We have the right to defend, why not the right to offend?
Fendo — to strike.
p
You must offend or be offensive for the thing to be interesting to you!
A second home? Or a mobile indoor outdoor space?
Also, a mobile play place for your kid!
Car like a big mobile living room?

We are the new street photographers. What does this mean, and how can we expand this notion?
First of all, break out of all boundaries and genres. The uber street photographer knows no boundaries or limits. Also, the real street photographer disdains to be defined. Even Garry Winogrand hated being called a “street photographerâ€â€” he just told other people, “just call me a zoo photographer instead!†(note his “Animals†book in which he shot in (Street Photography of animals and humans at the zoo).
For ourselves, I like the idea that we can expand the notion and the approach of street photography, to apply to other things. For example, I also believe that we are the new Spartans, and Street Photography is an interesting applied methodology to the way we live our lives. That is, we don’t need much, and we prefer ascetic values and ascetic approaches.
What is training? Askesis — we prepare for battle and combat through training.
In the context of street photography, what does this mean? This means that we love challenge in danger. This is the root of our passion for stupid Harvey, the fact that it does require courage, danger, and fear.
I think in order to be happy, one requires both danger and challenge. For example, the only type of weight lifting at the gym which interest me is both challenging, and “dangerous“. For example, very very heavy squat walk, and rack pull. Hypelifting — any type of weightlifting which requires you to hype yourself up before doing it.
Also, I might have been the first to have thought of this, which is that in order to have zen, you need adrenaline.
Zen and adrenaline as sister components.
More challenge, more danger!

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In terms of happiness, how do people seek it? They look for novelties, through buying cars, homes, new clothes, going to the mall, watching new movies and shows, and eating new foods. But none of these make happiness. How does one really create happiness?
In terms of happiness, it can only be created through challenge and danger. For example, going to the gym and attempting the heaviest squat walk possible, or, attempting the heaviest rack pull possible. The best types of weightlifting exercises at the gym require some sort of potential for failure, or a small mocidum of danger.

It seems that nowadays, one of the big problems is that we put ourselves into situations in which we trap ourselves. For example, literally being stuck inside the house, or if we live somewhere and we feel like we cannot leave. For example, let us assume you live in downtown LA, and you don’t have a car, you might feel stuck in downtown LA, with difficulty to venture further.
Another reason why I think perhaps an electric car is bad for freedom is that with an electric car, you’re either stuck in the immediate vicinity of your home, or at around charging stations. A life of maximal freedom is probably a hybrid car, or some sort of plug-in hybrid car. Even a plug-in hybrid car doesn’t seem necessary, just a standard hybrid car seems to suffice. The great benefit of a hybrid car is that you don’t have to fill up your tank as frequently, and you could also just use the standard cheap gasoline. I don’t think it matters how rich you are, I don’t think anyone likes the idea of paying for premium gas.

Also, cars that require lots of gasoline to run are bad. Cars which are not gas efficient mean that you have to go to the gas station more frequently, and it also takes up longer to fill up your tank. This is bad, even the other day filling up the tank of Cindy’s mom which I am borrowing, it took too long.

Maybe it is a good idea to have a fast charger at home, and just charge your electric vehicle overnight at your house every night. In praise of TESLA — pretty much the only electric car to have.
The more ribs, the merrier!
Lifting weights is my zen meditation:

The philosophy of fat.
Better to be a writer than a reader.
For example, the strength of the Spain soccer team is that there are so much diverse ethnic diversities on the team, compared this with Japan, where everyone is ethnically Japanese.

