If you still have the passion to go out and make new photos, and keep on adventuring, consider yourself blessed.

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Something very interesting about being here in Hadong, in the Korean mountainside is this; everything is super optimal and supreme. What I meant to say is that it has the best weather, the best amount of sunlight, the best sleep (no annoying honking at night), and also grandma power, a.k.a. my mom.

Also, Seneca loves being here, throwing around rocks, going on little adventures with me, discovering new things in the forest, discovering new terrains, etc.

For myself, I also love it. I love the higher altitude and terrain, I loved insanely fast Wi-Fi at home, etc. Truth be told, there seems to be nothing lacking.

Then the question becomes; then what?

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PDF

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Thoughts move the world

Funny thing, I can do a video Vlog and upload to YouTube, and organically, it might only get five views. In terms of efficiency and reach, this makes no sense. However, I still like uploading to YouTube because I like the idea that somewhere, my videos can live on, almost indefinitely. Also, I like experimenting with creating more 4K videos, being able to harness insanely fast Wi-Fi at my mom‘s house. There’s a certain joy I have been enjoying watching certain videos I’ve shot on my GoPro at 4K at 60 FPS.

Also, even shooting 5K, and being able to upload that.

However, it seems that currently at least on YouTube, only 4K is displayed. That means that 4K is big enough, 5K and 8K will probably not render on YouTube.

Supreme mode of being

Compared to when I was in Seoul, my health and personal strength feels much higher here. I feel stronger, more motivated and inspired, and overall happier. As much as I love the city, even spending time on the Seoul subway, and shooting street photography, it does seem to be more efficient to just be here, being able to do quick walks uphill, mountain scenes, looking at the nice nature, and having interesting thoughts. For example, the moment I step outside my mom‘s minimalist millennial house, I can immediately do a quick walk over to the neighbors house, and enjoy their forest. Something about being surrounded by trees and varying terrain gives life to new interesting thoughts.

Power vs Strength

So the first thought I had today was this; seeking more power at the expense of anything. However, what is power? And also, what is the difference between power and strength?

For example, let us inspect man. Who is more powerful, the billionaire who is 40% body fat, and weighs 200 pounds and cannot even lift 100 pounds off the floor, or the powerlifter who looks like a Greek god, or a demigod, and can deadlift 800 pounds at 200 pounds, with 8% fat?

In modern-day society, for the most part, there doesn’t seem to be a real practical use of physical strength. In today’s modern world, money reigns supreme. That is, if you desire to become the most powerful man, it seems the most important metric is either your net worth, or how much US dollars you have in the bank. Zeros and commas.

However for me, I do not judge a man’s worth based on how much money he earns, or how much he has saved in the bank, etc. I am more impressed by people who have courage, whether mental courage, or physical courage, in the context of powerlifting and hypelifting, and also, the individuals who have the ability to skirt social norms.

For example, typically this is why I like engaging with entrepreneurs, because in order to become a successful entrepreneur, they had to overcome a lot of social pressures and norms in order to build their company and become successful. But at the same time, entrepreneurs are not enough. Physique and physical strength is also important to me. Even I saw a random interview with Peter Thiel recently, and it looks like he has a massive skinny fat beer belly now. At least it looks like Elon musk spends some time lifting weights.

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Not consumerism, but something else.

Another big thing I have reflected on and thought about about life in America, or just the state of global affairs; it seems that now everything is optimized towards buying things. For example, the insane amount of mind space which individuals make in terms of figure out which car to buy, which configuration, which color, etc. And it doesn’t even matter if you’re a billionaire or not, having to waste precious brain power on this seems to be inefficient.

Also, when it comes to health, there are too many superficial choices now. For example, does it really matter whether I use toothpaste which has fluoride or doesn’t? I think not.

Or technology; even for myself, excruciating annoyance that I experience when trying to buy a new phone or any new device, trying to optimize every single factor.

The downside of all this is that ultimately, what you decide to buy or not buy doesn’t really matter. For the most part it is superficial. It really doesn’t matter that much.

What matters more is the things you make and create and share. Your photos, your thoughts, your videos, your blogs your Vlogs, your art, your photos, etc.

How living in Vietnam was so beneficial

When me and Cindy lived in Vietnam for about a year, our mode of living was hopping between hotels, and small minimalist studio apartments. Even at our old Hanoi apartment, a brand new fully furnished studio apartment, I think we only paid $350 USD a month, Wi-Fi electricity and water included.

The big upside of all this wasn’t some sort of virtuosity, but rather, we could just focus on what mattered to us; making art, writing, thinking, playing and having fun. Cindy made a lot of great films, and also I came up with a lot of interesting philosophical turbo thoughts.

Even now being here in Hadong with Seneca, I am very very grateful and glad that Seneca has his epic 2-3 hour midday nap, which gives me a chance to just walk around and write out and dictate my thoughts, and end up sharing them with others. Even now, as I walk around the hills here with my iPad Pro, and using the built-in voice dictation to write out my thoughts in IA WRITER, I feel great.

So what’s next?

