The greatness of photography has been highly understated. Photography is great — let us make it great(er) again!

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A thought the other day:

What’s underrated in life, and what’s overrated in life?

My thoughts:

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In praise of the freedom of (politically incorrect) speech.

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The best way to get people to comply to mask wearing:

Make it cool, stylish and nice to wear a mask.

Instead of wearing a new Rolex watch, you wear a luxury Louis Vuitton mask. Or wearing a mask makes it easier to breathe in polluted environments and cities and keeps bad smells and dust out of your mouth.

My proposal:

Let’s spam the rapper Future on Twitter to do a song titled, “Mask On” to make mask wearing cool for the youth.

As a sociologist, this is my take on COVID-19 and the societal and economic consequences of the pandemic:

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Losing Body Fat (Adipose Tissue) as Beneficial to Fight COVID-19

COVID-19 is more deadly in overfat individuals, according to a recent Science article. This is my thought:

If you want to protect yourself from catching COVID-19 and potential death from it, losing body fat (adipose tissue) doesn’t hurt.

Let me explain further in depth:

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Not a brave new world, a LAME new world. A lame new world beridden by ads, popups, interruptions, lame distractions, porn, sugar, news, entertainment, media, etc. The future … we are all hopped up on metaphorical “soma” (Brave New World substance), which is just mass distraction for petty profits.

Thus my suggestion and intervention:

Make the future less lame.

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Let us not fool and deceive ourselves:

At this point Google *is* the internet.

What does this mean?

Either merge with Google or be left behind.

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We all have been taught:

Quality over quantity.

I disagree. I believe quantity over quality is supreme.

Why? Some thoughts:

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The internet as the ultimate under-utilized tool. Still insane amounts of disruption, innovation and greatness just waiting for you:

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Whenever we analyze things let us not be suckered. The question (be honest with yourself):

Is this thing a toy or tool?

Toys are fine. But just kid or sucker yourself. We only get suckered when we somehow “justify” our purchases as tools when they’re actually toys.

Let us not lie to ourselves: we buy things for the design, the ethos, the notion. You don’t buy a car for the performance, reliability or whatever. You buy it for the drama, style, sense of showmanship, for your ego, your aesthetics, your ethos, and your personality and the way of life. The car is an external skin of your ego.

In other words, we buy it for the style, aesthetics and design…not for the thing in itself.

When in doubt, just vlog it:

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Something very interesting and bizarre which I came across at my friend Tim’s home: a US Dollar Bill … with something very interesting:

It looked different.

How so?

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We are so obsessed with muscle cars, sports cars, luxury cars, hyper cars, mega cars, electric cars, Tesla cars, Lamborghini cars, whatever. How come we have no interest in impressive humans and men? Mega humans. Hyper humans. Uber humans?

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No design, no life:

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If you value your focus, don’t use FacebookGram, don’t read the news, don’t use any social media or Twitter, don’t go on YouTube, don’t watch Netflix, don’t shop on Amazon.com, don’t entertain weird conspiracy theories etc. Also:

Install as many advertisement and content blocking plugins and tools humanly possible.

For example:

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Shout out to Nassim Taleb:

Often the most pragmatic form of ethics is ‘via negativa’– figuring out what *NOT* to do unto others.

So I’ve been spending a lot of time randomly trolling through alt-right and conservative news platforms, reading a lot of independent bloggers (duckduckgo.com) and the such. In the midst of all this, what I discover what it comes down to:

1. Are you a patriot?
2. Do you want to be faithful to God?
3. Are you loyal to our country or not?

In America, the ethos comes down to patriotism, law, loyalty (I pledge allegiance to the flag), and God (the Judeo-Christian, mostly protestant Quaker-God).

Which gets me down the interesting rabbit hole:

What is a patriot?

And also:

*WHY* be a patriot?

Some of my thoughts:

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My personal aesthetics:

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My honest appraisal of all things German:

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My thought:

The best aesthetic, ethos and approach is a combination of American individualism and risk-loving appetite (entrepreneurship), the wabi-sabi aesthetics of Japan-Kyoto, and the aesthetic harness and precision of German Bauhaus.

The ultimate hybrid and synthesis:

1. American [The American spirit and attitude]
2. German [Berlin, Bauhaus aesthetic]
3. Japanese [Kyoto to be exact]

My honest appraisal and thought:

Currently the best camera brand for both still photos *AND* video is Panasonic-Lumix.

