Better to live like a nomadic warrior than be a settled farmer.

Travel Notes mobile.

In modern-day consumerism, we are presented with an array of choices, what to buy, and what not to buy. Yet the problem is there is an illusion of choice: we think we are unique by buying certain brands, when in fact the reality is that all these brands are owned by a few parent companies.

For example, did you know that Porsche, Bugatti, Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini are all owned by Volkswagen?

Or do you know that Rolls-Royce is owned by BMW?

Or do you know that the gap clothing company owns banana republic, Old Navy, and Athleta?

Or that the Louis Vuitton LVMH brand owns practically all the luxury goods?

Or that Lexus is just an expensive Toyota, Infiniti is just a expensive Nissan. Acura is just an expensive Honda.

If we consider minimalism as a new elitism, then it seems that the goal is to own as few goods as humanly possible, yet of the highest expense, material and quality.

Dear friend, an interesting turbo thought: the word for work, Ergon, is the same word as battle as in war.

Which makes me think, maybe that when we think about our photographic work and life, we should think about war.

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The only ‘bad’ which exists is which pertains to cowardice.

In life, think–

When did I truly desire to do x, y, z … but it is cowardice that stood in my way?

Perhaps the only time we should atone and feel regret is when it comes to cowardice. But when it comes to matters of exhaustion, weakness of willpower (which is often physiological exhaustion), or non-desire, feel no regret.

Once again:

With your true desires, let us strive to never exhibit cowardice!

ERIC

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I think one of the main ways we are suckered by modern day consumerism is the notion that we must invest in high-quality goods, which are very durable.

But in actuality, I believe it is better to have lighter, more natural, and superior tools, at the expense of durability.

For example, it seems that durability is a German notion. What is the American notion? That which is sexier, and more new.

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Maybe in order to innovate more, we should become more spendthrift

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Strive to keep losing weight, and subtracting weight.

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A funny thing I learned about fashion: a lot of people try to force themselves to wear certain fashions, rather than thinking that the fashion should actually fit them.

Thus, fashion is like a Procrustean bed, that is, we see what fashions are trending and popular, and we try to change ourselves to fit the fashion, rather than the other way around.

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Every day you die, and you wake up, anew.

This day, today is carte Blanche. How will you plan, attack and conquer today?

ERIC

In beyond good and evil by Nietzsche, he says all living beings desire to discharge their strength.

To me this is a very interesting idea, because this challenges what we typically think of standard physiology.

For example, we are taught that as your workout, and after your work out you become stronger. But what if, the correct order is that we must simply work out in order to get rid of our excess stream. Thus perhaps we get stronger simply as we keep blowing off our excess steam and power?

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Perhaps this is the road to the maximal productivity, and the best life.

Work for the sake of it (arbeit) is a slave notion.

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A thought: rather than thinking of just getting one or the other, for example gasoline versus electric, why not have both? For example, maybe plug in hybrid cars are the best cars, because they harness the best of both worlds? The convenience of gasoline, and the speed of refilling, with also the upside of being able to plug in your car for free at these EV charging stations?

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A concept I have, which pertains to finances, and life in general: have extreme buffer.

For example, if you’re about to miss an exit on the freeway, allow yourself to extreme buffer to just miss it. Better to lose a minute of your life, than lose your life in one minute.

Or when it comes to your finances and bank account, better to have extreme financial buffer, then cut it too close to line. The way I think about it is live your life like you’re a billionaire, but like you’re a spartan 300 soldier.

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Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always been into cars. For example when I was 15 years old, I bought my first used car, and for me it was a symbol of freedom and self independence. I could go anywhere I wanted, and I was able to modify my own car with great pride, in the tiny 1.6 L engine, five speed manual transmission, with no tachometer. The extreme pride I had and being able to shift my car simply by hearing the engine.

Fast forward into the present day. I actually really enjoy racing films. The speed the drama, and Ford versus Ferrari is a great underdog story. As an American, I love it.

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A simple way to increase your chance of making interesting photos. Typically, when you’re afraid of something, it is because you actually want to photograph it. Thus, when you’re afraid, click the shutter. Or, you could always ask for permission.

