ERIC KIM ₿

You can only truly critique people you truly love and understand.

Now we street photographers … we got ultimate skin in the game. Now going out and shooting street photography is a real risk. But that is what makes it fun and interesting, and requires our courage and bravery?

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It seems we all love video games. I’m a huuuge fan of Marcin and what he did with Witcher and now the new Cyberpunk game (looks awesome). However, seeing all this stuff makes me think and believe:

Certainly real life (embodied, flesh-based reality) is the best life.

We play in video games characters who are insanely buff, muscular, and adrenaline junkies. But why are we so timid and cowardly in real life? This is my fun and thrill in street photography — it is like the ultimate real life First Person Shooter (FPS). And I think this is why my street photography Gopro POV videos were so popular.

Let’s say all the conspiracy theories or whatever is true. You discover the truth or truth(s) about everything — then what? What is the positive utility of knowing the truth, or knowing truth(s)?

My thought:

Perhaps the utility is to just encourage others to think for themselves and not get easily suckered or deceived.

To guide others to not be taken advantage of, and to NOT become pawns for the advancement of others and their personal agendas. This is why I mostly steer clear of politics and the media — everyone is in it for the money, personal advancement, fame, or hubris.

Or better yet:

Don’t trust anyone on social media.

Why? Simple:

As long as your self-esteem, money, reputation, social standing, or financial livelihood depends on social media (Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, whatever) … people will always distort themselves (their opinion, their physique, take steroids-testosterone-weird-chemicals), etc.

In fact if your livelihood is dependent on social media, it actually seems illogical to *NOT* “cheat”.

Credit to Daniel Kunitz (New Frontier Fitness) who first wrote about this notion of ‘Workout Porn’ in his book “Lift“). The notion of workout porn is fascinating — it is essentially sometimes we like to watch other people workout more than we like to workout ourselves. But what if workout porn was a good stimulus to get us to workout? Shout out to CT FLETCHER as well as Calum Von MOGER.

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No need to atone for yourself, your privilege, your birth, whatever. You never asked your parents to be born … so why atone?

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I believe it is self-evident that America is unequal. Yet I still believe in the American dream. Why? With inequality comes opportunity.

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You cannot buy happiness, but you can buy productivity. Some things (all Amazon affiliate links which means if you buy anything on these links via below, I get around a 5-7% kick-back):

1. Coffee. Wink coffee (light roast) is great. I just grind it at home with either my mini stainless steel Porlex grinder (thanks Jun) or just using a random Nutribullet grinder (I do not believe in these stupidly expensive fancy coffee grinders). I also am a huuuuge advocate for the Clever Coffee Dripper (Cindy and I bought ours in Vietnam 3 years ago, traveled the world with it, and still use it [several times a day] here in the states). Clever is great — best hybrid between pour-over and the thickness of espresso. I drink lots of black coffee (no milk, no cream, no sugar, no silly almond or other pseudo-milk things) and water during the day to maximize my creative productivity.
2. 100% cocoa powder: I like the ‘Viva Natural’ 100% cocoa powder (no sugar) to give me a mid-day boost. I drink it just with boiling hot water. It acts as another good creative stimulant to me.
3. Matcha green powder: This stuff is very strong and potent. MatchaDNA seems to work well, and just a tiny bit of it (like seriously a very little amount) gives me a strong buzz. Careful with this stuff; I once drank too much powder, and I got really nauseous. The good thing with matcha green tea — L-Theanine + caffeine (good buzz).

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My honest appraisal:

Facebook is a ‘net positive’ for society, but Instagram is a ‘net negative’ to society.

Why?

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Why I bought Bitcoin (BTC) and Digibyte (DGB) and think cryptocurrency (and other forms of crypto, like digital ledgers) are the future for photographers and this brave new digital economy:

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There are 3.5 billion smartphone users in the world which means:

There are 3.5 BILLION photographers in the world!

A great entrepreneurial opportunity ripe for you!

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How to become #1 in a given category on YouTube, which is the world’s second-most visited website (after Google). In other words:

1. Google is the world’s #1 search engine
2. YouTube is the world’s #2 search engine

If you master YouTube *AND* Google, you are golden. This is how to do it:

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How to become happy:

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To me, the apex success is simple:

Do what you love, and *NOT* be homeless.

In other words, consider this a quick and easy guide to (quickly) become a self-employed photographer. The goal is to make a living *NOT* a killing with photography:

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I am convinced:

If your goal in life is to have apex happiness, you *CANNOT* be employed by a boss.

Or in other words:

For apex happiness in life, you must become self-employed.

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My body is something I am trying to build and sculpt. My body-building is also an edifice, and an art-work:

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Sociology — the workings of society. What will the sociology of the future look like? A glimpse:

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Society can only function (well) if we got people who obey, follow orders, etc. A society (anarchy) with no functioning government, and all these beast-like humans cannot function. Thus society does soft coercion to get us to follow rules for the sake of the collective.

Thought:

Modern society as a Christian society … in which the collective is more important than the individual?

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With energy, physics and people … do they generate energy or suck away and parasite energy?