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Thinking more?

In some ways, thoughts are superficial. That is, thoughts without action are inconsequential.

Also, it seems kind of empty to have the strategy of just living here in Hadong forever, continually improving my health, and continually innovating and sharing turbo thoughts, videos and photos, etc.

I think what I am interested in is new experiences, new places, new environments. Because this is a big thing, whenever you are in the new environment, you have new types of thoughts. Also, whether we like it or not, we are a lot more affected by our environment than we would like.

For example, Americans tend to be very foolish in thinking that willpower alone can supersede any environmental issues. However, an individual will have a different mood and type of thoughts, depending on the environment and the weather, the climate and the altitude.

For example, you’ll probably be a lot more miserable being in Moscow in Russia during the winter time, than being in the beautiful spring in the Korean mountainside. Similarly speaking, for the most part I am much happier in Providence Rhode Island, than being in the dry Orange County suburbs.

Power for the sake of what?

Let us than assume that money is the metric for power. But then what? If you have $100 billion in the bank, what would you really want to do with it? Buy a bunch of companies, and buy a bunch of things, and change how the world is?

One of the very interesting and admirable things I think that Elon Musk did was he actually did use his personal wealth, in order to combat something he’s really cared for. That was, the soft censorship of the Internet, via Twitter and Jack Dorsey.

“Jack off the board!” -Elon Musk twitter

I have always admired Jack Dorsey, and I think he’s one of the greatest modern entrepreneurs of all time. However, it does seem that he had to compromise in order to make Twitter profitable. That is, change the Twitter algorithm and tweak it to maximize engagements, very similar to the Facebook news feed algorithm. I don’t think what Jack Dorsey did was bad or evil, he simply was trying to be a responsible CEO. Hopefully his next startup will be free from such considerations, it seems the best way to stay pure and honest is to never go public.

Not compromising

A very simple thought is that to compromise is both cowardly and it’s a sign that you are too chained to to your personal code of ethics. For example, when a CEO or leader has to compromise his or her vision in order to please shareholders, the stock price, etc., I think there is a lot of regret. For example, the guy who sold WhatsApp seems quite depressed about his decision. Also, I’m sure that Kevin Systrom is not happy that he sold Instagram either. As much flak as Mark Zuckerberg gets, at least he had the balls to not sell Facebook in the early days.

Why sell?

I think the pressure to sell your company in cash out is a combination of people not being philosophical or deep enough, and also people just following the traditional motive doing things:

1. Build up a company
2. Build up it’s user base and profitability
3. Make it appealing to the market
4. Go public, IPO, initial public offering
5. Make the stock price go really really high
6. Share a “reasonable“ amount of shares, and add that money to your bank account
7. Then use that money to either build other companies, to just live “off the grid,” etc.

The building is the joy

For me, arabeta.com, the Why app? my blog and my YouTube channel, etc., the joy is always having an idea which appeals to me, and seeing it come to fruition.

The difficult thing is maintenance. That is, for me to have the personal skills in the know how to actually do it myself.

For example, I do not know how to code, and it seems realistically speaking, I might never. As a consequence, it seems better for me to simply stick to what I can do, with no obstructions.

When to Archimedes lever, when to learn new things?

A simple thought I have is this; utilize your Archimedes lever as a publishing channel to innovate new things.

For example, my Archimedes lever is my blog, and now this email newsletter. Then, what seems to make the most sense is to best utilize my publishing platform, and inside of that, both create new ideas and share new ideas. Things that do not necessarily have to be in the realm of photography, or anything I’ve done in the past.

The power of going solo

A thought on my mind is this; why is it that Lisa from BLACKPINK does not just go off and start her own solo career? I think she will become the next Beyoncé.

Cindy and I made a joke, after watching so many LALISA practice dance music videos, and then seeing the new music videos with Lisa and the three other members. I asked Cindy as a joke, “who are those other people behind Lisa? Cindy laughed and said, “probably some random backup dancers.”

My personal theory is that Lisa is probably held to some sort of contract with YG entertainment, the holding group which controls the life and souls of the BLACKPINK members. That is, I am certain there’s a part of their contract which prevents them from just leaving, dating, doing anything without the approval of YG entertainment, etc.

But, I think sooner or later, once Lisa comes to her wits, and her contract expires, she might just go off and sign with some sort of American or Korean American company, and start her own thing. If she was very very intelligent, she would just become a solo entrepreneur, and just do everything in a more ghetto fashion, uploading stuff to YouTube for her fans, and becoming a full stack personality. Lisa could probably make a good living just getting donations from her fans, selling merchandise, or touring around, or even selling tickets to online shows.

Why this notion of building a company?

Truth be told, more difficult to be a solo trillionaire entrepreneur, with just yourself at the helm, then having a full company like Apple or Amazon.

A theory I have is this; most people who work in the tech industry are not radical solo individuals, but nerds, who are just really good at building stuff. Therefore, there is no thought to become solo, because that is not even a concept to them. There is more safety and peace of mind to be in a group or herd, than being solo.