One of the biggest reasons I love the Ricoh GR 3 so much is this: I no longer think about cameras, which allows me to just focus on my photography.

What do camera companies want? For you to be perpetually dissatisfied with your camera gear, to keep buying new camera upgrades, and lenses, and other equipment. but this is a huge waste of time. Rather, the most productive think you can do as a Photographer is just focus on making new photos.

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I thought: I think there is a difference between what is the best, and what you like.

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In order to become more productive, remove distractions.

Also one of my practices is every day, trying to uninstall at least one app from my phone, or uninstall one app from my laptop.

Also, rather than installing new software to become more productive, figure out what kind of superfluous off or you can uninstall in order to become more productive.

If you focus on your health, everything will follow.

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It seems that a lot of people regret things. They regret their actions, they regret not having done things, etc.

But what is regret anyways? A theory: regret is some sort of strange self revenge.

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Your appetite for risk is what makes you great.

Not even whether you win or lose, or if you’re right and wrong. No. The level of risk you’re willing to stomach, and attempt.

What is the true courage, especially when it comes to fashion matters? I said it is having the courage to be seen as lame. All great fashion innovators are the ones who intentionally do what is not considered cool, but with great confidence.

Or in other words, true courage is having the courage to stand out, even at the expense of being laughed at and ridiculed.

What is anti-courage? Following trends, because you want to be seen as cool.

For example, dad sneakers were always seen as lame. But Kanye West made them cool. Why? He thought to himself, why is dad sneakers such a bad thing? Why is being dad such an uncool thing? Maybe being a dad can be a cool thing.

The equipment I am currently using:

1. RICOH GR III in small JPEG, High contrast black-and-white mode, with highlight exposure metering. ERIC KIM WRIST STRAP MARK II.
2. ERIC KIM WALLET with transcend SD card, with 64 GB.
3. For my travel street photography backpack, think tank backpack.
4. For clothing, black merino wool outlier.NYC T-shirt, black merino wool leggings, black merino wool shorts. L run shark water shoes slippers. Ex officio black boxer briefs. In short, all black merino wool everything.
5. 13’’ MacBook Pro Touch Bar, space gray, maxed out refurbished from 2017. My next laptop will be a MacBook Air.
6. iPhone 11 Pro, refurbished, space gray, with no case. I prefer the iPhone mini, and my next phone will be an iPhone mini, of course with no case. Living life on the edge!
7. No watch, no socks.
8. No car. I don’t currently own a car, just currently borrowing Cindy‘s mom‘s car.
9. 80% my cryptocurrency is Chainlink, 10% digibyte, 1 bitcoin, and I’m starting to accumulate Ethereum.

Our design philosophy for things, tools, and equipment. Optimize for as small as possible.

For example, when you’re traveling, use or purchase the smallest bag as possible. With file sizes, as small as possible. Even in photography, the smallest JPEG size as possible. The best camera isn’t the one with the most megapixels, but actually, the one with the least megapixels possible.

The same reason why the Tesla model Y is superior than the Tesla model X, and the same reason the Tesla model three is superior than the Tesla model S.

A simple way to practice photography composition: eliminate anything that is white or bright from the frame, when you are framing with your LCD screen. For example, strive to make your photos as dark as possible. Avoid anything that distracts from your frame.

Composition is a matter of elimination, not addition. The best way to compose a photo is to get rid of distractions. Same thing with productivity philosophy, the best way to be productive isn’t to force yourself to be more productive, but to just eliminate distractions.

Same thing with Health, the best way to become less fat isn’t to work out more, but just to illuminate things that make you fat. For example, eliminating sugar carbs, starch, alcohol, and anything sweet. Even 0 cal sweeteners. even “natural“ sweeteners. No honey, no agave, no Stevia, none of that nonsense.

Sweet is bad. Bitter is better.

Same goes with design philosophy, to design a thing better, rather than adding superfluous elements, figure out what to subtract. For example, the best Kanye West Yeezy shoe is probably the new foam runner, because it illuminates the necessary use of socks, and shoelaces. Or think about the Tesla model 3 is superior than any BMW or Mercedes car, because it has stripped away all these unnecessary superfluous design elements. I kind of get the notion or the sense that the reason why BMW and Mercedes keeps suddenly changing the way that the rear bumper looks, it’s not because it is better, but to promote more sales.