A new innovation I’ve done at the gym is what Cindy coined a “squat walkâ€. Basically the general gist is that you just rack a very heavy weight, your attempt on racket, walk back a few steps, and then re-rack it.
The first question is consider, what is the point of doing this? My practical thought is that it is fun, interesting, and thrilling. Certainly just being able to even hold a very heavy weight on your shoulders is a quite transformative experience.
For example, my first iteration of this was doing what I called “micro squats†which was just put a very very heavy weight on your shoulders, step back a few steps, and then just squat down half a centimeter. And then put back the weight.
When it comes to weightlifting, it seems that there is this bias that with the squat, one must squat all the way down, at parallel, a little bit below parallel, or maybe a little bit above parallel. But why?
My first thought is that I think it has to do with competition. If you are getting a bunch of dudes in a room, and trying to figure out who is the strongest, do you need some sort of standardized rules and judges. It seems at least in powerlifting, the “rule“ is that your hips or knees or whatever must be at “parallel“. But who judges this? The judges. However, I am certain when you get a bunch of beefy dudes trying to squat over 1000 pounds, everyone’s definition of “parallel“ is different.
Currently speaking, my thighs are out of control. I think I might have the beefiest thighs out of any dudes I’ve seen at the gym. My thighs are so buff I could even jiggle them on command. Kind of how bodybuilders on TV do the pec or the boob jiggle.
The first thing; muscular growth. My thighs are getting insanely buff, from even doing this “squat walk. Or micro squats.

We are the new street photographers. We disdain the old, and we throw mayhem and havoc onto past notions of street photography. No more John Szarkowski, no more Gary Winogrand, no more Henri Cartier Bresson, no more Alex Webb, etc.
I think the funny thing about street photography is that it is such a small funny niche. The interesting thing is that a lot of new industries were born out of it, including Leica camera, and also Fujifilm, and also Ricoh.
Also, I love street photography because it is the most democratic. Literally anyone could just grab their iPhone, or camera, and just go outdoors and make photos.
One thing I love in Vietnam, like my friend Chu Viet Ha is they don’t really call it street photography, they call it “life photography.†I really like this, because I think that is ultimately what we are trying to capture is life. We love life, we love being alive, and we want to share our joy of life with others.
The reason why we have to be very very careful with artists is that some artists are anti-life, very few artists I have met are pro life.
For example, the reason why I think it is a good idea to be very very distrustful of artists who were either addicted to drugs or alcohol is that their artwork was simply a way and a means of bearing their pain, depression and sorrow. While I do think that making art is a good remedy to dealing with the maladies of life, the big downside is that if you ingest the artwork of a sick person, you will also become sick. There is a physiology to art, which means, the physiology of the artist is imputed into his or her artwork, and when you consume that type of artwork, you will also gain the physiological attributes of that individual.
For example, do not trust any artist who are addicted to alcohol, drugs, heroin etc. For example, don’t trust Jackson Pollock, because he was an alcoholic. He died while drunk driving, no respect should be given to that man. Because if you are drunk while driving, the potential of killing someone else in their family in a car.
Even Jean Michel Basquiat, he died of a heroin overdose. I don’t think we should trust his artwork either, I would only trust the artwork of the sober artist, more trust in Kendrick Lamar, whose only vice seems to be eating Cap’n Crunch cereal, rather than all these other rappers and artists out there who are perpetually drunk or high off of some sort of strange drug or alcohol concoction.
Also, the reason why I am highly distrustful of EDM, and all of these millennial music festivals is that everyone there is high on drugs. Can anyone really enjoy an EDM festival, or some sort of music festival without alcohol or drugs? Highly doubtful.
Elon Musk said something very funny in the interview with Joe Rogan when he said that smoking weed is like the exact opposite of having a cup of coffee. I think the least bad drug out there is probably coffee, consume it straight black, with no milk cream sugar or fake substitutes. Also maybe green tea. But that is pretty much it. No drugs, no alcohol, no weed, etc.
Why do I not trust anybody who smokes weed, either regularly, or even recreationally? I think the reason why people like to smoke marijuana is that it eases their pain, or it makes them forget about themselves. The only philosophers we should trust are the sober ones, because in order to have real lofty thoughts, you must have 100% of your cognitive abilities with precision. Anything which intoxicates you is bad.
If we assume that street photography is an aesthetic and ethos and approach to things, then you could apply the street photography methodology to anything I like. The way you photograph your kids and your wife and your family is a street photography approach. Either with permission, without permission, it doesn’t matter.
I think you could also shoot street photography in national parks. Like Joshua tree. That you could shoot a Street Photography aesthetic of natural places and things, in a street photography aesthetic. Also, you get extra bonus points if you get humans in it, which is often the case. The funny thing is a lot of people desire to go to all these nice national parks, thinking that they will be the only ones there. No. They are very very crowded and full of tons of people, Maybe as crowded as the mall. And this is a good thing, because even if you go visit Joshua tree, you could do street photography there of all the people trying to climb the rocks etc.
When people ask you what you are, say that you’re like a big kid, and you like to run around with your camera.
Street photography is the future. Let us pave it together.
ERIC
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When in doubt, just shoot it.
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Street photography is not a definition, but an aesthetic. That means, approach street photography as an aesthetic, which means that anything and everything could be street photography if you just shoot it in a certain aesthetic style or form which you love.