For example, nobody has intuition anymore in Silicon Valley. For example, I am sure that the head designers at Google simply kowtow to the metrics of what gets clicked on more, and also Apple is trying to optimize the profitability, and simply feeding people new products which will sell well, and have a high profit margin.

Same thing with Amazon; now that Jeff BEZOS has left, it is more of a race to make things more efficient, faster, and ultimately, more profitable.

Even a bad trend I see with Kanye West and his Yeezy line, it seems that Adidas is taking more and more control, suddenly increasing the flow of products, the prices, etc. Instead of just having his products on his exclusive yeezysupply.com, a lot of the new “Adidas Yeezy sneakers“, are available directly on the Adidas website.

So what do you really want?

My personal goal is to keep on exploring, discovering new places, and also coming up with new ideas. Also, I aspire to keep making photos and sharing thoughts until I die at the age of 120.

I cannot speak for you. What you require instead is a frank and focused thinking process by yourself. Maybe it is a good idea to go off the grid for a few weeks, or just fuck off to a random country, and go super zen mode for a year or two.

Also check out WHY APP? to do it at home.

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No thought is final

There is no such thing as an ultimate immutable truth. Seeking this is creative and philosophical death. For example, if you did really discover a “theory of everything“, what motive would you have to keep on living and thinking?

Keep throwing rocks into the pond

Currently, Seneca‘s favorite activity in the world is picking up rocks of varying sizes, and throwing them into bodies of water. He loves to pick the rock, hold it, carry it over to the ledge, and then throw it into the water, and he laughs whenever he sees the ripple or the splash it makes in the water.

Maybe we could take a similar philosophy to life. That is, whatever we do in our lives is kind of similar. We like to pick up and throw things at varying sizes, and just see what happens.

ERIC

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Think with KIM

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What now?

1. Upload your favorite photos to arabeta.com, for honest feedback, and also contribute your thoughts to others.
2. Read some ZEN OF ERIC THOUGHTS

Think more, share more

Spend some more time thinking, and sharing and publishing your thoughts. You could do it super easy by just recording a Vlog of yourself sharing your thoughts on your phone, and directly uploading it to YouTube. Or, just post your thoughts to your blog, and share a link with friends and family who might be interested.

Google SEO approach, search engine optimization is this; create a website and blog which includes your first and last name, and whenever you write about a certain topic, create a title that you think others will search, in order to find more personal meaning in their lives.

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Sharing is caring, it can be fun!

If this was fun for you, feel free to forward this to a friend!

ERIC KIM NEWS

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New thoughts on https://youtube.com/@erickimphotography

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Sharing your screenshots is an intimate view on your life, and how you approach things.

Also, just share your workflow.

VIDEO

My mountain-side creative retreat bunker:

PDF DOWNLOADS

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PHOTOS

Using this lofty billionaire feeling, let me try to strive to make some immortal photo thoughts:

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What is photography?

The first question we must deal with is to define photography, or to at least try to discuss what it is, and why it is significant.

To me, photography is about making images which you consider beautiful and artistic. Not all the photos you shoot must be beautiful or interesting, or artistic, but the apex of our photographic pursuits as photographer-artists is seeking to create beautiful images in our own eyes.

Is there a such thing as an objectively beautiful image?

No. If you study the philosophy of aesthetics, it comes from the Greek “aesthetikos” which just means perception. However you perceive the external world is aesthetics.

Therefore, assuming you’re Stevie Wonder, and you’re blind, you will probably perceive the world in a different way, and also experience beauty in a different way. Or, depending on your life experiences, your gender, your sex, where are you live, etc., your notion of beauty will be different. Also depending on your age.

For example, if you are going through puberty as a hormonal teenage boy, your notion of what makes a beautiful woman is probably different than thinking about this in your 30s.

Also, much of aesthetics and beauty is based on your society and the corpus of literature knowledge and art with beauty. For example, if you look at old paintings which depict life in Korea or Japan, the notion of what makes a beautiful woman is very different than our modern notion of what makes a beautiful social media fitness star, Like Pamela Rief.

Also, the American notion of a beautiful woman in the 90s, like a Pamela Anderson, very very different than the members of BLACKPINK.

Also, the modern notion of male beauty through the K-pop group BTS is very different than the notion of beauty or masculinity in the 90s, like let’s say a 50 Cent.

What are you trying to do with photography?

The question you must address is this; trying to discover and pinpoint why you do photography, and what you want out of it. This philosophy inquiry is important, and this is why I invented the Zen of Eric or the Why app? Once you discover why you do something, it will give you a greater focus and direction in your life.

For example, I use photography as a tool to live a more adventurous and active life. Also, I have a strong passion for sharing information knowledge and inspiration with other photographers. Why? When I started off in photography, I was so confused and lost, and couldn’t really find any useful things on the internet to aid my journey. For example, no advice on how to conquer your fears of shooting in street photography, no advice on how to succeed as a photographer in the modern day world, and also, no real good resources on photography composition. And now, no real knowledge on a deeper purpose or philosophical inquiry on the why of photography.