Some thoughts:

1. Physiological thriving: Going to bed at 8-9pm, and waking up (naturally) without alarm clock.
2. Intermittent fasting during the day. Breaking your fast with a very delicious meat-forward meal.
3. Creative productivity: To always have inspiration and motivation to make more and new art works.
4. High muscle mass (skeletal muscle mass) and low body fat percentage (low adipose tissue). Ideal bodyfat percentage is ~10% for men, ~20% for women.
5. Lots of sunlight. Walking around a lot, outdoors with fresh air. Having some randomness and chance in your day. *NOT* following any form of schedule.
6. Some form of physical activity or exercise.

In praise of a ‘poor‘ or ‘ghetto‘ lifestyle:

My personal goal and quest:

How can we maximize our human potential with as little money as possible?

Basic thoughts:

1. Eat super-cheap industrial meats. 99 cents a pound for pork loin shoulder roast. You can buy beef for $2.99 a pound (ground beef). Or even buy cheap cuts of steak. Chicken leg quarters (the best taste) can even be bought around 99 cents a pound to $1.29 a pound. The secret is to go to ‘ghetto’ grocery stores. Yeah yeah we all know organic non-GMO stuff is best, but whatever. I’m for industrial meat.
2. Workout wherever, whenever. Certainly the peak happiness in life is not attainable without muscle (having high muscle mass and low body fat). Also we delight in movement. Thus just get a cheap-ass gym membership, or workout at the park, in the streets, or at home. ‘Necessity is the mother of all invention’!

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I am my selfie.

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A realization:

If you really want to share the *experience* of eating out or whatever, video is faaaar better than (boring) still photos.

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The challenge a lot of us photographers face:

How can I discover intrinsic motivation to go out and make new photos?

Some thoughts:

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The brave new world of (future) living:

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How is apex productivity possible? My thoughts:

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Towards a new conception of live, work, play. The ideal:

Live somewhere hella cheap, and derive your income from elsewhere.

An insider view to my home gym workouts:

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No real identity, no real opinion:

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Or in other words:

Yes, your opinion is valuable!

Consider all these people who are at home, alone, bored, anxious, or dealing with existential dread. You can be the person who uplifts, motivates and empowers them!

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To schedule is less wise. Better to takes a ‘Bayes‘ approach — a combination of tinkering with your schedule, going with the flow, following your gut (and legs) and not putting yourself into a ‘Procrustean bed‘ of a (boring and rigid) schedule.

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We all love video games. But … life (real life, embodied reality) is *THE* best video game!

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My theories:

1. I am really good on the keyboard and computer (I have all the epic hotkeys for MacOS on my MacBook Pro laptop), and I also can type 150 words per minute.
2. I am fearless, I say everything and don’t self-censor myself
3. I have high muscle mass and low bodyfat, which means perhaps … I have more metabolic energy to create?
4. I drink a lot of water and black coffee during the day and I also do intermittent fasting. I also get to bed early (8-9pm-ish). Perhaps this helps me become more productive?

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If you cannot market yourself, you will not be able to stand out or succeed:

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My thought:

There are a lot of anonymous letters being published on issues x, y, z and people are afraid of losing their jobs or whatever.

But … if one has a *true* belief in a certain cause, or truly cares … one would *NOT* do it anonymously.

Or in other words:

Put no faith into anonymously published things.

Why? Either:

1. The anonymous letter is fake (the letter writer is pretending to be someone who they actually are not)
2. They are virtue-signaling their thoughts without real ‘skin in the game’ (Nassim Taleb), and thus their opinion has lesser worth.

Certainly if your opinion is like a life-or-death scenario (if you’re from North Korea or so), then anonymity is good. But if you’re just afraid of losing your job, economic livelihood … put your face and the name in the game.

As a kid who grew up to video games, I am a huge critic. My thoughts and experiences:

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On the internet there is truly no downside to sharing ‘too much’. In fact, the more you share, the better:

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Theory:

Having more muscle mass leads to more productivity (read “The Problem of Increasing Human Energy” essay by Nikola Tesla)

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The best camera (by far) is RICOH GR III. Why? Simple:

1. Smallest size (the biggest bang for the buck possible). Like a McLaren.
2. Best JPEG images. Best cross process JPEG filter (love the orange-cyan vibes like a Transformers Michael Bay film) as well as the high-contrast monochrome.

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The simplest workflow is the best workflow. Some thoughts:

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When I blog and have a certain idea I want to hyperlink, I will create a *NEW* blog post outlining the idea, and keep the ball rolling!

Everyone is a great photographer now, but not everyone is a great marketer:

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Avoid a lot of modern thinkers and writers. Why? Low-key they are spiteful people full of hatred, malice, and petty envy-jealousy. They want a reason *why* they are so miserable, and they blame others.

“Bad”is not the opposite of “good”. I would say “not good”is a more accurate antithesis of “good”.

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The future of photography: AI (artificial intelligence), machine learning, computational photography and more:

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If you want to do a ‘phone-forward’ approach to photography, get Google Pixel, not iPhone:

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Honestly at this friends, to have the guts and the courage to go out and shoot *any* photos takes insane guts. So this is our new mantra:

All photos are good photos.