Only trust the artwork of somebody who is muscular, not some skinny fat dude who is addicted to drugs or alcohol.
Very bright future for a Street Photography because nowadays, everyone has an iPhone. Or at least wants one. And, with the iPhone keep getting better at photography, essentially Apple is a photography company, more and more people will get into street photography.

To become a street photographer means you like being on the streets, in public, outdoors, and you love human beings. Human beings are your art form, and also your artwork. The more connected you are with embodied reality, the happier you are.
The first simple thought is just go out and start shooting photos. You could just shoot with your iPhone, or preferably your digital Ricoh GR camera.
Any camera is good for street photography, as long as it is comfortable for you. Ideally, the smaller, lighter, more compact the camera, the better. Ideally the camera should be able to fit in the front right pocket. Why? This way you will spot more photo opportunities, and also shoot more.
It doesn’t matter. Whichever aesthetic you prefer. I personally prefer black and white, as aesthetically I consider it more beautiful. I personally prefer to just shoot on small JPEG, on my Ricoh GR 3X camera.
If you shoot with an iPhone, I suggest just shooting with the default camera app. Why? It is faster, and more easily accessible from your lock screen.
In today’s world, auto focus is easiest and best. Why? In the past, digital cameras were too slow in auto focus, and thus manual focusing was better.
I personally just recommend using program mode, P mode, and auto focus. And start shooting before you think.
In Street Photography, you can photograph anything. You can photograph people that you met on the street, candid photos without permission, even photograph trash and rubbish on the floor, urban landscapes, etc.
The beauty I think about street photography is that it is limitless. Essentially you could shoot anything outside your house and it is “street photographyâ€.
For me, what makes a great street photograph is a combination of beautiful aesthetics, and also the subject matter you photograph, whether you care for it or not.
Apps are not the future. Blogs are.
Put your name on it. Your first and last name. Make sure it is by you, not anyone else