Therefore, the knowledge I create and share it simply based on my personal curiosity, and also, striving to help other people who are similar to a past and present me.

What does it mean to make a “good“ photo?

To me, making photos which spark joy, gratitude, and wonderment in the world. Essentially, making photos which makes me happy.

In the past, my thought was trying to make an impenetrable photo, that nobody could criticize or critique, which would get lots of likes and favorites on social media. Now that I am no longer on social media, my pursuits have become much more zen; I am more interested in creating a stream of images, rather than single great images that will last forever.

Should I study the history of photography?

The biggest benefit of studying the history of photography is in order to gain more self-confidence and what you’re doing right now and today. For example, also a lot of studying the history of photography was useful to debunk notions, like the myth of the decisive moment, the bad idea that you cannot pose your subjects were interact with them, and also, discovering the inner motivation and inspiration from other photographers.

Starting my series Learn From the Masters of Photography was based on my personal curiosity of this; how can I draw from the streams of knowledge in the past, in order to augment myself as a photographer?

Also, a power thing. A lot of photographers often name drop other photographers to make you feel small. I find this to be a very cowardly thing; does my deep distain for anybody who name drops other photographers or other artist too much.

For example, if you want to judge or critique another photographer or artist, best to say what it is, then what it is not. For example, you don’t want to say something like “he’s not Henri Cartier Bresson but…” Also a bad thing is when people tell you that it reminds them of photographer X, Y, Z, and how it “has already been done before”. For example, if you want to start a New York City metro subway series, a lot of these insecure photographers will tell you, “yeah but you’ll never do it as good as Bruce Davidson.” But if you study the history of photography, you will know that there were a lot of people who shot the New York subway before even him. I think it was Walker Evans who even shot Street photos on the New York subway with a hidden spy camera.

Also, past experiences should not prevent us from attempting our own path. For example, can you imagine a budding artist who doesn’t try his or her take an abstract painting, just because Picasso and Matisse already did it? Or, Seneca doesn’t attempt to throw around rocks because other kids have “done it already before“?

Thoughts on social media

Social media is a trap. It is like getting a golden cage; and Mark Zuckerberg becomes your sugar daddy. Essentially, would you trade becoming castrated, getting your balls cut off, in order to get sponsorships, likes, followers, fame, and money? No. Even if somebody offered me $100 trillion, I would not cut off my balls.

Yet this is what happens. It is essentially the new modern Bed of Procrustes; you cut off your limbs in order to fit the algorithm, rather than the reverse.

So what is the best way to share my photos?

Another thing. Don’t be like these pseudo-woke photographers who say that they only shoot for themselves and never share their photos with anybody. This seems not only to be false, but a strange thought. No human would desire to live on a desert island by him or herself, even if they had all of the modern day luxuries, and an infinite amount of wealth. We humans like other humans, which is essentially the big takeaway from sociology. Humans would not want to live on Mars, if there are no other humans around.

There is a positive feedback loop; we enjoy making photos, and we enjoy sharing them with others. Knowing that other people can enjoy your photos brings us dinner joy, and we continue and repeat the process.

My simple suggestion is create your own self-hosted blog, with wordpress.org, and you disable all comments, statistics, views, etc. And you post your photos as you please, and you just share a hyperlink with your friends and family, or just email a link to your friends and family.

Think email and SMS (text messaging)

I always forget my login information, but I always remember my phone number. Also, even though email is a very inefficient mode of communication, it is in sense the most open and frictionless technology we got. For example, if you try to add somebody on Kakaotalk, WhatsApp, Facebook messenger, even telegram, it is a big pain in the butt. Easier to just get their phone number and text them or call them, or just get their email and email them.

This is where I like the idea of creating and owning your own self-hosted email newsletter (Sendy.co). 99.99% of email newsletters are very annoying and just spam; I say, make your email newsletters as juicy tasty and delicious as well fried pork belly. Ideally with a side of kimchi on the side.

A simple way to approach it is this; send emails and email newsletters that you yourself would like to receive. Also, do not send things to people that you would not like to receive yourself.

Also, have you ever gotten an email newsletter from something or someone that you don’t remember signing up for? Don’t do that.

I have not yet figured this out, but I do like this idea where perhaps some sort of photography social media 5.0 could be based on SMS, text messaging, and the phone. Maybe some mash up of Apple iPhone iMessage, and SMS, and photos and videos. For example, I really enjoy sending photos of Seneca and videos of Seneca to friends and family using iMessage, which syncs well between my iPhone, iPad, and MacBook laptop.

Once you become a successful and famous photographer and rich, then what?

Once you get two Lamborghini rich, and you become famous, you’ve had the silo exhibition, you’ve published your book, you get spotted in public, etc., then what?

Most photographers never make it this far, but I have. Therefore, I could speak a little bit of my experiences based on my position.

Essentially what happens is that sometimes this can become a trap, the success trap. That the path in order to become successful and famous is what got you to the top, but in order to keep on ascending, you must innovate a new technique and path. The trap that a lot of successful people fall into is that once they’re at the top of the mountain, they just keep doing what they did in order to get to the top of the mountain, rather than innovating a new path.

