting hit by a car, and also extreme caution while crossing the street etc.

    Or when you’re babysitting or watching your nieces and nephews for the weekend; what is the number one most critical thing? Deliver them back in one piece, intact, alive. 

    School?

    The thing I am the most grateful for of studying college is the ability to unlearn, to challenge societal ideas. 

    For example, I credit studying sociology at UCLA as an undergraduate for truly expanding my mind, and leading to almost all of my successes in my life. Why? Ironically enough, sociology is all via negativa;  sociology is all about unlearning, getting rid of nonsense from your mind, challenging traditional beliefs.

    Even when I think about almost all aspects of my life, I have always pried myself in going against the green, challenging certain beliefs.

    For example, all of my grand innovations in weightlifting, fitness, health, photography and open source, login, social media, and now bitcoin and cryptocurrency.

    Why?

    If you think about it, do you think about society as this ultra mega macro economic thing; day society isn’t about cultivating a few genuine thinkers, revolutionaries. Rather, it is all about creating mediocre, just kind of OK individuals.

    For example, at Trader Joe’s the other day I saw a really funny T-shirt with an older guy wearing a T-shirt saying “the world’s okayest musician”.

    Don’t be good, be great. – JAY Z

    OK is bad?

    What does it mean to be mediocre? Technically it just means the mean; the average, the middle. 

    For example, I saw a very disturbing thing; I guess the evil Walt Disney corporation, which purchased marvel is now cobranding with the evil Coca-Cola corporation; selling your kids obesity, metabolic disease, type three diabetes (Alzheimer’s disease) and type two diabetes (purely a lifestyle thing). Essentially the new filter I have is this: 

    Were your kids raised on Disney, Disney+, Netflix, Marvel superhero movies, YouTube, Bluey or not?

    My greatest parent is that Seneca, ever since birth and up until now has never watched any YouTube, Netflix, senseless media or entertainment.

    I often hear parents bemoan the fact that, it is so hard, everyone else is doing it. But just because everyone else is taking heroin and smoking crack cocaine, does that mean you should as well? Of course not. The best way to distinguish yourself is through what you decide not to do. 

    Distinguishing yourself

    The best way to proclaim who you are, or how to distinguish yourself how you are different, or how you are exceptional is through what you decide not to do, also in someways, rather than bragging about how much money you spent, it is better to brag about how little money you spend. 

    For example, I’d like to brag how I have never spent more than $3000 USD on an automobile car in my entire life. My great joy, the recent 2010 Prius inherited from the family I got for free!

    Also, my pride that I don’t have any sort of streaming TV services. Also the fact that I don’t use social media, and I don’t have an Instagram. My ultimate dad troll joke: 

    When somebody asked me, “what’s your Instagram“? My response, in the serious voice and tone is this —

    “What’s Instagram?”

    I stare at people, blink, and they are not quite sure about how to respond.

    Similarly speaking, your great signal of successes of photography or as a photographer is for you to NOT have an Instagram. If you could be a successful photographer without Instagram, you truly are successful. 


    Bitcoin

    When I purchase bitcoin for only $6900 in bitcoin, back in 2017 2018, only reason I could’ve ever invested speculated in bitcoin and cryptocurrency was that impact, I thought different. I think different,, for myself. It looks like my regulations have paid off. My bitcoin and crypto speculations have exploded; currently my net investments are easily over 1M. And looking forward, I won’t be too surprised when it is over 10M, or 100 M.

    I think my big thought is thinking this:

    > That thing I purchased today for $1000, could be worth 10,000 or $100,000 a few years from now.

    For example, I saw that one of my neighbors just bought a new Porsche car, and I thought to myself, that 70,000 or $80,000 that you put towards our car today, could easily be worth 1 million or $10 million a few years from now.

    Therefore, think an exponential; this is the true way to become rich.

    Independent success 

    I think and wonder to myself, true success is simply thinking different, being different, dressing different, acting different, lifting different, etc.

    For example, all of my great successes in life were polar opposites to what traditional knowledge said. For example, when I told everybody that I was making all my materials available for free open source, people thought I was insane. The same goes with allowing full resolution images of all my images to be downloadable open for free.

    And now, Mike grand idea of building the worlds first bitcoin based photography publishing platform; perhaps this will be my second great innovation. Email me: eric@erickim.com if you want to build the future together.


    Why?

    Ultimately, all thinkers, innovators, philosophers, or all centered around the same general idea of the betterment in the thriving of humanity. Everyone is doing this at a different way.

    For example, Elon Musk, even though people are critical of him, ultimately what he wants to do is inject more optimism and hope into humanity. And this is a noble goal.