The hilarity; if somebody says that they are on “influencer“, they are not. Also, the true way to become an influencer is not through social media, but through your own website and blog instead.
I would actually say that the true way to become an influencer is to become number one on the Internet, or number one on Google for your given category or subject of interest.
My most recent clothing purchases include a high viz. orange tank top running sleeveless shirt, and a neon green pair of Lululemon license to train shorts that I got on a black Friday sale.
The other day, I also saw a brand new Porsche 911 GT3 RS in white, and they looked really boring. The front aerodynamic vents are cool, but the back is boring.
Even nowadays, when I look at black, it is so boring. Even though black is the most versatile, maybe life is too short for black. If you have the option to buy clothes, just buy insanely unusual colors instead. High viz. orange, high viz. green, hyper magenta, etc.
I thought for Apple; for the next iPhone Pro, make it some sort of interesting pink color. I think people will love it, especially women who make up a large purchasing base of the iPhone pro series it would be hot candy for influencer
This morning when I woke up, I randomly had the image of a downtown LA highway overpass of concrete in bedded in my mind. So much to conquer.
Not tech?
My thought: it has somewhere to deal with fitness, clothing, and the human body
. Also, a lot of innovation to be made in the realm of types of exercises and workouts. For example, my rack pull innovation, as well as my squad walk innovation.For example, I think I’m the only guy at the gym who could rack pull over six plates that could do a really really good pigeon pose and birds of paradise pose.
Thinking about the Iliad, after the battle scenes, and the sunsets, when both sides go back to their camps, proceed to slaughter a bunch of oxen, roast the thigh bones, and then feast, sleep, and wake up the next morning to the rosy-fingered Light, and then continue to do battle.
Some thing I’ve discovered especially now that I am lifting so much, how well you eat your meat might be by far the most important recovery tool. That is, if you have the option to stay up a little bit later, but sure you have enough meat, it is better than going to sleep hungry, not having consumed enough meat.
Also, I’ve noticed that the nights where I feast like a demigod, I actually end up sleeping way deeper. Then perhaps the lesson is that it doesn’t matter how many hours you sleep, but how deeply you sleep. Ideally you would sleep a long time, and sleep deeply, and it seems that the critical ingredient to sleeping deeply is the nutritional density of your meat.
For example, the days where I have tons of bone marrow, beef ribs, heart, liver, innards, I sleep the best.
Perhaps the fact that it is sunny and warm all year around means that you could just spend more time outdoors, recording and filming, etc.
Also, all of the beautiful people all end up going to LA. Aspiring actresses all go to LA, and therefore the percentage of beautiful women is higher. Also, more interesting and handsome men go to LA, and search for some sort of fitness stardom, etc.
Also, in LA, the culture is around clothing fashion and the human body. People in LA don’t really care for tech, don’t even know if they really care about money that much. They care more for fame.
I believe that if your golden is to create some sort of solo media empire, LA is the place to be.


To become a street photographer means you like being on the streets, in public, outdoors, and you love human beings. Human beings are your art form, and also your artwork. The more connected you are with embodied reality, the happier you are.
The first simple thought is just go out and start shooting photos. You could just shoot with your iPhone, or preferably your digital Ricoh GR camera.
Any camera is good for street photography, as long as it is comfortable for you. Ideally, the smaller, lighter, more compact the camera, the better. Ideally the camera should be able to fit in the front right pocket. Why? This way you will spot more photo opportunities, and also shoot more.
It doesn’t matter. Whichever aesthetic you prefer. I personally prefer black and white, as aesthetically I consider it more beautiful. I personally prefer to just shoot on small JPEG, on my Ricoh GR 3X camera.
If you shoot with an iPhone, I suggest just shooting with the default camera app. Why? It is faster, and more easily accessible from your lock screen.
In today’s world, auto focus is easiest and best. Why? In the past, digital cameras were too slow in auto focus, and thus manual focusing was better.
I personally just recommend using program mode, P mode, and auto focus. And start shooting before you think.
In Street Photography, you can photograph anything. You can photograph people that you met on the street, candid photos without permission, even photograph trash and rubbish on the floor, urban landscapes, etc.
The beauty I think about street photography is that it is limitless. Essentially you could shoot anything outside your house and it is “street photographyâ€.
For me, what makes a great street photograph is a combination of beautiful aesthetics, and also the subject matter you photograph, whether you care for it or not.
This also includes adults.

