{"id":48194,"date":"2017-04-24T19:55:03","date_gmt":"2017-04-25T02:55:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=48194"},"modified":"2017-04-24T20:13:31","modified_gmt":"2017-04-25T03:13:31","slug":"entertaining-ourselves-to-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2017\/04\/24\/entertaining-ourselves-to-death\/","title":{"rendered":"Entertaining Ourselves to Death"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"eric<\/p>\n

Dear friend,<\/p>\n

I believe in active leisure in life\u00e2\u20ac\u201d rather than just \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcentertaining ourselves to death.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

1. I love technology<\/h2>\n

\"eric<\/p>\n

The world is an amazing place. We have access to the entire sum of human knowledge through technology and the internet. We have instantaneous internet connectivity, through a 4\u00e2\u20ac\u2122\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 metal slab that conveniently fits in our front pocket. We have access to every movie, book, poem, photograph, or image made by humanity from the last 2,000+ years.<\/p>\n

I think this is amazing. I love technology \u00e2\u20ac\u201d and how it can empower the human spirit and humanity.<\/p>\n

But it is fucking us up. It is like an all-you-can-eat buffet, and the problem is that we never get \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcfull.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/p>\n

2. What is our stopping-point?<\/h2>\n

\"eric<\/p>\n

When I go to all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ, there is a stopping point. After my 5th plate of pork belly or beef belly, my stomach literally hurts. I had a hedonistic pleasure of eating the delicious fatty meats for about an hour and a half, but after that\u00e2\u20ac\u201d eating additional meat gives me pain.<\/p>\n

However with entertainment, video games, movies, films, information \u00e2\u20ac\u201d we are gluttonous. There is no limit. We will never be full.<\/p>\n

3. My regrets<\/h2>\n

\"eric<\/p>\n

I know for me, I regret all the time I wasted playing video games and watching cable TV growing up as a kid. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t wholly blame myself\u00e2\u20ac\u201d I blame my circumstance in life. My parents were never home, and you cannot trust a 12-year old to control himself. I was a glutton \u00e2\u20ac\u201d constantly plugged into the internet (AOL 3.0) via my 38.8k modem (dial up). After school, I would rush to finish my homework (often finishing homework while still at school), so I could binge on my N64\/Sega Dreamcast at home.<\/p>\n

I regret all that time I wasted. I wish I rather built my creative strengths \u00e2\u20ac\u201d by learning how to program, spending more time drawing, imagining, daydreaming, reading myths and stories, or creating art.<\/p>\n

4. A human being shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be a potato<\/h2>\n

\"eric<\/p>\n

I think Netflix is awesome. Yet the scary thing\u00e2\u20ac\u201d it is like a bottom-less bowl of spaghetti. It doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t help that Netflix (and YouTube) automatically play the next video. And after a long 8-12 hour day at work, of course you just want to sit back on the couch, and vegetate.<\/p>\n

But as humans\u00e2\u20ac\u201d aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t we more than potatoes and vegetables?<\/p>\n

5. We are living in a \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcBrave New World\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/h2>\n

\"aldous<\/p>\n

Aldous Huxley\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s book: \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcBrave New World\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 warns us of a future where the citizens aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t being oppressed by some big brother 1984 Hitler-type. Rather, Aldous Huxley warns us of a future in which we are just getting \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcentertained to death.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 In this world, we have the power and freedom to fight against oppressive dictators, yet we prefer not to\u00e2\u20ac\u201d because we prefer mindless entertainment, drugs (soma), and other distractions.<\/p>\n

As an internet marketer, blogger, and tech enthusiast\/critic\u00e2\u20ac\u201d I know how addictive the internet is. It is like giving crack cocaine to a 12 year old kid. We cannot control ourselves.<\/p>\n

6. How to overcome distractions and mindless entertainment<\/h2>\n

\"eric<\/p>\n

I know for myself, I am not immune. This is what I did to kill distractions in my life.<\/p>\n

I started to use Reddit when I was at UCLA (2010) \u00e2\u20ac\u201d working at the Undergraduate Admissions department, as tech support. I was bored most of the time. I would be on Reddit literally 20-40 hours a week, just clicking on dumb shit. It relieved a bit of the monotony of my job\u00e2\u20ac\u201d through novelty and entertaining dancing cat GIF images. Yet the problem is that it distracted me\u00e2\u20ac\u201d prevented me from studying, starting my own business, etc.<\/p>\n