And this is the tricky thing with entrepreneurship, even like Peter Thiel said in his book Zero to One. The next trillion dollar company will not be an Amazon, Facebook, a Tesla, etc. But something else.

Therefore, can you “teach“ entrepreneurship? I believe so. They are pretty much based more on basic principles, like risk-taking, risk aversion, being scrappy with less, etc. This is where I also like to study the Titans of the past, in order to give me more motivation and courage to attempt strange new paths. Also, hearing the real life story of past entrepreneurs is useful because it helps you understand that most successful entrepreneurs didn’t have access to unlimited manpower, wealth, resources, etc. Essentially The founding of Google was two nerdy guys in a college dorm, using scrap computer parts, and stealing the broadband Internet connection from the Stanford campus. Today, if you put a SergeyBrin and a Larry page inside of Y Combinator tech accelerator, they would not create something quite as epic as Google.

Chart a new path

And just follow your intuition and your enthusiasm. Don’t do what bores you, only do that which excites you. I think this is the big motivation that drives a lot of my experimentation with the GoPro, point of view videos, and also experimenting with different resolutions like 5K, 4K, etc.

And the thing is this; the journey is the way. That means, photography is a continuum; as long as you’re alive, breathing and making photos, consider yourself blessed.

ERIC

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Design on my mind

1. I really like the New McLaren SOLUS concept. That is, the best car and ideal car is the most similar to a Formula One car, just one seater. No need for a spare guest. also, the very interesting thought that video games can in fact spur and spark innovation. Even a lot of my analogies on real life come from Diablo two, or StarCraft.
2. A parenting thought; it isn’t the iPhone, iPad, or laptop which is evil; it is probably YouTube and YouTube kids. I like Seneca being able to watch past videos I’ve shot of him either on my GoPro or iPhone SE. He also find it hilarious to use the Animoji function; I think it is actually a very fun creative thing.
3. More people should do a rock toss type of work out; why? Even though you cannot adjust the weight of the rock, you could do it with greater force, which is not only fun but interesting. I consider it much more playful than churning out hateful reps at the gym. Might even be more fun than doing deadlifts.
4. Another very fun thing to do is hill sprints. That is, find the steepest slope or hill that you could find, get some Vibram five fingers shoes or barefoot, and sprint up as quickly as possible. Only do this if this is fun and interesting to you, it is not really a work out, just a fun activity.
5. Just get a GoPro. That is, I think the GoPro is at least 1 trillion times more creative than having an iPhone, or even the newest iPhone Pro. Why? The GoPro is far more robust, Seneca has thrown it around the last six months and it works just fine. Therefore, it makes you less risk averse; people nowadays, even rich Silicon Valley folks, always baby their iPhones, and now iPhone Pros. The biggest flex is actually probably having a brand new iPhone Pro, no case, and allow it to get all scratched up and banged up. This is the same flex of owning a Rolex with scratches, four, a brand new Leica M camera that has dents and dings. I suggest getting either a head mount, for a chest strap, and experiment doing Ultra Wide point of view videos. I think this is the next generation of creative content for the Internet; it is probably the easiest and most direct path to directly share your perspective and experiences and thoughts.
6. If you can, get an insanely fast Wi-Fi connection. I think this is probably the biggest Archimedes lever you can get in terms of augmenting your ability to produce more with less friction.
7. Currently, the least bad camera is probably the Ricoh GR III, RICOH GR IIIX. However, if you want to go further, then what? I think it is having a compact digital medium format camera, whether the new Hasselblad XD2 or the Fujifilm GFX 50S mark ii. I would just probably shoot extra small JPEG on that; because you will get the resolution and the dynamic range of digital medium format, without having to deal with these friendly massive photos. More megapixels, more problems.
8. Would you want to be the billionaire living at the top of the mountain, with no human contact? Probably not. We still love and enjoy society.

New vlogs

1. Billionaire mountain thoughts
2. Innovative thoughts
3. Why innovate?

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SHARE THE THOUGHTS

If you’re feeling a little bit more pumped up, or a little bit more creative, feel free to forward this to a friend!

ERIC KIM NEWS

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PODCAST

ALL AUDIO

Think loftier:

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PODCAST

AUDIO

1. Part 1
2. Part 2
3. Part 3

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2.

3.

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FULL Innovation [YouTube]

How to Innovate

An innovation manual:

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1. Limits are good

The first thought:

Limits are good.

The problem is that we often think:

Oh, if I just had xxx amount of money, or xxx amount of resources, then I could FINALLY thrive.

The truth is actually, the limits is what helps us innovating new ways. For example, Sergey Brin and Larry Page who founded Google, their HTML skills were so rudimentary, they ended up making the Google home screen super simple. This wasn’t because they liked zen aesthetics or minimalism or anything, it was simply an innovation based on their personal limits.

And this ended up working very very well; why? If you’re number one goal is to get the quickest search results possible forgiven search, images slow you down. Text is much faster.

