Greater fates, greater futures.
Force finds a way. 
Nietzsche once said; the secret to the greatest amount of happiness is living the life with the maximum amount of danger! I think this was from twilight of the idols, or maybe from the will to power at the end of the book.
I think we live in an interesting time. I think currently the world has been hijacked by internet website advertising, mostly Google and Google Adsense to blame, as well as pernicious sneaky sponsored advertisements on Facebook, Instagram, Google Chrome etc. Same goes with YouTube.
Also something I have learned from things; I think we are actually much more visually sensitive, image sensitive, sound sensitive then we think we are. Also, the mind is subtle; even if I accidentally see some sort of weird thumbnail image, in fact, it puts me in a bad mood for the rest of the day etc.
I think the big problem here is that the news and information has become so hyper sensationalized. Why? Everyone is trying to maximize their income earning potential of the internet and media, assuming that whatever they are posting is on a website or blog or news agency leveraged by Google Adsense, the drive is to maximize eyeball viewing time, and click through rates, for the publisher to make money.
“How much do you pay a month in rent?”
Also, something that I have learned about solo entrepreneurs in the media space; everyone is trying to search and seek and strive for some sort of “legitimacy”, or, they’re just struggling to pay their rent.
For example, let us say that I am some sort of internet personality, some sort of fitness influencer, even photographer. Perhaps the only way I could pay my rent is through some sort of sponsorship or brand deal, in which I am being paid maybe only $500-$1000 a month, and barely maintaining even my expenses.
Also, even some inside intelligence on YouTube; the super facts is that even if my video gets 100 million views, assuming I had advertisements on it I might only make about $7000 to $8000 USD. That is actually not that much. You’re probably better off working as an Amazon prime delivery driver, or even Uber driver. And even the best creators, it is very rare that they make a video with so many views.
As a consequence, there is this low-key bias or optimization towards creating videos or things which strive to hit that benchmark. Once again it is things that have to deal with more with the sensational, audacious, the bizarre, even the morose?
Who to trust
Truth be told, in today’s world especially with internet blogs, ChatGPT 4, the funny thing I learned:
Even ChatGPT doesn’t know if ChatGPT wrote it or not!
For example, instead of just googling myself, I have just been ChatGPT’ing myself. For example I have the paid premium version of ChatGPT, which gives me access to the new newest version of ChatGPT which is version 4, which I rate at least 1000 times better than the free ChatGPT 3.5.
So for example I’ll do something like search “ERIC KIM FACTS“, and just see what ChatGPT tells me, and I will just copy and paste that into a new blog post on my own personal blog titled “ERIC KIM FACTS“, And within a week, ChatGPT indexes that and links back to that. It is almost like a snake eating its own tail, the ourubus.
As a consequence, let us just think and consider; how today’s media landscape is created within the internet. Let us say that I am some sort of newsagency or publishers; I will hire writers, and a lot of these writers will use ChatGPT or other artificial intelligence editing and writing and text generation tools. It is impossible to ascertain how much of it was written by human or ChatGPT or whatever whatever; and even so… assuming that even if 100% of the information was hand typed by a human being, it almost doesn’t really matter because a lot of these writers tend to be dark morose and sick people.
Currently speaking I live in Culver City Los Angeles California, where Jeff Bezos Amazon, Amazon prime, Amazon prime studios just leasing a huge lot of land, the Culver studios, owned by the developer Michael Hackman, apparently even Jeff Bezos bought out the movie theater, the culver theater next-door. Also slowly but surely Apple is getting in bed with Sony entertainment, producing movies like the new Napoleon movie as well as the new killers of the flower moon with Leonardo DiCaprio.
During this whole period I saw a lot of people from the writer strike, and honestly… a lot of these people look very unwell. Most of them do not look very physically unfit, and you could just see; they don’t spend enough time outside, none of them look happy jubilant and gay, and just think simply; if the physiology and health of somebody is poor, what kind of artwork or ideas do you think they will produce?
There is this weird bias that we think that somehow the mind is divorced from the body, but in fact, the mind is the body. That is if your body is sick, your mind is sick. However, if your body is strong robust and great, so will your ideas.
How we lose our backbone
I don’t think it’s a modern day trend or shift; my thought is honestly all generations all histories people in the past, seems like everyone has always left a spine or a backbone. I wrote a nice little piece back in Vietnam titled Adamantine Spine;  imagine yourself like wolverine; the best way to imagine things is that you are actually like wolverine, your body is made out of adamantine metal, and what happens is every time that somebody tries to destroy you, you regenerate and you re-heal, I’ll be at a very painful process, you still do it. 