So I decided to quit\u00e2\u20ac\u201d but I couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t trust my own free will or strength. Rather, I took the Ulysses strategy against the Sirens\u00e2\u20ac\u201d I tied myself to the mast. I \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcpre-committed<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 to this decision by installing the \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcStayFocusd\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 plugin to block Reddit, and other distracting tech websites\/blogs. I blocked Reddit, Digg, Engadget, The Verge, TechCrunch \u00e2\u20ac\u201d sites that would give me no value.<\/p>\n

I also hated how I would get distracted by Facebook. I still wanted to use it to keep in touch with friends, but the news feed totally screwed with my emotional response. I would always feel envy and jealousy when I saw my friends on a holiday in Mexico with a Corona, buying a new BMW, or showing off a new Rolex watch. I wondered: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Can I still use Facebook without the newsfeed?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I discovered a plugin \u00e2\u20ac\u201d that removed the newsfeed. I installed it, and haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t looked at a Facebook news feed since 2014. Now I am much more focused, productive, and happy.<\/p>\n

My biggest (recent) breakthrough is eliminating superfluous distractions from websites I frequent. I discovered \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcAdblocker Ultimate<\/a>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 \u00e2\u20ac\u201d in which you can block certain elements of websites. So you can disable distracting \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcSuggested Content\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 side-bars, with is mostly full of distracting \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcClick-Baity\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 stuff. Or you can just make the web a cleaner place. I personally used it to remove \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcSuggested Videos\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 on YouTube, so I prevent myself from binging on YouTube for hours on end.<\/p>\n

I also mostly keep my smartphone off now \u00e2\u20ac\u201d and I communicate with friends and family via instant messaging on my laptop.<\/p>\n

7. Your time is more valuable than money<\/h2>\n

\"eric-kim-hanoi-street-photography-0012576\"<\/p>\n

The thing I want to stress to you: never forget\u00e2\u20ac\u201d your time is your most valuable asset. Your time is infinitely more important than your money. Because at best, you might live to be 120 years. Realistically, you will probably die at age 80-90.<\/p>\n

Depending on however old you are, you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have much time to live.<\/p>\n

If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re 70 years old, you might only have 10-20 years left to live. Your smartphone battery only had 5-10% charge left\u00e2\u20ac\u201d you better make your time count.<\/p>\n

\"EDWARD<\/p>\n

If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re 50 years old, you might only have 20-30 years left to live. Your smartphone battery is around 35%.<\/p>\n

If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re 30 years old, you might have 50-60 years left. But that is assuming that you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t die a \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcpre-mature\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 death from cancer, heart disease, a car accident, or even get Alzheimer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, Schizophrenia, or a mental disease (happened to my father at around age 55). So assuming mental disease is contagious\u00e2\u20ac\u201d (currently at age 29, I might only have 26 years left to live).<\/p>\n

8. Listen to your gut<\/h2>\n
\"eric
Portrait by Neil Ta<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I am not telling you that you just need to be productive and hustle for the rest of your life.<\/p>\n

Rather, I am trying to encourage you \u00e2\u20ac\u201d think of what empowers you, or what \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcde-powers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 you.<\/p>\n

For me, things that empower me include writing, thinking, reading, watching (insightful) films, spending time with loved ones and having engaging 3-hour dinners, talking Vietnamese with Uber\/Grab\/Taxi drivers, making photos, stepping outside my comfort zone, challenging my beliefs and thoughts, and creating things.<\/p>\n

\"eric<\/p>\n

For me, things which \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcde-power\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 me include caring about what others think about me, reading vacuous information that doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t benefit my life, getting distracted by likes and comments on social media (\u00e2\u20ac\u02dccrowd-sourcing\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 my self-esteem), playing pointless video games, or doing things I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to\u00e2\u20ac\u201d or things that I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t intend on doing.<\/p>\n

Playing video games can be virtuous. So can watching films. So can doing things which most people call a \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcwaste of time\u00e2\u20ac\u2122. But friend, you be the ultimate judge and arbiter of your own actions. You know best. Follow your own morals and ethics\u00e2\u20ac\u201d only you can decide what is meaningful to you, and what is a distraction, or mindless entertainment.<\/p>\n

9. Some practical ideas to regain control of your life<\/h2>\n

\"Cindy<\/p>\n

Some ways to be less<\/em> distracted, and to kill mindless entertainment which prevents us from becoming the best versions of ourselves:<\/p>\n