Even today, images are still quite limited in Google search. Google has done this intelligently, to ensure that they stay on top in terms of speed.

2. 80% tea and 20% coffee

A random and fun idea I have is this; perhaps green tea, especially if you’re from east Asian descent, is superior. Why? I have a theory that Koreans, East Asians, Vietnamese people, etc. are not well adapted to drink coffee. Who is? Perhaps more people from Ethiopia, The Middle East, etc.

Currently being here in the country side of Hadong in Korea, I’ve been drinking a lot more green tea, and I really like it. It gives me a better buzz and focus, it also disrupts my sleep less. In fact, I think I’m starting to cultivate a strong taste for extremely bitter green tea, than coffee.

3. Insanely fast wifi

Another funny thing: I really do think that the unfair advantage for innovators is having access to insanely fast Wi-Fi. That and maybe 5G.

For example, I was able to be insanely innovative in Vietnam because the Wi-Fi at any random coffee shop was insanely fast. The upside of Vietnam was that because they industrialized a lot later than Japan, their Wi-Fi infrastructure is far superior. For example, one thing that was very shocking to me the first time I traveled in Japan was how there is pretty much no free Wi-Fi anywhere, even at coffee shops. Even trying to figure out how to get a International SIM card was a headache.

Being here in Korea, even in the mountain side of my mom‘s house, the Wi-Fi is insanely fast. I can upload a 2 GB file to YouTube in about a minute. Even back in the states, this might take me over 30 minutes or an hour.

And also, the reason why I think that 4K, 5K is the future is that YouTube prioritizes videos that were shot on 4K. If you look at YouTube on any smart TV, if there is a video that was shot in 4K, there is a special 4K badge. I think that YouTube will then prioritize 4K videos in the long run, even the funny thing is that today, so many people watch YouTube on their TVs. And the trend is that televisions keep getting bigger and bigger, cheaper and cheaper, and higher in resolution; 4K seems to be the new 1080p or “HD” (high definition). I’m already even starting to see 8K TVs!

4. iPad Pro

Another huge benefit of innovation is using an iPad Pro, instead of just using your iPhone Pro, or even your MacBook Pro. Why? I think that the iPad Pro is the ultimate Apple device, even when compared to any brand new iPhone pro. Why is that? First of all, the form factor is perfect. Steve Jobs and Jony Ive spent so much time optimizing the perfect size. Anyone who buys an iPad mini or a big iPad is a sucker.

Also, using an iPad allows you to be more mobile. Even as I voice dictate this on my iPad Pro M-series iPad, I don’t have Wi-Fi connection, yet the Apple keyboard voice dictate function is very accurate in transcribing my text.

5. Undulate between having Wi-Fi and no Wi-Fi

Also, to maximize your innovation, I like the idea of undulating between times of having Wi-Fi and not having Wi-Fi. Because ultimately, certainly a life with Wi-Fi is superior to a life without. However the problem is if you have too much access to Wi-Fi, it stunts your creativity.

I think it is human nature to innovate when we are restricted. For example, a huge benefit I had was going on a cruise, and not having Wi-Fi for about a week. This forced me to think more off-line, and thinking more long-term. Also, not having Wi-Fi allowed me to think better. Your thoughts have a more deep Texture than if you always have access to Wi-Fi or 4G/5G on your phone.

6. Mountain living?

I have a theory; being at a higher altitude, with less oxygen actually forces your heart to pump harder, pussy more blood, which ultimately helps your creative blood flow.

Even being in the mountains of Hadong at my mom‘s house, I feel healthier and stronger. Even drinking the tap water is 1000 times better than any Fiji water.

Even in Southern California, going to Lake arrowhead for the weekend was a good creative stimulus.

Why is the mountains so beneficial for creativity? I think when you’re on the mountains, you get a better view, unobstructed. the ideals actually being on top of a mountain side, and looking into a steep and raggedy Valley.

My theory is that we humans need to exercise our depth perception. That is, we need to have objects and landscapes to exercise our depth perception, to look really really far away.

The reason I hate the suburbs and much of city living is that everything is so flat. You never have the opportunity to exercise your long depth perception.

Why do humans have two eyes? In order to sense depth. Even using virtual reality and having some sort of double eye depth perception also seems to be a good creative stimulus. I am a huge fan of virtual reality and the new Facebook/meta-quest virtual reality headset.

7. Not seeking to please nobody but yourself

This is a big thing. You gotta make it entertaining for yourself. For example, I know if a video that I’ve made is good based on whether I am excited to rewatch it or not. What makes me have so much fun shooting everything on the GoPro is that everything is so unpredictable, more recently shooting point of view videos with the GoPro strap to my head with the head strap has been very very fun. I like being able to do random everyday things, and see a replay of it.

8. Killing two birds with one stone

One of the big benefits of writing things out is that it gives me a chance to digest my thoughts. Also, the joy of publishing it and sharing it with other people.