What do you lack in modern day life? Physical challenge, combat, hand to hand things.
I cannot speak for women, but for at least us men — the modern day man is like a sick animal. Anemic, lacking sun exposure to the sun, none of chutzpah, balls, and reckless audacity, preaches notions of sexual equality and women’s rights, yet watches pr0n in private, and doesn’t even lift heavy weights at the gym.
Several reasons. First of all, ironically enough I think the Spartans were just happy. They lived a simple existence, full of martial training and combat, and they lived a simple ascetic life.
Also, anti-pampering. A soft lifestyle is bad, a hard lifestyle is good.
For example, let me talk to us tech nerds. What do we live for? We live for travel, exotic experiences, exotic foods, the newest Apple product which will revolutionize our lives, the new Tesla, buying a home, etc.
Yet, all of these life goals are superficial. They are soft. They don’t really require any sort of true innovation, they just require hard work and money.
An interesting thought is one thing that we could control is what we desire. That this is actually something which is dictated by you. You can desire to want the Lambo, want to buy a home or own a home, have a certain amount of money, etc. But are these goals actually good? I think not.
And I think the ideal approach to things is a mishmash of stoicism, spartan, and zen.
That mentally, we have a stoic mindset to things. Which in short means we have a lofty insouciance to things, we are mostly unperturbed by things. That we take all of the good and bad in life in equal stride, and we realize that there is more in life we can control than not.
The spartan one is to become the overman. That means do not see yourself as a mere human being, but as something beyond. Certainly DNA wise you are just an ordinary human, however, your own ideals for yourself are so insanely lofty and beyond. That you set yourself insanely high standards, because you see yourself as different.
Zen in terms of our personal aesthetics. A Wabi Sabi aesthetic that the more used and worn something becomes the more beautiful it becomes. Also, to seek a sublime simplicity to things.
If you read a lot of the sayings of the Spartans, they are poetic, hilarious and deeply philosophical. For example, the saying in the movie 300, which was actually based on real life — when the Persians told king Leonidas and the spartan 300s that their arrows would blot out the sun, and then one spartan said then we shall fight in the shade. I find this to be so insanely beautiful as a thought, because it takes something that was seen as fearful, and transforms it into fuel and fire to become even more courageous.
Also, a philosophical thought; would you trust the thoughts of an individual who is skinny fat to philosophize and more lies on matters of beauty, bravery, courage, and masculinity? No. I would rather trust the thinking and saying of a spartan then a modern day male academic.
I think I am the most courageous street photographer that I know. That I love people, and I am really good at talking to people, and strangers. All of the other street photographers why have met in the past seem to be timid, soft, and anti-human.
What do I mean by that? A lot of these weak street photographers try to augment their own low self-esteem by trying to tyrannize their own personal aesthetic and approach to things. They are very close-minded. They think to themselves, “it is either my way or the highway!†They lack independent thought — they cannot even think that everyone could do things a little differently.
To bridge the gap, let us think about not just spartan philosophy, but also, the philosophy of risk.
Greater risk, greater futures. The greater the risk, the better.
Something I haven’t really heard people talk or write about is the philosophy of risk. What is risk, what is the significance of risk, and what are practical ways we can leverage risk in our every day lives in order to become more?
The practical thing I learned from the Nassim Taleb is that one should never take any risks in life which might cause possible death, or potential disfigurement.
For example, never in any circumstances text while driving. This can lead to your death, and also to the death of your child, your wife, or even cause you to kill somebody else in another car, their children, etc.
When I am in taxi cars, Uber’s, or have a private driver, something which I was on the fence about was when they would text while driving. I didn’t want to ruffle any feathers, so I would just stay quiet.
But now that I got a wife and a kid, and if they’re in the same car as me, I have a zero tolerance policy for people texting while driving. One of the proudest moments is when we were in Cambodia and we had a private driver drive us to Angkor Wat Siem Reap, and half the time he was texting while driving. I then mustered up the courage to ask/command him to not do that anymore. Why? Even if there was a one percent chance of potential death in a car accident, I need to muster the courage to defend my family.