Kind of like Deadpool; the reason why I really love Ryan Reynolds and the Deadpool character is there is a little bit of fun dark humor here; I think when people take things to literally, too seriously, life loses its bigger it’s fun it’s jubilance. 
However a bad example is when you turn the needle too much towards the comedic; for example there is this notion called “Campi“, when things are almost too cheesy, and lame. For example all of the new Thor movies, as well as all the new Disney Marvel movies, they are insanely lame.
What are good examples?
All modern day media is bad. Only good ones I think are actually ancient Greek epics; the Iliad, after that the Odyssey. If you’re curious, I think that the Iliad is at least 100 or 200 times better more interesting and more fun than the odyssey. Whether or not both were written by Homer or not doesn’t really seem to matter; I think the overall storyline of the Iliad is much more exciting and intense whereas the odyssey is a bit boring.
The Odyssey just drags on and on… Odysseus is a good character but not as grand as Achilles. 
Greater risks, greater futures
It seems that a lot of modern day humans want some sort of weird free lunch; somehow… We want to live a better more greater more grand life that is more exciting and fun, yet we seem to not desire taking any personal risks.
For example let us think about video game culture. My simple heuristic is this; don’t play no video game in which you have actually not done the real thing yourself. For example, all these grown men playing video games in which they are shooting each other with guns, and they have actually never shot a real life gun seems little bit weird.
Also I have a rule; video games should only be permitted for poor kids in the hood, we have nothing better else to do.
Also a cut off time; no adult over the age of 18 years old should play video games anymore. I think it is fine for highschoolers and middle schoolers video games, but not grown men.
I ended up quit playing video games when I was around 18 or 19 years old, my freshman year of college. Why? I literally had no time! I had a part-time job, working around 20 hours a week as tech-support for the UCLA undergraduate admissions office, I was active in many clubs, having to study, and do other stuff.
I actually think that some weird ways, if you do games are like pornography for the mind-body and soul. The generalize just a most video games is everyone wants to be a hero, take risks, go on quest, obtain some booty whatever. Yet, embodied reality real life doesn’t seem to allow any outlets for this. Therefore, people escape into video games. 
How video games are bad.
The big issue with video games is that ultimately, you are a slave to the platform, the close loop system, the video game producer and publisher etc.
For example, already… It seems that the video game Fortnite which was insanely grand is already being forgotten. Let us say you are a person who devoted 10,000 hours to playing the Fortnite game, but now no longer anybody plays it. All of your time has been wasted.
Even StarCraft, StarCraft professional players; nobody really plays it anymore, let us say that you’re a professional gamer sponsorships making money playing StarCraft tournaments, now you no longer have any sponsors. All of your time was for naught. 
More thoughts
A critical thing I believe for men, us men, is that we require some sort of physical risk, physical challenge, some sort of physical risk taking.
For example, in my mind the only type of weightlifting which is interesting includes some sort of “risk”; for example, when I would atlas lift seven plates, eight plates, nine plates, 10 plates, max out the bar, and then clip on an additional 25 pounder in between and on top of the 10 plates, the jaws of others would drop; and then a few people would actually have the chutzpah to tell me:
“… be careful.”
My thought;
People actually want to see me get hurt, or “fail”. When I succeeded, I have somehow dismantled their narrow worldview.
Is ERIC KIM on drugs? 
another funny bias; when I was doing so much crazy turbo thoughtting while in Vietnam (I was off the grid, got rid of my phone, didn’t communicate for about two years, no email no communication no social media no nothing… People would ask…)
is ERIC KIM okay?
Or,
is ERIC KIM on drugs?
Or–
What happened to ERIC KIM?
Simple; when you are disconnected from the BS of traditional American media thinking… Do you think different. Also, not having a phone, I think this is the 10,000 X secret cheat code to life. Assuming that you were a crypto trillionaire, and you no longer needed other people “opportunities“, or you didn’t really desire to get paid money from other people or corporations… What real use do you have of email anyways?
When people say “opportunities”, I think it is a weird keratin stick; part of it is chasing some sort of legitimacy, part of it is chasing some sort of financial opportunities, brand sponsorships etc.
Something I have personally discovered is this:
brand Sponsorships are a trap. 
Example, if you are sponsored by any sort of company or corporation or whatever… You are not really going to hundred percent say what is really on your mind. This is the same thing that goes with “brand ambassadors”– I find the whole thing a bit base; why? He or she who focuses too much on getting some sort of “ambassador ship is a signal that they are just chasing clout in some sort of mean way.