Our new design philosophy and aspiration: hyperlight. Even though it’s not always wise, as an aesthetic notion, hyper light is best.

The best design is that which is insanely light. The lighter, the better. Never upgrade or change your things unless you find an option which is lighter.

For example, iPhone mini is supreme, better than iPhone Pro. Same goes with laptops, MacBook Air is better than any MacBook Pro.

With shoes, the lightest shoe possible.

Even with headphones, optimize for the lightest headphone possible. Maybe this is how the normal AirPods is actually superior than the AirPods Pro, because the normal AirPods are lighter.

Also with cars, the lightest car is the best car. The most fun to drive, even though it may not be the “supreme” or the fastest. For example, the Tesla model S plaid is the most supreme car but probably not the most fun to drive. Probably more fun to drive a Mazda Miata, manual transmission of course.

Also when it comes to traveling, don’t optimize for the best set up, but the lightest.

HYPERLIGHT as our new ideal.

The supreme happiness and joy: having extreme pride in your own creations, your own designs, your own innovations.

My pride in HAPTIC INDUSTRIES. ERIC KIM PRODUCTS.

For example, I have zero interest in any luxury designs, which are not mine. I deserve to build it all myself, design it all myself, and create it all myself.

For example with shoes, my extreme joy in discovering the L run shark shoes, water slippers. 1 billion times better than any Nike I’ve ever bought. And I discovered this through my own industrious experimentation, and design philosophy, that which is supreme lightness is supreme.

What’s the biggest problem in the modern world and society? The fact that corporations rule our lives.

For example, do we just want our children to aspire to one day become a CEO or a corporate executive of a big company? Or do we desire them to become courageous entrepreneurs?

The reason I love America the most in the world? It is the most friendly towards entrepreneurs, and the most encouraging of entrepreneurship.

What kinds of humans do we desire to design?

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When it comes to aesthetics, literature, films, and everything in between: darker is better.

For example, this is why we love Batman, how dark he is, in terms of his psyche, and also his aesthetics.

We must go darker. As dark as possible.

Another reason why standardization or categorization is bad: it assumes that all human beings can be put on the same scale.

The general idea of futurism (vs retrospectivism):

The best is yet to come.

Whereas retrospectivism thinks “Everything in the past was better, and the best… and can never be superseded”.

We must be futurists.

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My ideals when it comes to product design:

1. Extreme minimalism
2. Interesting aerodynamics, especially when it comes to automotive and car design
3. Interesting and unique color palette, and colorways.
4. Unexpected designs, designs that I didn’t think I’d like, but upon seeing them I actually really like.
5. studying and thinking how design can be aspirational. For example buying a Subaru outback wilderness, because aspirational way I want to do more outdoorsy stuff.
6. Some brands I’m currently into: Balenciaga, Tesla, Nike, Jordan, Kia, Hyundai, Subaru

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Dear friends,

With the new COVID variant out and about, it seems this is the reality:

There will always be some sort of COVID out there.

Then the question:

In spite of COVID and ongoing pandemics … how can we still keep traveling (safely) and embarking on more travel street photography adventures?

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Barbara Kruger. This is essentially the route that all individuals make, when they are filled with outrage and anger.

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What is the role of the difference between national versus individual pride?

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What is the number one productivity hack? Optimize your life for sleep.

For example, the best home or apartment to have is the most quiet one, far away from street noise, anything which wakes you up.

Also invest in some good earplugs, and eye mask for sleeping. And also optimize your bed, blankets, and bedroom temperature for sleep.

Also, no devices of any kind in your bedroom.

Also, don’t consume coffee or caffeine after breakfast. If you’re just tired, take a nap. Instead of trying to force yourself to do more work, it takes more skill to force yourself to nap. For example, when I’m very exhausted, I just lay in my bed, close all my blinds and shades, and put on an eye mask or towel over my eyes, and put in earplugs and I just lie there as long as possible. I only get out or get up, when my body forces me to get up.

A fun creative activity we could do is this: remix our photos.