And applied to street photography:

All street photographs are good photographs.

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Street photographs from America– mostly shot on Kodak Portra 400, via Leica 35mm f/2 Summicron on film Leica M6/film Leica MP:

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Ironically enough, those who are born privileged have it the worst. Why? They will never have the chance to become great. Why? Only difficulty and need/want will give birth to your inner genius. In other words:

Rich kids born into wealth typically turn into degenerates, lazy people, and don’t do anything interesting with their lives.

Note the kids of Rockefeller — none of them of note. Also the kids of Warren Buffett— none of them have made a huge mark on history or society. Trying to live in the shadow of your (extremely successful parents) is a curse. No room to grow, ascend, or fly?

I also highly doubt Elon Musk’s kids will do anything of repute. Musk has apparently said that all they do is play video games.

Punished by privilege.

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Needless to say, obviously there are some people who are born richer, more advantageous, or higher-class.

But why atone for this?

If you want to succeed far into the future, best for us to get into bed with Google and YouTube (YouTube is owned by Google). In other words:

1. Focus on Google SEO (search engine optimization) and YouTube SEO.
2. Check your own website PageSpeed Insights.
3. Learn more about Google Web standards here.

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In praise of abstinence over moderation:

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Very simple:

Lift heavier weights and consume more (pounds of) meat, eggs, fish, chicken, pork, beef, steak and whatever to add muscular weight and bulk to your frame.

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To talk randomly, with strangers or even friends … to ‘shoot the shit’ (the Vietnamese have a phrase that literally means “to cut the air”) is good. Why? Social skills!

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Because most people are either cowards (no skin in the game), or their opinion (online) depends on advertising, revenue, sponsorship, etc:

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If you want to become more ‘creative’, constrain yourself more:

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As long as someone monetizes their YouTube channel with advertising or their own website-blog with ads … don’t trust them. Why not? They cannot truly be 100% free with their thoughts, in fear of losing sponsorship or advertising revenue.

More trust of people who are either independently wealthy, have a random side-job (plumber, janitor, cleaner, construction worker) than someone who is employed with the aesthetics of their body composition. No trust in ‘fitness experts’ who hasn’t publicly admitted to steroid usage. This is why I trust CALUM VON MOGER more than other guys, because he has openly admitted to steroid use!

Or in other words:

Only trust assholes. Don’t trust ‘nice guys‘.

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To practice ‘good’ grammar or to speak ‘well’ is anti-creativity. Why? Imagine poetry, rap music, or any great form of art with “proper” grammar.

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The idea of a sleeper:

It looks boring, plain and slow but in truth under the hood… it is a beast!

Or in other words:

Cars which look really fast are typically not.

And maybe with humans and wealth:

People who look super rich, are most likely to be the most poor.

Also:

People who look poor are often very rich!

Towards a non-interventionalist approach:

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Nobody wants their loved ones of themselves get Alzheimer’s disease (loss of cognitive function) or to get it themselves. So if we truly do value our mind, we would also value our body. In other words, if we understand Alzheimer’s disease as Type 3 Diabetes (which is caused by overconsumption of sugar, carbs, starch, sweets, pastries, alcohol and desserts) then perhaps we would attack the issue differently. Obesity (overfat) is only “bad”because it is linked with metabolic disease, which will erase your mind.

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The more these technology companies (FacebookGram, GoogleTube) can distract you, the more profits they can make! Why? When you get distracted or interrupted by an advertisement, they make money.

My thought:

In the future, focus will become the ultimate luxury.

Google and Android — all distractions. Anti-focus. Apple as the luxury brand — freedom from advertisements and disruptions. Which makes me think:

Perhaps a lucrative industry to get into now and the future is investing in anti-disrupting technologies?

Note Bose and noise canceling headphones. Noise cancelling technology as super interesting … as the technology gets rid of distractions (via negativa innovation). Ad blockers on your devices are also good … they remove and subtract distractions from you. And truth be told I’ve never met a programmer or IT person who doesn’t have Adblock installed on their browser. In other words, don’t trust Google Chrome.

Hate means ‘strong emotion’. So when people hate x, y, z … they actually are obsessed with it, and love it.

Or why your critics are your most beloved lovers:

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In many ways, Apple photos (desktop app, iPad app, and iPhone app) is actually *superior* to Adobe Lightroom. My thoughts:

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Why iA Writer is the best writer, and the best writing-app of all-time:

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The problem with metaphysics — it is not empirical. Metaphysics as very pseudo-science, and against rationalism. Empiricism as “experience”— real life lived experience.

For example we cannot weigh a soul. But we can weigh a human body. We can see flesh. Human flesh is the most empirical thing which exists.

We cannot judge metaphysical things like “virtue” and “vice”— but we know what a photo is, what a video is, what colors are, and what human bodies are.

Therefore my idea:

Be highly highly highly suspicious of any thinker or individual who has (too much) belief in metaphysics (things which aren’t physical).

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How to understand iPhone and Apple:

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