The reason why I’m such a huge fan of the newsletter via email is this: email deliverability rates are quite high; above 29%. Compare this to the abysmal organic social media reach, for example if I post something to my Facebook fan page, only 100 people might see it.

I like the notion of a BOGO lifestyle; buy one get one free. That when you’re trying something new, or attempting something new, you both please yourself and your audience. If it is not fun and enjoyable for you, it is not worth doing.

9. Repeat yourself

I think one of the greatest falsities with innovation of this; not repeating yourself. Why is this such a bad notion? Because it limits you from doing stuff that you like doing.

For example, I really enjoy drinking coffee. How silly would it be for me to forgo drinking a cup of coffee tomorrow because I’ve already done in the past?

Also another bad thing is that what prevent us from starting our own website, blog, podcast, YouTube channel is this: the thought that no matter how hard I try, I can never do it as well as that other guy.

But this should not deter you. For example, even though I am not able to dead lift 500 kg like Eddie Hall, that does not discourage me from lifting weights or attempting deadlift on my own. In fact, even though he’s super jacked on steroids and all this other weird stuff, watching his feat was a huge motivator for me; it at least showed what human potential was, and even if I met the mark a little short, at my 551 pound deadlift I am still happy.

10. Voice dictation

One of the great benefits for both me and Cindy for being late adopter to the iPhone is this; we do not have any negative biases towards Siri or voice dictation. In fact, voice dictation has been a game changer for both of us.

How does one voice dictate? If you have an iPhone or iPad, you just click the little microphone button in the bottom left corner. If you do not see it, go to your settings and enable voice dictation.

Why is voice dictation such a game changer? It is more natural for us to speak than to write. Also, technically we speak quicker than we could type. Even though I could type 140 words per minute, or 150 words per minute, it seems that the rate of my speech is at least 10 times faster.

11. Audio and video messages

Something new I have been experimenting with texting friends and family, I don’t type text, I just send a video recording and selfie mode video, or an audio recording. Why is this so much better? It is much more warm. With your voice or video, you could show voice inflection, mood, tone, or facial expressions. Maybe even sending an Animoji of yourself speaking is a good idea.

12. Sunlight

It seems that nowadays everyone is so afraid of the sun. There is all of this nonsensory about UV protection, sunblock, UV protective clothing, etc. Everyone is so afraid of the sun.

Certainly there are nuances. If you are of northern European descent, and your skin complexion is very very light, maybe it is not a good idea to be exposed in sub-Saharan Africa sunlight for 12 hours a day. The imagery is the foundation Apple TV series of big brother going into the desert.

I do not use sunblock, do not wear sunglasses, and have not for about 10 years. I love being in the sun, the direct sun, and I like getting a tan. With me, the more sunlight exposure I get on my direct bare skin, being topless or in my legs, the better.

It might be a genetic thing. In Korea there are four distinct seasons, and Koreans seem to tan pretty well, we have an olive colored complexion, very similar to Mediterranean people.

So in some sense, it is wise to lead to your genetic heritage. For example, Vietnamese people tend to have a slightly darker complexion then Koreans, because in Vietnam, whether North Vietnam or south Vietnam, the sun is stronger. Also, more humidity.

A simple thought I have is this: try to get as much sunlight as possible, on your bare skin as possible, without getting insanely sunburnt.

Push the limits.

13. Think and write in markdown

Ultimately, the most robust way you could share your thoughts is via writing. Text has better longevity then video.

The biggest game changer for me is using iA Writer, information architect writer. Writing in markdown which is essentially a simplified form of HTML has helped me write more, format less.

Even in blogging; wordpress.org, and also WordPress,com has become frustratingly slow. Too much feature bloat. A more streamlined path is instead of writing everything in iA Writer, and then just sharing it later. This is also the way I write my email newsletters.

14. Widen your horizon

Who is your enemy of innovation? Your past self. For example, something which beleaguered me for a long time is being stuck in the street photography ghetto. I myself wanted so desperately to succeed in Street Photography that I did not permit myself to indulge anything else. But now that I am having my new reawakening, killing all barriers in boundaries has been good.

Even creating a new audience, and getting rid of an old audience is good. A lot of people randomly talk about my workout videos, even though I am a photographer, not a fitness star. And for myself, the more multifaceted and real you can make yourself, the better.

Even something else I am very fascinated on is diet and nutrition, and this is a huge news source of innovative ideas.

But what if you piss off your audience, and they stop following you, unsubscribe from you, or say bad things about you? C’est la vie.

15. Motivational heroes

It is a good idea to have people look up to, and having certain heroes. For example, I am very inspired by Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Kanye West, Jay Z, etc. Why? Their overcoming, and their leverage of using modern day tools in society to create something new. Even Steve Jobs; his personality is probably diametrically opposed to mine, but I think a lot about him.

And you get to choose who your heroes are. And do not let anybody assert that your heroes are less legitimate than theirs. And the truth is that it seems that the most controversial and “bad“ people tend to be the most innovative and interesting.

