What I believe:

Why is there this bias that more is better? My thought is that actually, better is less.

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Some examples

For example, fewer repetitions and weight lifting is superior to more repetitions. Also, with design, more features and more functions is inferior.

Also, with life and lifestyle, having fewer options, is superior to having more options.

What is luxury?

Spartan luxury is this: less is a luxury. For example, if you step in to a Ross or an H&M, there is a quadrillion options, which suffocates you. I far prefer going into a small Balenciaga store, where there is only a very few options.

Curate less

This is the tricky thing; a lot of people strive towards having nothing. This is the big problem with too much emphasis on Zen or Buddhism; essentially you become a beggar. I would prefer to be instead, to look like or seem to be a billionaire beggar.

How to make better photos

On the path to making better photos, show less. Feature fewer details and show less. I think this is also why black-and-white is superior to color; by shooting in black-and-white, you strip out options.

Also, the reason why I like very high contrast black-and-white is that it also strips away the midtones. I don’t like mid tones, as I don’t like middle or medium things.

Better to lose it all, when you clip the downside at only 10%

For example, one thing Nasim Taleb says is avoid “medium risk” investments at all costs. Better to put 90% of your money in boring, cold hard cash in your savings account, and invest 10% and extremely risky speculative things, like cryptocurrency, where the value can go to zero. The reason why this is intelligent is this:

Rather than having a boring 3% return, year-over-year, it is better for your 10% investment to 1000X, or potentially go to zero.

For example, let us see you have $100,000 in savings. Or your net worth for your money totals $100,000 USD. Better to keep $90,000 of your money in a boring savings account, and keep it in liquid cash, and put the other 10% into a highly volatile and risky cryptocurrency investment. Because at worse, you lose 100% of your $10,000, but at best, your $10,000 investment could 1000x, netting you $10,000,000.

Or, if you are a solo bachelor and you have nothing to lose, just put 100% of your fiat currency into cryptocurrency. This is how I met a guy who is a whale, who invested his $50,000 life savings into Chainlink, when it was only at about three cents a Chainlink, and it made him so rich that apparently, he has to pay $10 million in taxes this year.

This is where I currently am, between the net worth of me and Cindy, I put 10% of our savings simply into Bitcoin. I plan to HODL (hold onto dear life), until Seneca becomes 18, and he could just do with it whatever he wants.

At worst, Bitcoin goes to zero, and we have only decimated our savings, which is only 10%.

10% is the ideal number

This is apparently what the ancient Roman Empire Army used to do; if they lost a battle, in cowardice was suspected, they would at random kill 10% of a squad. Why 10%? If you lose 10% of your army, it is not enough to seriously injure you, but it is a strong enough motivator to keep your army from acting like a bunch of sissies.

Also, if you have a manager, or you are doing some sort of profit-sharing scheme, which I believe to be a good idea, best to give your manager or employee 10% of the profits, as it will give them some sort of skin in the game, and be a positive motivator for them to work hard and maximize profits.

Less frequency

A lot of people try to get rich by high frequency trading, but, not only is this bad for your health, but it is bad for your wealth. I say it is better to invest at the decade level; just think to yourself:

Do I believe this investment to go up 10 years from now? Or down?

Nobody could predict the future, but, when do you think at the decade level, certain trends are quite obvious.

For example, a decade from now, do you think more people will have more access to smart phones, or less?

Also, do you think a decade from now, bitcoin and cryptocurrency will be adopted more, or less?

Lessen your load

In order to become more productive, and then enact more impact on the world, I say, rather than the naive idea of “doing more“, better to do less, but to intelligently leverage your strengths.

Why is it that we try to emulate the virtues of a machine? As so thinks Nietzsche and so does I.

What is the difference between man and machine? Man is superior to machine, as man is the ultimate measure of all things. Yet the reason why we strive to emulate the virtues of a machine is this:

We are currently living in the cult of quantification, and in order to become more virtuous, and happy, you must produce more, make more money, do more, sleep less, etc.

At the end of the day, what would you prefer; the worlds most expensive Lamborghini, or the worlds most beautiful women? I think the latter.

Or another thought, if you had the option of being a billionaire but 400 pounds and overfat and sick, or, do you have the worlds most beautiful muscular physique, what would you choose? I would choose the latter.