Other risks I would never take include skydiving, bungee jumping, etc.
The most critical thing I learned from Boy Scouts was the notion of safety first. This is very true.
For example, I think the intelligent thing is to expect yourself to fail, or potentially hurt yourself or others, and therefore, the safe thing to do is create a double safety barrier, in order to prevent bad things from happening.
For example, when I am handling a very very sharp knife in the kitchen, I commend everybody to leave the room. Why? I do not want to accidentally stab or cut anybody.
Or, when you were attempting very very heavy squats at the gym, both have safety pins in the correct position and ask somebody to spot you. Why? When you’re handling a very heavy weight, let us say six plates on each side, or 605 pounds, your chance of not being strong enough to either move the weight, or re-rack it is very high. And therefore, having a spotter will give you 1000 times more security and safety. Once again, when it comes to powerlifting style one repetition maximum attempts, when should always expect to fail, and have a contingency plan.
How do you know if you are really alive? If your real life involves taking some sort of risks in real life. What does that mean? That means life, if you were just stuck in a virtual reality simulation would be boring. Why? There are not real risks involved with virtual reality.
For example, let us say that you are doing a rock climbing simulation in virtual reality. If you fail, slip and fall, there is no real downside. You just push a button and start over. However in real life, let us assume you’re doing free solo, if you slip, you’ll probably die. There is no restart button in real life.
However with matters with entrepreneurship, business, etc., the upside is that there aren’t that big risks involved, at least in regards to life and death. For example, let us say that you attend some sort of entrepreneurial thing, if it fails to takeoff, you’re not gonna lose a limb, or die. At worst, you might have difficulty paying rent that month.
Therefore, what is the most intelligent way to think about risk at least in the context of business and entrepreneurship? That is, it seems the only thing people really are afraid of is this fuzzy notion of “failure“, or some sort of social stigma or social ostracization that happens with “failure“.
Then my practical thought is in the context of risk, the only thing you gotta fear is the fear of looking like a fool, the fear of looking like a “failureâ€, or losing “face“.
For example, in East Asian cultures, which follow Confucianism, the greatest fear is the fear of losing face or prestige or rank in front of your peers or in society. This is a horrible concept, because your whole life is spent trying to get other people to “respect†you, or see you as “successful. It revolves nothing around doing what you really want to do.
First of all, watch the movie 300 by Zack Snyder. I think it paints a very vivid image of what true manliness looks like.
Or better yet, read the original 300 graphic novel comic by Frank Miller — Amazon.
What does it mean to become a philosopher? Becoming a philosopher simply means to think more critically, and to become what you desire to become.
It seems that Silicon Valley is full of subservient nerds, who know how to do good things with computers or email, and are good at collecting a high salary, in the range of $300,000 a year to $500,000 a year. Yet, what they lack is courage.
If I were still in tech, my personal strategy would be this:
Do the minimum amount of work necessary at your job to not get fired, and milk your company and your employer, and use all of your extra free mind space and time to do things you really care about.
The funny thing I’ve actually realize that in tech, even if you’re a horrible person, it is actually really difficult to fire somebody. I assume you’re not that much of an asshole, therefore, your likelihood of getting fired or laid off is actually quite low.
Let us say that you are going to get laid off. It’s not really that big of a deal, because you could just jump to another big tech company, maybe even get a raise and a promotion.
Let us consider all of these potential employers which include Apple, Google, Facebook, Netflix, etc.
So I would say go harder. Break out of the cubicle, and your house. Spend more times outdoors, chatting with beautiful people, and lifting heavy weights at the gym, getting loud and making a ruckus. Hypelifting.
What can you conquer in 2023?
Cinema by KIM
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Never lose the new: ERIC KIM NEWS
Why? While you are fasted, you have more alertness, focus, and visual acuity of the environment around you.