“I’m not mean, I’m just focused”— Kanye West

A lot of people seemed very shocked to hear that I was inspired so much by Kanye West. Why are people so anti-Kanye West? Several factors:

1. I think it is because people are racist. They look at an African-American who is so successful and outspoken as being bad.
2. Secondly, people don’t like people who act strangely and unpredictably.
3. Third, people are envious and jealous of his success and riches.

Learn from the titans

16. Think carte blanche

One of the very useful notions that I got from Latin and French is this notion of “Carte Blanche”, which literally means blank slate, a white sheet of paper. Thus in order to innovate, you must go back to first principles and challenge what is commonly done and accepted. In fact, the greatest blessings of studying sociology was that forced me to challenge all societal norms. I almost wonder if the big route to innovation isn’t technological, but self societal.

For example, as my friend Stan Hudecki told me; the biggest detriment to safety standards is when people tell us, but that’s the way we’ve always done it.

The same thing in photography art, food, diet and nutrition is the same. For example, why is it that everyone in America and Korea typically eats three square meals a day? A breakfast lunch and dinner?

17. Full stack stimulation

Another way to innovate is this; try to attack all the sensory fields. Text, visual, audio, etc.

For example, do video. Do audio podcast. Do video podcast, do YouTube, have self hosted things and also externally hosted things. Write in text, also share photos.

The big problem is that a lot of people only do one thing. For example, Joe Rogan seems to only do podcasts, both audio and visual. I would actually really like to see him just write things out, in plain text.

This is also the genius of Kanye West , he has been able to innovate fashion culture; he is probably the greatest force in evolving the new streetwear and street style, and modern day hip-hop, rapper look. Essentially billionaire beggar. Let us also consider that before Kanye West, it wasn’t really a concept to wear all black everything.

And this is actually how Kanye West got so rich; not through his music, but his influence in fashion. Cindy asked me a funny question the other day, does anyone even listen to Kanye anymore? Maybe not, but everyone loves his clothes and sneakers.

18. Thinking in another language

Another big benefit of being in Korea is that it has given me more time to think in Korean. For example, the “Yangban” notion of the Korean aristocracy. Thinking more about neo Confucianism, and the killing of Buddhism.

It is very important to think about Korea, being Korean American, etc. Why is that? Essentially at this point, I think we could consider Korea, South Korea as a neo-colony of America. Just look at the military. If the American military pulled out of South Korea, South Korea would be screwed.

Also, K-pop, and Korean culture. Korean dramas, movies, style, food, and music. Rich mainland Chinese guys and girls would probably prefer to look like BTS or BLACKPINK, instead of their own local stars.

Anyways, I’m starting to go on wiktionary.org more often, studying the etymology of a lot of Korean words, which has the roots in Chinese. Helps me get a more precise definition of a concept, and thinking in different languages helps spark creativity.

19. Be strange and different

A big insecurity I had about being Korean and Korean American was that no matter how hard I tried, I would not pass as being “Korean“, or having a bad accident. One of the biggest insecurities and shame was when I was a kid growing up was that when my friends told me that I spoke Korean like a white person.

But, let us consider that I could speak English a quadrillion times better than any local Korean, even if they were a Seoul university English professor.

Therefore, a big way to innovate is to get rid of shame. Shame binds all of us, whether in the west or the east. Shame is one of the strongest forms of social religious control, for example, the thought that even Jesus knows when you’re fapping.

Don’t try to pass as anything, whether American, Korean, etc. Allow yourself to become a strange exotic plant, and speak differently than anyone else.

20. Never pleased

A lot of people are seeking happiness and satisfaction in life. But what if this was the great detriment to our innovation? Leave the satisfaction and happiness for the cows, not the wild predators.

Would you prefer to be a dissatisfied wolf or eagle? Or a happy and subservient cow?

I do think that great health is essential to innovate. Striving to sleep at least 8 to 12 hours a night, and also eating lots of nutritious food, meat. It seems that at least in Silicon Valley, the greatest detriment to our health is people not eating enough fatty red meat, not sleeping enough, and having too much caffeine and coffee late in the day.

Therefore I like the idea that in terms of innovation, you are not ever satisfied. But in terms of your sleep and meat consumption (once a day in the evening), you are.

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ERIC KIM WORKSHOPS >

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21. Think next

What are you going to do next? Let this be your great drive.

ERIC

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New cool stuff

1. Reposted my book, 100 lessons from the masters of street photography. For some reason, Google seems to have unindexed it from Google search results, my hidden suspicion is that the Pearson photo education department is filing pseudo copyright claims on my book, in order to peddle more of their subpar books. Anyways, you can directly download it here via dropbox or Google drive.
2. New POV, point of view videos. Some new fun workout videos that I have with a GoPro strapped to my forehead, whether doing farmer work, or whether rock tossing.

Share the fun

Did this spark any fun new thoughts within yourself? Share the fun, and feel free to forward to a friend, also it is open source, so you could just re-publish it to your own website or blog, or translate it into a different language, Google translate is your friend.

ERIC

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ERIC KIM INNOVATION NEWSLETTER

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An innovation manual:

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