Cut it out

For example, in order to get ripped and shredded, or to lose fat, it is very simple; cut out all sugars, starches, fruits and vegetables, etc. Cut out anything which is sweet or starchy.

Or, if you strive to be happier, or more focused, just cut out all of your distractions. You know what your distractions are; be like Ulysses and tie yourself to the mast. For example, I know that I am personally distracted by social media and Instagram, that is why I deleted my Instagram in 2017.

Also, when I was in the process of quitting certain websites, I installed a website browser plug-in that literally forced me to block these websites, even if I had these nervous twitches to access them.

Also, the funny irony is that if you desire to quit porn, my thought is this: watch it, but you’re not allowed to fap. Is it still porn if you don’t fap? I don’t think so.

How to live your best possible life

If you desire to live your best possible life, just think:

What can I cut out, and what can I do less of?

ERIC

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Lessen your doubts

Conquer your fears, and thrive as a photographer:

1. Discover your creative Seoul
2. Master minimalism in downtown LA
3. Zen out in Vancouver

ERIC KIM EXPERIENCES

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Less but the best

HAPTIC PHOTO SUPPLY:

1. CONQUER THE STREETS: HENRI MARK IV
2. ERIC KIM NECK STRAP MARK II: Shoot with your soul

ALL PRODUCTS

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Random things on my mind

1. Digestion and mood: if your digestion is poor, so will your mood. I think I have finally realized that being of East Asian dissent, Korean, I really cannot digest Indian food, or south Asian food well. I cannot tolerate dairy products, coconut products, etc. Therefore be very wary about the ketogenic diet; I don’t think a lot of Asians can tolerate coconut, milk, or butter very well. Even ghee.
2. I wonder if there is some truth to eating Halal; I don’t think I could process or digest pork that well. For me, beef is much better and easier on my stomach.
3. Think at the day level. Not the week or the month or the year level.
4. Genesis, Hyundai Genesis is the new king of cars in car design; superior to Rolls-Royce, which is essentially an expensive BMW, and also superior to Maybach, which is just a watered down Mercedes.
5. The best pair of shorts is the Lululemon license to train shorts. Get them in black. Why I love them is that the zippers sit flush, and also are not scratchy. Especially when traveling, being in transit, or being in a taxi Uber, I love the peace of mind I am not worried that my shit will fall out of my pockets.
6. Perhaps overhydration is a good idea; I don’t like having to pee all the time, or having to track how much water I drink a day, but especially being in hot Southeast Asia, maybe overhydration is a good strategy. Even my brother-in-law when he was in the military, stationed in Afghanistan, The US military would force feed their soldiers a shit load of water before going out on missions, or training. If the military does it, maybe we should as well.
7. Apple iCloud private relay is the game changer; I have been having some connectivity issues here in Cambodia, and it seems after enabling the Apple iCloud private relay feature on my iPhone, these issues have vanished. I am very bullish on the Google VPN thing for their phones as well, but, the problem is it is not accessible everywhere in the world. It seems that Apple iCloud private relay is.

More thoughts

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Share the love

If this sparked any creative ideas within you, or any Zen thoughts, feel free to forward to a friend!

ERIC KIM TURBO NEWS

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Do you try to have yourself, your platform and your things fit the machine, or do you try to get the machine to fit you?

I encourage a you first approach; this means, strive to optimize what is best for you, and you let all of them and the machine figure it out later.

This is the big reason why too much focus on search engine optimization, Google SEO is bad; you end up having your website, blog, and platform strive to fit the mold of Google, rather than the other way around.

The reason not to worry too much about people, organizations, conspiracy theories, governments etc is this:

Most people and things are inept.

Revel in living in a dark, mysterious, uncertain, unjust, random, senseless, unpredictable and unknowable world.