    Steve Jobs, his ultimate vision was creating computers which became “bicycles for the mind”– essentially increasing the leverage of any human being by 100,000x.

    Even more recently, my new favorite thinker Michael Saylor, I think his grand mission is economic empowerment. I am currently reading his decade old book, the mobile wave, and it looks like his primary benefit was studying the history of science as a 18-year-old at MIT; Reading the history of technology is in live and, because even for myself now at the age of 36, being born in 1988… I can very vividly see how my life was profoundly shaped by the Internet, the advent of blogging Facebook and social media, and now, my new Second Wave with cryptocurrency and bitcoin; having the privilege of Being alive and wise during the next grand uprising.

    For example, Internet, blogging changed everything. It helped me build up the air Kim Empire. And now with bitcoin, cryptocurrency, Ethereum in the likes; maybe this could help me build the next true competitor to Facebook, Instagram etc —

    The demise of Facebook is trying to build its own crypto lira, if Mark was really smart he would’ve just integrated bitcoin instead.

    Maybe if I think even more ambitiously, I should just create the next social media platform, with bitcoin baked in.


    Thinking big

    I suppose the upside of living in America, or the modern day world, with the Internet and the like is the fact that there is no glass ceiling, no upper limits.

  • Korean is Cool

    Genesis is beating Porsche at its own game?

  • ”Competitor”?

    Challenging “survival of the fittest”.

    Also, philosophically, does the notion of a “competitor” truly exist?

  • INSATIABLE

    Hungry for more

  • WAR TRAINING

    Time to get tribal

    WAR TRAINING

  • Think the Soul not the “Ego”

    The soul is real, the ego is fake

  • This is a strategy

    .

    Difficulty adjustment

    ADAPTIVE CONTROL SYSTEM

    First order feedback mechanism

    Calculus of variations

    Engineering grade metal — Carnegie, steel

    Engineering-grade money, engineering-grade property

    when software went to vapour state, you morphed into things that were magical, like communications techniques.

    Fallacy of diversification

    Bitcoin is digital transformation of energy

    Bitcoin is software eating money

    Software is eating money

    Matter is energy, and energy is matter

    Muscle is Matter

    Property is economic matter

    Money is economic energy

    Currency is political energy

    Exchange of energy for matter, exchange of matter for energy

    We exchange energy for matter ..

    Steel is the Apex metallic energy 

    Andrew Mellon … aluminum

    No river no city

    Utility value ,,, not the premium.

    Collect yield forever

    “Stack forever”

    Business development

    Property development strategy

    Digital energy **-> most valuable thing in the universe

    .

    It’s gets harder. We all know that, right. It’s a lot harder to stack at $60,000 than it is at $10,000. But the people who were stacking at $10,000 are remembering back when they could have stacked at $1,000 regretting that. Then you get the Max Keisers reminding us how he was stacking at $12, or whatever it was.

    ..

    The fear of a new thing is inertia

    The Chinese have an inflated currency

    …

  • Photo AI

    An AI which can visually suggest how you can improve your photos and compositions

  • Michael Saylor Interview Notes

    If you think about this really deeply, you don’t really want to buy a Tesla with a Bitcoin, because Bitcoin’s going to $1 million and the Tesla’s going to zero. What you want to do is borrow $50,000 in dollars at 4% interest to buy the Tesla, and then in ten years you’ll have the $1 million and you’ll be able to buy another Tesla, and then you’ll have $10 million.

    financing the property to the currency

    If what you want is to construct a system that makes you wealthy and keeps you wealthy and keeps all the gears of commerce spinning, the system that works best is everybody holds a digital currency and they hold a digital property, or a digital asset; they’re both technically assets, which is why I distinguish one as property and one as currency. And then the strategy long term is you keep financing the property to the currency. And it’s actually of benefit to you.

    Revolution vs evolution

    Apolitical

    The evolutionary view is, “I invented oil and steel and electricity and Isaac Newton invented engineering maths. Is the world a better place with calculus, oil, steel and electricity, and should we introduce it?” The evolutionary view is apolitical. It’s constructive and it’s also cooperative.

    Change the money keep the bank

    The path of least resistance is the strategy of most likely success.

    Bitcoin over gold

    as long as the US dollar is losing 15% of its value a year, every single person in the United States can borrow money at less than 15% interest.

    If you’re borrowing money at 2%, 3%, 4%, 5% interest, everybody has a positive 10% arbitrage just off of the currency weakening, which means that if you don’t have debt in the weakening currency, then your portfolio is half as big as it would otherwise be.