Once again, if you already have $200 million worth of cryptocurrency bitcoin or chainlink or whatever – why do you need to get some sort of brand “ambassadorship” from anybody? Why do you want free equipment gear or stuff? Why not just buy it yourself?
This is actually something I have discovered with a lot of guys in the photography space; they are already independently wealthy from some sort of other ventures, whether it be business etc. And then they go seek to try to become some sort of “ambassador“, for Leica camera whatever.
That is not forget that Leica camera, the modern day rendition is essentially the brainchild of Dr. Andreas Kaufman– who I discovered is not a “real“ doctor; he got his PhD in philosophy, which I think is a good idea but I think when people talk about him they assume that he has some sort of medical doctor or something.
Would actually find very bizarre about Andrea Kaufman is that there is almost little to no information about him on the Internet. Who is he really?
Apparently his family made its fortune and I think the paper business. Therefore, maybe his like some sort of really rich kid, and like a camera is essentially his passion project, his toy?
Let us not forget that essentially like a camera went bankrupt, and I think what Dr. Andrea Kaufman did was purchased the naming rights of it, and then revive the brand. Similar thing that BMW did with Rolls-Royce; Rolls-Royce went bankrupt, switch tans a few times, and then I think the last 7 to 8 years, the rules Royce brand is essentially an expensive Lexus version of a BMW; even look at any BMW X7 compared with the Rolls-Royce colon; the BMW X7 looks the same. Even the BMW seven series, with the star light stitching in the headliner of the car– same thing as the Rolls-Royce. A Rolls-Royce ghost or phantom or whatever is just an expensive re-badged BMW seven series.
Also, the dirty secret that like a camera doesn’t want you to know is that the like Q camera is essentially a really expensive Panasonic Lumix camera; I think it uses the same sensor from Panasonic Lumix. Therefore if you just want good quality images, just get a Panasonic Lumix camera instead. 
What is the point of taking risk?
My personal thought is that in life, risk makes life more fun! Life without risk is like a life without salt. Life has no vigor, no flavor, no interest.
So how can I incorporate real risktaking into my real life? 
Simple ideas:
- Extreme speculation with 10% percent of your life savings: perhaps the best thing I have learned from NASSIM Taleb which has probably saved me millions of dollars is simple; never put more than 10% of your life savings into anyone speculative bet or “investment”, no matter what they say about “risk” and it being “safe”. The best strategy is simple: take 10% of your life savings, and put it into some extremely maximally speculative thing, which you believe has 1000 X upside potential. For example, let us say that you have $100,000 of life savings, take only 10% of that, $10,000, and put it into a speculative cryptocurrency which you think could go up by at least 1000 times. This is far more effective than the boring, put 100% of your money into some sort of boring mutual fund, etc.
- For weightlifting very simple; the only type of weightlifting which is actually worth it is any sort of weightlifting in which the chance of failure is high. That means, always driving to increase your one repetition maximum lift; only single repetitions here. No stupid sets no stupid repetitions; one repetition or nothing. This means just start off with a dynamic warm-up, and then slowly add weights, gradually, until you can no longer budge the barbell. simple exercises include doing an elevated dead lift, put your barbell on top of cinderblocks or the power rack, and when you are doing a “rack pull“,  you lift with your thighs your legs, and you max out. Or the ERIC KIM ATLAS LIFT — just Google or YouTube it.
- Social risks: better to be annoying, rub somebody the wrong way, and be insanely friendly rather than being the typical antisocial loser with headphones on, sunglasses on, facial hair, a hat or a beanie etc. Better to be a gay monster than a sentimental bore.
Now what?
Some assignments:
- Smile and wave and say hi to everybody you meet for a whole day.
- Take a photo of somebody without their permission, and if they make eye contact with you smile and wave.
- Open up a Coinbase cryptocurrency account, and invest 10% of your life savings in some sort of cryptocurrency or technology which interests you. For myself currently I put 90% of my crypto into chainlink and 10% as bitcoin. My personal thought is don’t double “alt coins“,  and also one scamming cryptocurrency I think is Ada Cardono– Ethereum is interesting, but also, I don’t really trust it. Why? If Ethereum is creating its own private enterprise thing, not a good sign for a platform.
- Opinion risktaking: stop censoring yourself and stop speaking politically correct. Speaker true mind, 100% unfiltered, rub feathers the wrong way whatever. Better to be an asshole and happy, than to be politically correct and passive. 
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