Why Americans should value their US dollars. The YUAN (Chinese currency // RMB, Renminbi) aint taking over anytime soon:

Most traded currencies

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Most_traded_currencies

Rank	Currency	ISO 4217  code	Symbol	Proportion of  daily volume,  April 2019
1	 United States dollar	USD	US$	88.3%
2	 Euro	EUR	€	32.3%
3	 Japanese yen	JPY	円 / ¥	16.8%
4	 Sterling	GBP	£	12.8%
5	 Australian dollar	AUD	A$	6.8%
6	 Canadian dollar	CAD	C$	5.0%
7	 Swiss franc	CHF	CHF	5.0%
8	 Renminbi	CNY	元 / ¥	4.3%
9	 Hong Kong dollar	HKD	HK$	3.5%
10	 New Zealand dollar	NZD	NZ$	2.1%
11	 Swedish krona	SEK	kr	2.0%
12	South Korean won	KRW	â‚©	2.0%
13	 Singapore dollar	SGD	S$	1.8%
14	Norwegian krone	NOK	kr	1.8%
15	 Mexican peso	MXN	$	1.7%
16	Indian rupee	INR	₹	1.7%
17	 Russian ruble	RUB	₽	1.1%
18	South African rand	ZAR	R	1.1%
19	 Turkish lira	TRY	₺	1.1%
20	Brazilian real	BRL	R$	1.1%

Philosophy — the thing that never gets “old”. It gets better over time!

PHILOSOPHY BY KIM

Essays by KIM

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

Masters of Philosophy Â»

• Seneca
• Marcus Aurelius
• Publilius Syrus

Personal Philosophy Â»

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

Stoicism Â»

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

Zen Philosophy »

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

Life Lessons Â»

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

Learn more: Start Here >

What is sustainable, what isn’t?

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What is sustainable?

Digital technologies, crypto.

What isn’t sustainable? Infinite muscular growth. Gasoline and crude oil growth.

Digital photography is sustainable, film photography is not.

PODCAST

Audio file

”Would you rather be a boss or an R&B n***a with a six pack?“ – KANYE

Something that have been curious about my whole life, the philosophy of living a better life. But what does this even mean, and how can we achieve it?

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ERIC KIM MEDIA

• VLOG: How to live your best life // VIDEO FILE // PODCAST // YouTube Link

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Some basic thoughts

My first thought is have a very strict coffee or caffeine cut off time, for me that is 12 o’clock noon, midday. Anything beyond that seems to really disrupt my sleep in a very very bad way, which ruins your next day. Therefore, a simple thought is cut out all stimulants, whether natural or chemical, after 12 o’clock noon. This includes caffeinated tea, cacao, chocolate, etc.

The ideal climate and weather for you?

I love living in Vietnam, and I think I really like weather in Southeast Asia. I like it hot, bright, sunny, and humid.

What was insanely depressing for me, one of the worst experiences of my life, was after a glorious two years of thriving in Vietnam, being in Europe during the winter time. Being in Marseille during the winter time was horrible, also being in Prague in the winter time was horrible. Also Berlin during the winter time is horrible. One of Nietzsche‘s thoughts and suspicions was the reason why a lot of German philosophers like Schopenhauer were so morose was because they might’ve just been complaining about the bad weather.

What makes good weather? Certainly it is highly specific to you, and subjective to you.

For example, I wonder if there is a genetic component to it. For example, let us consider that individuals from African dissent, their genetic heritage was to be in the insanely hot sun all day; does the darker pigment in their skin. If you take somebody from Ghana, and transport them to gloomy London, certainly the lack of sun and UV exposure will depress them in a bad way. Also consider how horrible it was for the south Vietnamese who fled Saigon, to end up in Minneapolis during the winter time. For a Vietnamese person who is accustomed to 90°F, hot and humid, to go to subzero winter time and snow, is unimaginable.

Even Friedrich Nietzsche, it seemed that a lot of his life was afflicted with poor health. But ultimately, I think he preferred living in Turin Italy, for the climate and weather.

Four seasons?

My mom and dad are both from South Korea, and Korea is famous and proud of their four seasons. Hot and humid summers, pleasant fall, cold and snowy winter, and joyful spring. Also, Koreans seem to tan easily, but also have a fairly light pigment skin. I think it is to adapt to the changing four seasons.

This is why in someways, I prefer living in the East Coast, for example Providence Rhode Island over living in California. California is great, but being in SoCal where it is just hot and sunny all day, lulls you to sleep. The way I describe it is that on the East Coast, on an unusually bright and sunny day during the winter time, your happiness is a 12 out of 10. But on the really bad winter days, your happiness is a zero out of 10.However if you live in sunny Southern California, you are always mildly displeased, a 6.5 out of 10 in terms of happiness.