    **

    If the world’s $1,000 trillion, I think that digital energy is $500 trillion. We can call that money, the money is $500 trillion, however you want to deal with it. We have a solution to half of everything, but we don’t have a solution to the other half.

    before you change the world, get the money.***

    **

    And if you’re 100% invested, I want you to understand it well enough to say, “Well, maybe I really can take out a 3% 15-year loan and be 200% invested”. Why not?

  • What is evil? Things or products which kill people 

    Coca Cola corporation, cigarettes Phillip Morris

  • Fat is Bad

    Fat is disease

    How to become less fat, how to get rid of fat —

  • Ban Soda

    It’s like giving cigarettes to kids 

  • Endeavour

    What do species strive for? Greater advantages , greater futures

  • Energy is Everything

    More muscle, more food, more energy?

  • Armor over Weapons

    If you have indestructible armor, technically your weapons don’t matter.

    Focus on building your armor, not weapons.

    Why real men don’t own guns or knives.

  • Direct Traffic

    Unlearn propaganda? 

    Techno crat

    Apple of money

    2000x more powerful

    Cyber manhattan for everyone is the best idea

    **

    Property rights

    Think 100 years

    Think 50 years

    Advocate

    $40B surplus

    Stop getting poor

    Poor Habits

    Clarity conviction and courage

    Pure geometry

    The CNY is weak.

    China is Weak?

    5T

  • Economics?

    The passion of man

    The sea is deeper, the deeper you go into it 

    Economics; work.

    The first question:

    Work for the sake of what?

    1. Rent

    Ultimately, you need somewhere to sleep. Having some sort of home, habitation, apartment.

    I think the big thought, perhaps something that a lot of Americans don’t know is that if you live abroad, in a developing country, let’s say somewhere in Southeast Asia, Thailand, Vietnam Cambodia etc., what that means is you could rent a brand new apartment, very very nice, furniture and everything and all utilities included, in the range of $320 a month, $300 a month in Phnom Penh Cambodia. 

    I think Americans like to complain; do you like to complain about the price of rent, the cost of living etc. However, don’t people realize that you have the power and the ability and the freedom to dictate wherever you live, how to live, went to live, went to live, when not to live?

    2. Food

    The second one is food. Food is a funny new one; it could be insanely expensive, or it could be insanely cheap.

    For example, just go to any local Mexican meat market, and you could buy a pound of beef liver for only $1.99! Because beef liver might have 10 the amount of nutrition as typical meat or flesh meat etc., what that means is you can’t eat as much of it, even if you wanted to. For example, I could eat maybe 4 1/2 to 5 pounds of ground beef, 8020. However with beef liver, I might only be able to eat about 2 1/2 pounds of it.

    Let us say that you’re the average person, you could maybe eat what, a half a pound of it? A quarter pound of it?

    If you did the math, theory you could feed yourself on $.50 to a dollar a day! And this is in America!  that is $15 a month, or $30 a month. And for beverages, if you just drink tapwater or filtered water, which is essentially free, and let us assume the only luxury drink is coffee, but even coffee could be insanely cheap, if you get coffee on sale etc.

    So let us assume that in the states only $30 a month.

    3. How do people blow money?

    It seems to be 100,000x to conserve money than spend it.

    However, the trillion dollar question is still; one should one conserve money, for the sake of what, towards what ends, and one should one spend money, also for the sake of what?

    4. The true scarce desirable thing

    Time and energy, physiological power and energy.

    Essentially the true idea of wealth is maximum time, maximum freedom of time as well as maximum physiological energy. 

    For example, even if you had all of the wealth in the world, all the time in the world, but let us say that I do sleep deprivation torture on you, and you might only sleep 30 minutes a night. Certainly nothing will be worth it.


    5. Leverage is the key

    I think ultimately, if you consider leverage, economic leverage; this is the key.

    For example, let us say that you’re being paid in US dollars, with the typical American salary, and let us say that you’re living abroad in southeast Asia, Vietnam Cambodia Thailand, Bangkok, Hanoi, Saigon, Phnom Penh etc — only $300 a month in rent. If this were the case, even becoming self-employed, it is very easy to earn $300 a month. To just cover your living expenses.

    So the more I think about it, the more I’m curious, is it primary issue here a knowledge gap one? People don’t know that this is an option?

    6. We are getting suckered?

    Certainly there are certain things being marketed to us, some sort of superficial desires. For example, is the iPhone 77 going to be any good? Your Tesla not going to get some sort of design upgrade in the next 100 years?

    I think thinking long-term is more clarifying. For example, let us consider the digital Leica M9, which retail for $7000 USD, when it came out. It could barely shoot at ISO 800 without noise! Now any thousand dollar digital camera can blow it out of the water. 

    So I suppose the secret then is to give a deep critical thought about superficial things, and to not get suckered by superficial things.