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What do you do once you become a crypto billionaire, and once you’ve retired, and achieved financial freedom and independence?

Simple: focus on your creative leisure activity, which is photography.

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What should be your ultimate value? Not our ability to make a lot of money from work, but rather, our capacity, courage, and ingenuity for innovation and creativity.

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When it comes to notions of “work“, we must differentiate the difference between Ergon and Arbeit.

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Some real ideas on branding:

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Rather than trying to build $1 billion company, why not try to create a $1 billion you?

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The best way to innovate is figure out what to get rid of, than what to add.

In praise of Tesla for getting rid of doorhandles, getting rid of most of the dashboard, and getting rid of the shifter stalks.

Also the great innovation of Tesla and electric cars is getting rid of all this additional gasoline crap. For example, if you look under the hood of any gasoline car, there’s so much going on in there. I love the Tesla chassis, skateboard.

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The best way to learn from others is to not emulate what you don’t like in them.

Why it is good to work for things:

What is the worst thing you do to a child? Give them things without having them work for it. Why is that? You can never value something until you’ve worked for it.

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We all want to improve our lives. But how does one actually do that?

1. Music: Nietzsche once said life without music would be a mistake. Thus, it seems that music is a very good investment. I recommend Apple Music over Spotify, because of the deep integration it has with iPhone and all your Apple devices.
2. Walking: what is the ultimate luxury? Being able to walk. What is the ultimate slavery? Not being able to walk. This is why I hated working office so much, because you’re chained to your desk, and not able to go outdoors, and breathe fresh air. If you optimize your life for walking, you will be happier and live a better life. In fact, rather than tracking your progress in life based on your bank account balance, perhaps it is better to track your steps. In other words, the more steps you accrue in the day, the better.
3. Go on more hikes, or do more outdoorsy stuff. Humans have a natural biophilia, that is love of the natural. That’s the more you expose yourself to nature, the better.
4. Exposure to natural light: I know personally speaking, I’m the most depressed when I don’t have access to natural light. This is why I think the winter times are very tough, because a combination of last natural light, and also less walking. This is why Denver is so interesting to me, because Denver albeit it is cold, it is very bright. I don’t think it’s the cold which people hate, but the cold room which prevents you from going out and walking around is what people hate. if anything, if you live in a cold environment, to improve your life just buy a really good expensive warm jacket and some very good shoes, to maximize your walking ability.
5. Even with your homes, the best home is the one with the most natural light. Also, the house which is maximally quiet. Loud Street noise is one of the biggest detriment to our health, our focus, and our well-being.
6. Via Negativa: the best way to improve your life is figure out what to subtract. For example, subtracting toxic people, toxic literature, and toxic ideas. And I also think that in order to improve your life, get rid of things which intoxicate you. For example, subtracting alcohol and weed seems like a good idea.
7. Produce more than you consume: I like the idea that 20% of your life is consumption, and 80% of your life is production. To produce, create, and to enact an impact on society and humanity is what brings us joy. I call this producerism.

A realization:

What do we want out of our cars?

Pure dominance.

Unless there is a car which ever get faster than the 1.99 second (0-60 mph) Tesla Model S Plaid, all other cars (including Lamborghini, Porsche, Bugatti, McLaren, Rolls Royce, etc) are irrelevant.

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After playing with all the Apple Devices, all the Android devices, etc — a simple takeaway:

Give me a laptop, and I can move the world!

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Just had a realization:

Philosophy is not a ‘lifestyle’ approach, and not a guide on ‘how to best live life’, but rather– setting values.

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This morning I was reading some Oeconomicus (Economics, by Xenophon) in which ‘Socrates’ is having a conversation with a (rich) buddy of his, and Socrates tries to do this ‘clever flex’:

Socrates: I am much richer than you, because my needs are little, and my surplus is great.

But as Nietzsche figured out in Twilight of the Idols, Socrates was trying to use clever-rhetoric talk to seem like he were supreme.

But — Socrates was the OG troll. He tried to use clever word-play to make himself seem supreme over all others.

So what was Socrates really trying to promote? Poverty, virtue, happiness, etc. But was it really philosophy which Socrates was trying to propound? I think not. I think Socrates was just trying to promote a certain ‘lifestyle‘, similar to Jesus (turn the other cheek, asceticism, hate not your neighbors, etc).