Therefore a theory about climate:

Better to have a high dynamic range in terms of weather, in order to maximize your happiness.

Once again, better to live a life in existence where good weather on an unusually good day gives you a 12 out of 10 in terms of happiness, and some days you have a zero out of 10 and happiness, rather than always being a 6.5/10 in terms of happiness.

This is why roller coasters are so fun; the extreme highs and extreme lows. I wonder if the same is with human beings; we thrive more from extreme highs and extreme lows.

Therefore, if you strive to live the best existence possible, I recommend not living in Southern California. At least this is where the Bay Area is superior to Southern California, that the Bay Area is typically cold wet and gloomy most of the time, with some good days. As a kid growing up in the Bay Area (I still have a 510 area code), I liked the weather; wearing hoodies all the time, always wearing jeans, always wearing socks and sneakers, and on the cold days, just putting a jacket on top of my hoodie.

So what do you want to do with your life?

I suppose this is the integral question you must ask yourself; what do you want to do with your life?

I cannot speak for you, but I can speak for myself.

First of all, I desire to enact a great impact on the world and society. For me, my life, my experiences, my thoughts, my artworks and creations are a means for impacting the human race, my greatest desire is to motivate a few passionate individuals, who can continue the chain. Also, training my son Seneca to do the same.

Second, in order to do this, I am insanely fastidious about my health, in my own personal human physiology. My theory is on the road to greatness, and towards maximal production, physical and physiological element is essential. That is, if I want to do more epic things, create more epic things, and have more epic thoughts, I must have a stronger and more epic body. For example, currently speaking, I feel like I am at on new high in terms of my turbo thoughts, and my overall wellbeing. I think a lot this actually comes from the fact that I have set new personal records for my deadlift and squat, far higher than I have in the past.

Theory: if you’re a creator, and you want to create more, and create more epic things, squat more, and deadlift more higher weights.

If you can deadlift over 500 pounds, and squat over 400 pounds … how can you not have more epic thoughts?

Or in other words, the greater you increase your one rep maxes for any of your lifts, the greater thoughts you will have.

Where to live?

I really enjoy living here currently in Phnom Penh. Why? I think an interesting city, or living in a dynamic, growing, and evolving city, is good for us.

For example, I really enjoy interacting with all these different people here; from the Chinese businessman or Chinese government employees at the hotel, to local Cambodian folks, meeting Cambodiana who lived abroad in Korea, meeting Koreans, and also meeting Japanese. Living in a place or a city that is multicultural is more interesting. I think this is where New York City is so interesting; meeting all of these African and Jamaican recent immigrants, something you don’t really witness on the West Coast. Also, I actually don’t think the West Coast or California is very diverse at all. Everything is so segmented. For example, growing up in the By Area, I never really interacted much with any African-American folks, when I was a kid, they were all sequestered in East Oakland, or other places. Even in Southern California, all the communities are too segmented. And separated.

Which cities around the world are dynamic and interesting? I cannot speak for you, but I prefer southeast Asia; Hanoi and Saigon in Vietnam are both interesting, also, Phnom Penh Cambodia.

Economic leverage

I don’t know anybody from California, the Bay Area, Los Angeles, or Southern California who is happy. Why? Regardless of how successful they are, or how rich they are, living in the states, you cannot really leverage your money or economics to your benefit.

For example, most Americans, even the super rich, don’t really have that much spending or purchasing power. Even the elites of society struggle to hire at least one full-time maid or nanny. Note in Phnom Penh Cambodia, you could hire a live-in housekeeper and maid for only $200 US a month. Also, in Singapore, most people I know and most of my friends have at least one or two full-time living maids(They use the politically correct term “helper”).

Why were the ancient Greeks so productive? Slaves. Or indentured servants, whatever you prefer to call them. Even the notion of “economics“ comes from the ancient Greek notion of “household management”. If you were in ancient Greek, note even the poorest Greeks of society, had at least one sleeve. Even the cynic philosopher Diogenes had at least one slave who ran away from him. Even the funny story, when Seneca is writing a letter to his friend Lucilius, and is talking about how he is living in simulated poverty during a trip, saying that he brought “only one or two slaves“.