Even with thoughts, I have zero interest in people with anemic thoughts — no blood.
Haima.

I am currently theorizing that a rack pull might actually be superior to a deadlift, in terms of overall muscle activation, and also Zen focus, fun, and also muscular gains.
What do we lack in modern day life? Physical challenge, combat, hand to hand things.
I cannot speak for women, but for at least us men — the modern day man is like a sick animal. Anemic, lacking sun exposure to the sun, none of chutzpah, balls, and reckless audacity, preaches notions of sexual equality and women’s rights, yet watches pr0n in private, and doesn’t even lift heavy weights at the gym.
Several reasons. First of all, ironically enough I think the Spartans were just happy. They lived a simple existence, full of martial training and combat, and they lived a simple ascetic life.
Also, anti-pampering. A soft lifestyle is bad, a hard lifestyle is good.
For example, let me talk to us tech nerds. What do we live for? We live for travel, exotic experiences, exotic foods, the newest Apple product which will revolutionize our lives, the new Tesla, buying a home, etc.
Yet, all of these life goals are superficial. They are soft. They don’t really require any sort of true innovation, they just require hard work and money.
An interesting thought is one thing that we could control is what we desire. That this is actually something which is dictated by you. You can desire to want the Lambo, want to buy a home or own a home, have a certain amount of money, etc. But are these goals actually good? I think not.
And I think the ideal approach to things is a mishmash of stoicism, spartan, and zen.
That mentally, we have a stoic mindset to things. Which in short means we have a lofty insouciance to things, we are mostly unperturbed by things. That we take all of the good and bad in life in equal stride, and we realize that there is more in life we can control than not.
The spartan one is to become the overman. That means do not see yourself as a mere human being, but as something beyond. Certainly DNA wise you are just an ordinary human, however, your own ideals for yourself are so insanely lofty and beyond. That you set yourself insanely high standards, because you see yourself as different.
Zen in terms of our personal aesthetics. A Wabi Sabi aesthetic that the more used and worn something becomes the more beautiful it becomes. Also, to seek a sublime simplicity to things.
If you read a lot of the sayings of the Spartans, they are poetic, hilarious and deeply philosophical. For example, the saying in the movie 300, which was actually based on real life — when the Persians told king Leonidas and the spartan 300s that their arrows would blot out the sun, and then one spartan said then we shall fight in the shade. I find this to be so insanely beautiful as a thought, because it takes something that was seen as fearful, and transforms it into fuel and fire to become even more courageous.
Also, a philosophical thought; would you trust the thoughts of an individual who is skinny fat to philosophize and more lies on matters of beauty, bravery, courage, and masculinity? No. I would rather trust the thinking and saying of a spartan then a modern day male academic.
I think I am the most courageous street photographer that I know. That I love people, and I am really good at talking to people, and strangers. All of the other street photographers why have met in the past seem to be timid, soft, and anti-human.
What do I mean by that? A lot of these weak street photographers try to augment their own low self-esteem by trying to tyrannize their own personal aesthetic and approach to things. They are very close-minded. They think to themselves, “it is either my way or the highway!†They lack independent thought — they cannot even think that everyone could do things a little differently.
To bridge the gap, let us think about not just spartan philosophy, but also, the philosophy of risk.
Greater risk, greater futures. The greater the risk, the better.
Something I haven’t really heard people talk or write about is the philosophy of risk. What is risk, what is the significance of risk, and what are practical ways we can leverage risk in our every day lives in order to become more?
The practical thing I learned from the Nassim Taleb is that one should never take any risks in life which might cause possible death, or potential disfigurement.
For example, never in any circumstances text while driving. This can lead to your death, and also to the death of your child, your wife, or even cause you to kill somebody else in another car, their children, etc.
When I am in taxi cars, Uber’s, or have a private driver, something which I was on the fence about was when they would text while driving. I didn’t want to ruffle any feathers, so I would just stay quiet.