Why? Let me explain:

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The future of websites, Google, blogs, websites, and SEO (search engine optimization) is simple:

Google will become the ultimate news-authority … all websites and blogs shall become assimilated and absorbed by Google.

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Not all distractions are made alike. Some are good, some bad. Why? Good distractions include when you peruse interesting ideas which motivate and inspire you; self-guided intellectual or self curiosity distractions. Bad distractions: companies, Amazon, Apple, Google, Twitter hijack your attention to get you to buy more products, click or see more advertisements or trigger some sort of urge to buy and purchase x, y, z.

Until death do us part.

Does anything really last *forever*?

Techno flow is the goal. To become the ultimate zen–taoist technologist-artist that is one with digital technology. That still retains love of nature, humans, and human ingenuity. To use the computer and technology as a ‘bicycle for the mind’ (Steve Jobs notion from the Whole Earth Catalogue).

As an internet and digital entrepreneur there ain’t that many things in which money can really help you. But one huge thing:

Invest in an insanely fast wifi connection at home (ideally giga-bit, fiber optic, etc).

Why? Let me explain:

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Ironically enough the best way to study marketing, business and entrepreneurship is by *NOT* taking traditional marketing courses, business courses, or entrepreneurship courses. Similarly speaking:

1. Don’t study ‘marketing’ as a major
2. Don’t study ‘business’ as a major
3. Be suspicious of ‘entrepreneurship’ majors … especially if they’re taught by non-entrepreneurs.

Sociology was great to understand marketing, branding, advertising and entrepreneurship because:

1. You understand societal dynamics
2. You understand why people think a certain way, and why society progresses a certain way
3. You think of society as a dynamic and changing organism and culture-complex, rather than the narrow-minded view of economists who see society and humans as static and predictable.

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Why does America run the world? Simple … we have the most lethal military.

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Critics typically say one thing and do another. For example I’ve met soooo many people who are initially anti Lululemon and then eventually buy them. Or people (myself) who are anti Apple, eventually get a MacBook laptop and then never turn back to PC or Windows. Or consider the people who are anti Leica (Fujifilm users) who all secretly want a Leica digital M camera, yet cannot afford it (sour grapes fallacy). Or how Porsche drivers shun Lamborghini cars, yet perhaps they have the Porsche is because the Lamborghini is still more expensive. Or the Android users who shun iPhones because they cannot afford it.

Go luxury or die.

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Defense is key:

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Don’t buy the most expensive option on a budget brand. Also, never buy the most expensive option for a luxury brand.

Simple thinking:

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As you gain new followers, you also shed old followers. This is life!

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The quadrillion dollar question:

How can I get more followers?

Some of my real thoughts:

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The reason why I’m so fascinated with economics and money:

What is money … really?

Also —

If we assume that money sets the whole world in motion, what does this mean towards humanity?

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Simple ideas:

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The problem with digital:

We have a quadrillion photos to look through and choose.

Google Photos has done a pretty good job of suggesting your ‘best’ photos, and making it easier to share. But still … let us assume we want to do a more manual approach, what are we to do?

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What is our life blood as photographers?

Simple — to just keep making new.

What is our life blood as bloggers?

Simple: to just keep blogging!

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The maximal upside of human ingenuity and skills, and computer-machine efficiency and help.

For example with Tesla:

Cars are made mostly by machines and robots, and humans do the final touches.

There will never be 100% pure machine robot automation. It ain’t about a robot taking your job … but a machine making your life easier and better!

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What is it really worth to you?

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Something very interesting I’ve learned about myself:

I am not sensitive to prices.

Instead, I value this abstract notion of ‘worth‘ or ‘value‘.

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Why I don’t think China will ever become more economically powerful than America:

All the great innovations happen in America, as American culture promotes and encourages aberrant thinking, disregard for notions of the family (China still has *some* vestiges of Confucianism which is anti-individual, more pro-communal).

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What is the true value of ‘doing more’? Is it this strange American-British-Taylorism notion that one’s self worth is dependent on his or her money-making ability and their ability to produce a lot, do a lot, and make a bunch of money?

What is the future of money? Let us assume money is just a technological tool which facilitates trust and commerce between human beings.