I think the unsavory truth is that all great civilizations, have been built on the back of slaves. The reason I like watching Dystopic films, is that there are more honest assessment of our current civilization. For example, the issue at hand in Blade Runner is that the Tyrell corporation created all of these human android slaves clones, to do the hateful labor off-planet.

Even today, there are still human slaves all around the planet. I personally hate this, but it is the truth.

Also, in “western countries“, you have pseudo-slaves; essentially people for so poor and destitute, that they are indentured servants. For example, all of the really really cheap labor done in California are typically illegal Mexican immigrants.

There is no middle class in Asia

Also, the reason why life in Southeast Asia so good is that the gap between the rich and poor so insanely huge; it literally costs less than 100 bucks a month, to hire somebody who is a full-time worker, or cleaner at a restaurant. And this is why a lot of major cities in Southeast Asia are so hygienic and clean, there are always cheap labor constantly cleaning things.

Also, a cultural one; Asians don’t really see really really poor people with “respect“ as we do back in the states. There is not really a dignity of labor concept here.

Also, why is constructing so efficient in Asia in Southeast Asia? Poor cheap labor— I literally see guys here in Cambodia, working on this massive Chinese development skyscrapers, welding metal just wearing flip-flops. And also cutting cement with massive industrial grade saws, also only wearing flip-flops. I am very very certain that safety measures here are far less than they are in the west.

So how do you honestly want to live your life?

I prefer to live the most maintenance free life possible, with the greatest amount of physiological health and joy. For example, not owning a car. I love living in Phnom Penh, I could take a Grab taxi anywhere in the city for only about two dollars to three dollars USD. A lot of short trips only cost one dollar USD. Even if I was a trillionaire living here, the thought or idea of where to park my Lamborghini would cause me undue stress.

Cutting things out, via negative style seems to be the best method

For example, for greater health, figure out what to cut out. Cut out smoking weed, cut out alcohol, cut out other things which weaken you.

To get more “ripped“, or to lose body adipose tissue fat, it is simple: just cut out all starches, vegetables, sweeteners, and sugars from your diet. No fruit. Fruit is essentially modern day candy. And no, you don’t need fruit to be “healthy”. Also, distrust all these new modern day sweeteners, for example “Monk fruit,“ Stevia, or other 0 cal sweeteners. My suspicion is that they still cause strange damage on your hormonal signaling system, because if your body senses or taste something sweet, it is most likely to inject insulin into your bloodstream. A hyper active insulin signaling activity in your body is bad.

How to lose fat fast >

Phones are bad

If I think about it, after much experimentation and thinking, I believe wholeheartedly that phones, smart phones, iPhones etc., aren’t that negative to yourself, society and the world.

This is a new elite is in things; the new elites, in the leads of the future will be able to live a beautiful existence without phones.

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Get out of the social media ghetto

A realization:

Social media is a new digital ghetto.

If you desire a more beautiful life, get out of the social media ghetto. It is better for your physiological health, also your mental health!

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Share your wealth

The reason why sharing your wealth, buying people presents, etc. giving tips, etc. is good as this:

When you share your wealth, you yourself feel more powerful.

For example, when you give somebody a present, or you give somebody a tip, or share your wealth, there is a certain joy of feeling abundant. That you’re rich enough, that you could give this away as a present, without any harm to yourself.

This is where philanthropy feels so strange in America; we seemingly do it out of virtuous, selfless reasons, but in reality, there’s a certain power surge we feel when we share our wealth. And I feel like this is the more honest mode of thinking.

Share your wealth, because you’re rich enough.

ERIC

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Travel more, become more

1. End of September, early October: experience Seoul South Korea, the future >
2. November 5: Make better photos with minimalism in downtown Los Angeles
3. November 12: experience Vancouver, why do all the rich mainland Chinese like to go there?

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The best for the best

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Other random thoughts:

1. With video, best to show a little bit of the beginning, and the end. Don’t try to make the videos too well edited and slick, it becomes less believable.
2. Why do billionaires look like beggars?
3. The best way to leverage luxury
4. VLOG: How to live your best life

More on ERIC KIM BLOG

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