1. Remove advertisements from your devices<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Install \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcAdblocker Ultimate<\/a>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 as your browser-plugin, to block annoying ads, distractions. Install Facebook news feed \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcCleaner\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 plugins (News Feed Eradicator for Chrome<\/a>\/News Feed Blocker for Safari<\/a>). Install \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcYouTube Ad Block\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 plugins (Chrome<\/a>\/Firefox<\/a>). If you have an iPhone, use the \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcPurify<\/a>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 app to block plugins in Safari. Or if you have Android, use an advertisement blocker browser<\/a> on your phone.<\/p>\n

Whenever you have an app which distracts you in a negative way\u00e2\u20ac\u201d you always have the power to uninstall it. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve found Facebook, Email, and Instagram (on my phone) distracting like crack cocaine\u00e2\u20ac\u201d so I simply uninstalled\/disabled it. Now, I have taken it a step further\u00e2\u20ac\u201d I keep my phone off most of the time.<\/p>\n

2. Block the internet<\/h3>\n

\"eric<\/p>\n

If you are an aspiring novelist, creative person\u00e2\u20ac\u201d who gets addicted to the internet (in a negative way)\u00e2\u20ac\u201d install Freedom.to<\/a> to block internet access from yourself. Try experimenting\u00e2\u20ac\u201d block the internet at 30 minutes, 1 hour, or 2 hours at a time.<\/p>\n

For me, the easiest way to focus is to block distractions<\/strong> rather than trying to \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcforce\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 myself to \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcfocus.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/p>\n

3. Consume your media offline<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I came up with an idea which mostly is true:<\/p>\n

\n Nothing unlimited is good, and nothing good is unlimited<\/a>.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The concept: nothing unlimited is good (applies to Netflix, Spotify, YouTube) or any streaming service. The problem is there is no end to the bottomless bowl of spaghetti.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

So what I try to do is download things, and consume it \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcoffline.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 This means, there is a pre-determined end to whatever it is I am doing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I love Spotify, but I get too distracted listening to a m\u00c3\u00a9lange\u00c2\u00a0of artists and playlists\u00e2\u20ac\u201d rather than focusing on one album, one artist, and one message. So now, I have started to listen to all my music on iTunes on my laptop \u00e2\u20ac\u201d I just bought Kendrick Lamar\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153DAMN.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d album and have listened to it about 20 times on loop \u00e2\u20ac\u201d it is the only album I am listening to now. And I love it\u00e2\u20ac\u201d I let his lyrics permeate my soul.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you love photography or art\u00e2\u20ac\u201d buy photo books or art books, and consume them \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcoffline.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Which means, look at a photo book (or your art book collection) \u00e2\u20ac\u201d instead of looking at the bottomless pit of Instagram.<\/p>\n

Instead of streaming Netflix, download a movie\u00e2\u20ac\u201d and play it offline\u00e2\u20ac\u201d so you won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be tempted to just start that next episode or movie.<\/p>\n

4. Create more<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We love to consume \u00e2\u20ac\u201d but how few of us like to create?<\/p>\n

I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t blame you or nobody. The problem is technology is too much of a powerful distraction.<\/p>\n

The secret\u00e2\u20ac\u201d break free from your chains of oppression. Just uninstall distracting apps, and websites and blogs. Then you will have more space to create. Apparently Kanye West also got rid of his phone so he could have more \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcRoom to create.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

You might need to use your smartphone for work, but when you get home, turn that shit off. Or just keep it on silent. Or when you go to sleep, charge your phone in the living room, and just start using an analog alarm clock to wake you up in the morning.<\/p>\n

\"eric<\/p>\n

I am guilty\u00e2\u20ac\u201d I love to consume. I probably spend 80% of my day consuming, and only 20% of my day creating. But I recently had the thought:<\/p>\n

\n What if I switched that? What if I spent 80% of my time creating, and only 20% consuming?\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

For me, I am happier when creating than when consuming. Creating fully-expresses my human spirit and soul. I feel like I am helping contribute something meaningful to humanity. Whereas consuming is gluttonous \u00e2\u20ac\u201d and is often shallow.<\/p>\n

So friend, create more art<\/a>.<\/p>\n

5. Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t aim for perfection<\/h3>\n

\"eric<\/p>\n

The last tip for creation \u00e2\u20ac\u201d don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make it perfect. Make it 80% \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcgood enough\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 and then hit publish.<\/p>\n

Share works in progress, and just seek to make each creation 10% better. Then after the course of years or decades\u00e2\u20ac\u201d you will become a master.<\/p>\n

10. Create more art<\/h2>\n