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The most difficult thing: having the courage and the guts to decide.

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GEMERA: great cars, great design begins with the side view — the silhouette. Or even the silhouette and body shape of human beings:

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The goal—

Not to join a big company, but to create your own company … your company of yourself.

ARSBETA.COM. WHY APP. HAPTIC INDUSTRIES. ERIC KIM WORKSHOPS.

Essentially … a company as an extension of yourself, your ideals, and your own ego. You will die, but your company (may) live on.

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When in doubt, be more child-like!

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To be a photography entrepreneur means:

To make, create, and exploit risks in photography, visual arts and society for the ultimate betterment of humankind.

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What is the most difficult thing in life? To decide. To put your foot down, and to take extreme culpability and extreme responsibility for your self and life.

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Never water yourself down. Society can only advance if you share your thoughts, RAW.

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Why is it so hard to meet others who have an opinion?

You must own your own opinion if you desire to do anything truly great in life.

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Creative flow is the goal. To create without any creative friction, and to keep flowing until you die.

Do not be fooled or suckered. Your car isn’t you. Your car doesn’t show any of your own personal life, moral or ethical values. Just get a car that can reliably get you from point A to point B. Better to invest your money into your own mind, flesh, and muscular gains!

Don’t trust the news. Just go out and see the truth for yourself:

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Creative friction is bad. It is the friction which prevents us from doing that which we truly love, which is to make and create!

To blog from your laptop is often too much friction. Just blog from your phone instead! The benefits:

1. Concise and to-the-point
2. Easier to get started
3. Less creative friction
4. You can blog whole walking and standing upright. Better for your back and posture. Very useful especially if you have chronic back pain (I never sit anymore).
5. If you can text message and send emails from your phone like a boss, why not just blog from your phone as well?

ERIC

Arsbeta.com; the anti Instagram for photographers. To be insanely ambitious and fail is superior than take the safe route and succeed.

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I was born in 1988; does that make me a millennial? Maybe, maybe not. Regardless here are some of my candid thoughts on some of my personal critiques on my (fellow) millenials:

1. Lack of personal courage: Millenials want to do awesome and epic things yet are too risk averse. They want others to like them too much. This is what holds them back. Millenials care far too much for external validation. No internal self validation.
2. Millenials are too suckered by travel: Now with COVID, is there even a realistic future for travel? Perhaps not. Thus most millenials lose their zest and purpose of life.
3. Millenials care too much for good food: 90% of their income is probably squandered on eating out, drinking or on alcohol or other drugs. No notion of saving money.

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What is the hardest thing for us to do? Make decisions. Then:

Be insanely stubborn when following your own gut, and if you are ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ (later), it ain’t about having someone to blame, or to ‘vindicate’ yourself.

The point of life:

To win. (credit to Nassim Taleb for the idea).

Let me explain the idea in further depth:

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First sent on ERIC KIM NEWSLETTER

Dear friends,

So the way it looks, it looks like that COVID ain’t going away anytime soon. So why not use this chance to just re-up your photography skills? Some simple and practical thoughts and ideas for you:

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The beach: one of the best places to shoot on the beach!

1. Use small camera like RICOH GR III. The bigger the camera you use, the more suspicious and weird you will look.
2. Shoot kids in the water, playing around! Aim for dynamism. Remember the famous photograph that Henri Cartier Bresson was inspired from Martin Munkácsi (the kids playing in the water).
3. Photograph kids on the pier or other scenarios

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Peace, tranquility, focus of thought and vision.

We Americans and entrepreneurs are addicted or very interested in innovation… but for what or towards what end? Some of my thoughts:

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Just live your life (with a face mask) and just recording videos of what you see and experience is super interesting and fun!

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Simple photo project: shoot textures!

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Thought:

The new small full frame mirrorless camera (Lumix S5, $2000 USD) is essentially a mini digital Leica M camera ($7000 USD).

Panasonic Lumix has essentially helped Leica a lot to get into the digital game. So we can understand digital Leica cameras as being co-produced with Panasonic Lumix. Even the Leica M10; I’m certain the sensor isn’t much different than the full frame Lumix S5 or Lumix S1 camera. Even the Leica SL is just an expensive Lumix S1 camera. Leica Q2 camera is an expensive Lumix S1R camera. The Leica M10-R probably very similar to the Lumix S1R sensor as well.