But now that I got a wife and a kid, and if they’re in the same car as me, I have a zero tolerance policy for people texting while driving. One of the proudest moments is when we were in Cambodia and we had a private driver drive us to Angkor Wat Siem Reap, and half the time he was texting while driving. I then mustered up the courage to ask/command him to not do that anymore. Why? Even if there was a one percent chance of potential death in a car accident, I need to muster the courage to defend my family.
Other risks I would never take include skydiving, bungee jumping, etc.
The most critical thing I learned from Boy Scouts was the notion of safety first. This is very true.
For example, I think the intelligent thing is to expect yourself to fail, or potentially hurt yourself or others, and therefore, the safe thing to do is create a double safety barrier, in order to prevent bad things from happening.
For example, when I am handling a very very sharp knife in the kitchen, I commend everybody to leave the room. Why? I do not want to accidentally stab or cut anybody.
Or, when you were attempting very very heavy squats at the gym, both have safety pins in the correct position and ask somebody to spot you. Why? When you’re handling a very heavy weight, let us say six plates on each side, or 605 pounds, your chance of not being strong enough to either move the weight, or re-rack it is very high. And therefore, having a spotter will give you 1000 times more security and safety. Once again, when it comes to powerlifting style one repetition maximum attempts, when should always expect to fail, and have a contingency plan.
How do you know if you are really alive? If your real life involves taking some sort of risks in real life. What does that mean? That means life, if you were just stuck in a virtual reality simulation would be boring. Why? There are not real risks involved with virtual reality.
For example, let us say that you are doing a rock climbing simulation in virtual reality. If you fail, slip and fall, there is no real downside. You just push a button and start over. However in real life, let us assume you’re doing free solo, if you slip, you’ll probably die. There is no restart button in real life.
However with matters with entrepreneurship, business, etc., the upside is that there aren’t that big risks involved, at least in regards to life and death. For example, let us say that you attend some sort of entrepreneurial thing, if it fails to takeoff, you’re not gonna lose a limb, or die. At worst, you might have difficulty paying rent that month.
Therefore, what is the most intelligent way to think about risk at least in the context of business and entrepreneurship? That is, it seems the only thing people really are afraid of is this fuzzy notion of “failure“, or some sort of social stigma or social ostracization that happens with “failure“.
Then my practical thought is in the context of risk, the only thing you gotta fear is the fear of looking like a fool, the fear of looking like a “failureâ€, or losing “face“.
For example, in East Asian cultures, which follow Confucianism, the greatest fear is the fear of losing face or prestige or rank in front of your peers or in society. This is a horrible concept, because your whole life is spent trying to get other people to “respect†you, or see you as “successful. It revolves nothing around doing what you really want to do.
First of all, watch the movie 300 by Zack Snyder. I think it paints a very vivid image of what true manliness looks like.
Or better yet, read the original 300 graphic novel comic by Frank Miller — Amazon.
What does it mean to become a philosopher? Becoming a philosopher simply means to think more critically, and to become what you desire to become.
It seems that Silicon Valley is full of subservient nerds, who know how to do good things with computers or email, and are good at collecting a high salary, in the range of $300,000 a year to $500,000 a year. Yet, what they lack is courage.
If I were still in tech, my personal strategy would be this:
Do the minimum amount of work necessary at your job to not get fired, and milk your company and your employer, and use all of your extra free mind space and time to do things you really care about.
The funny thing I’ve actually realize that in tech, even if you’re a horrible person, it is actually really difficult to fire somebody. I assume you’re not that much of an asshole, therefore, your likelihood of getting fired or laid off is actually quite low.
Let us say that you are going to get laid off. It’s not really that big of a deal, because you could just jump to another big tech company, maybe even get a raise and a promotion.
Let us consider all of these potential employers which include Apple, Google, Facebook, Netflix, etc.
So I would say go harder. Break out of the cubicle, and your house. Spend more times outdoors, chatting with beautiful people, and lifting heavy weights at the gym, getting loud and making a ruckus. Hypelifting.
What can you conquer in 2023?
Cinema by KIM
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More and more people hungry to travel again, and the desire to be in embodied reality, interact with other human beings, and also make art. Simply put, photography makes you happier.