Which makes me wonder–

What *IS* philosophy then?

Simple answer– philosophy is about value-setting.

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How does one edit down (cull down) their photos, their photo sets, portfolio, etc?

Meta-editing as a thought. This means:

Publish a bunch of photos as a blog post, in gallery mode, or as an iMovie slideshow … and re-watch and re-experience and re-view your photos, and re-save the photos to your downloads, and re-upload the ones you like!

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Life is growth. If you’re not busy growing, you’re busy dying (Bob Dylan)

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You are not alike. And what’s the goal of standardization?

To make everyone quantifiable and measurable, on the same scale.

But what if you don’t want to be part of this scale, or what if you cannot be measured in accordance with others?

You’re not standard. Avoid any rules, games or arenas and competitions where standardization is the norm.

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Random thought: are there certain clothes which make you more productive, confident, and focused?

I think so. For example, when I wear tighter fitting clothes, I actually feel more productive. Same goes with wearing all black clothing, it helps me focus on my thoughts and on my work.

If you think the opposite it is true. If you were lazy home clothes, you will feel lazy.

Also the best optimization you can make is having the lightest shoes possible. Why? The lighter your shoes, the more you can walk with less fatigue! Note — the gods as having winged and light feet!

Or in other words, better to be stoic than epicurean. Or why Android might be better than iOS.

Or why open files are better than closed ones. Or why decentralized is better than centralized.

The open internet and now perhaps the blockchain — the future of free?

Or why it might be a good idea *NOT* to own a Tesla (you’re stuck on the grid and the closed Tesla ecosystem). Going “off the grid” in small ways as beneficial for us adventurers and explorers.

Why this bias against sharing a wide edit? My thoughts:

1. If you share more than a single image on social media, you don’t optimize your “like” potential. Thus social media is inimical to sharing wide edits.

2. Most photographers don’t have their own blog. Being stuck in the social media digital sharecropping notion, photographers don’t know there’s any other option.

3. The benefit of making photography slideshows is that you could increase the data density of photos

4. The benefit of the Internet and digital technology is that we in theory have an infinite shelf. Why not harness that to our benefit?

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Your goal isn’t to spend all of your time in embodied reality, or all of your time in virtual reality, it is to do both. To spend some of your time in virtual reality and some of your time in embodied reality. To do both, to get the maximum out of both, via the barbell method.

Thus the simple thought: when you’re in embodied reality, be 100% disconnected from the Internet, and when you’re in virtual reality, be 100% plugged in. In other words, when you’re with friends and family put away your phone, and when you’re in virtual reality have noise canceling headphones on.

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A thought this morning:

How can we increase our data input and output rate?

For example, better to use voice dictate via Siri on your iPhone, than texting with your thumbs. Why? The data output of your voice is 1000 times faster than texting with your thumbs.

Information density

Why are newspapers and academic papers structured in multi columns? Simple, you could add higher density of information in a smaller footprint.

In today’s world, it seems to only make ‘prudent’ investments towards your ‘future’ — in order to ‘retire’ and to ‘save’.

But — what if this were all just a trap? Which just keeps us complacent, living our little cubes (like FREE GUY).

What is a better investment? Towards our own life, our own current world, our current reality– our art (photography).

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We are always looking for a purpose, a new desire, and reason in life. Why not just dictate that as photography?

What is the biggest waste of time and human brain resources?

Worrying too much whether you offended others, social relationships, etc.

Perhaps better for us to ignore self-doubt, especially with social matters. To regard your own actions as 100% good, and just to keep on marching forward!

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The goal isn’t to find peace. What if *NOT* having inner peace is a stronger motivator than having inner peace? Because once you have inner peace, what is the motivation to do anything?

When we get to focus on seeking inner peace, is it that we have just lost our physiological strength?

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You are the outlier. You are the most extreme. You are the most insanely different.

More pride in standing out then standing in. To be part of a collective, a group, a club, is bad. Why? Because it suggests that there are others like you. Better to walk alone than with others.

Galiani— “Eagles do not fly in company. Leave that to the partridges and pigeons.”