{"id":663259,"date":"2025-04-10T20:00:43","date_gmt":"2025-04-11T00:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=663259"},"modified":"2025-04-10T20:05:50","modified_gmt":"2025-04-11T00:05:50","slug":"why-i-became-a-philosopher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/10\/why-i-became-a-philosopher\/","title":{"rendered":"Why I became a philosopher"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yo, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Eric Kim, comin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 at you raw and real, straight from the streets with a Ricoh GR in one hand and a Bitcoin wallet in the other. You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re askin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 <em>why I became a philosopher<\/em>? Ha, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a wild ride, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m hyped to unpack it, especially after we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been vibin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 on charm, legends, and that cosmic Anaxagoras energy. I ain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t no toga-wearing, ivory-tower thinker\u00e2\u20ac\u201dI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a street philosopher, a meat-eating, sat-stacking, shutter-clicking truth-chaser who turned life into a lab for big ideas. Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s dive into why I went from snapping photos to dropping maxims, Kim-style, with that unfiltered fire you know I bring. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll weave in our boy Anaxagoras for that extra universal kick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Why I Became a Philosopher: The Eric Kim Gospel<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t wake up one day like, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Yo, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m gonna be Socrates with a camera.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Nah, philosophy found <em>me<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u201don the pavement, in the gym, through the blockchain. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not about dusty books or fancy degrees; it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s about wrestling with life\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s chaos and coming out with truth you can live by. Here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s how I became a philosopher, step by gritty step, straight from the heart of a guy who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d rather shoot a candid than sit in a lecture hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>1. The Streets Taught Me to Question Everything<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It all started with street photography. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d roam LA, Hanoi, Tokyo\u00e2\u20ac\u201dcamera slung low, eyes wide open. Every stranger was a puzzle: Why\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s that dude laughing? What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s her story behind that scowl? The streets were my first philosophy class\u00e2\u20ac\u201dno syllabus, just raw humanity. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d snap a shot and wonder, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the meaning behind this moment?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d It wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t enough to capture life\u00e2\u20ac\u201dI had to <em>understand<\/em> it. Like Anaxagoras staring at the stars, I saw the streets as a cosmic mix\u00e2\u20ac\u201devery face, every vibe, a piece of the big question: <em>Why are we here?<\/em> I became a philosopher \u00e2\u20ac\u02dccause I couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t stop asking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>How It Went Down<\/strong>: I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d shoot a stranger, then journal what I felt\u00e2\u20ac\u201dfear, joy, connection. One day I wrote, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Photography\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 80% courage.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Boom\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthat was philosophy, distilled from sweat and shutter clicks.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Street Vibe<\/strong>: Anaxagoras said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Everything in everything.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I saw that in every frame\u00e2\u20ac\u201dlove, pain, hustle, all mixed. Questioning it made me think deeper than the surface.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>2. Bitcoin Blew My Mind Open<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When I found Bitcoin, it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just about stacking sats\u00e2\u20ac\u201dit was a freakin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 revelation. Here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a system\u00e2\u20ac\u201ddecentralized, no suits, no lies\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthat says, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need a king to be free.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I dove into the rabbit hole, reading Satoshi\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s white paper, vibin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 with @naval and @saylor on X. It hit me: money\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a story we tell, and fiat\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a bad one. Bitcoin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s truth? Math over trust. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s when I started thinking like a philosopher, not just a HODLer. Why do we obey systems? What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s real power? I became a philosopher to chase those answers, not just for me, but for the world I wanna build.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>How It Went Down<\/strong>: I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d blog about BTC late at night, connecting dots\u00e2\u20ac\u201dfreedom, scarcity, trust. One post, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Buy Bitcoin, take photos, eat meat,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just advice; it was my worldview. Philosophy in six words.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Cosmic Kick<\/strong>: Anaxagoras\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 <em>Nous<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthe mind that moves chaos\u00e2\u20ac\u201dfelt like blockchain to me. A force ordering the mess of human greed. I had to think bigger.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>3. Lifting Heavy Made Me Think Heavy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You know I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m about that carnivore life\u00e2\u20ac\u201dpounds of beef, 1005-pound rack pulls, pure primal energy. But the gym wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just for gains; it was my philosophy lab. Every rep was a question: Why push past pain? What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s strength <em>for<\/em>? I wrote, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Degenerate bodies, degenerate thoughts,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u02dccause I saw it\u00e2\u20ac\u201dweak body, weak mind. Lifting taught me discipline, limits, life. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d crush a deadlift, then blog about suffering as growth. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s philosophy, yo\u00e2\u20ac\u201dnot theorizing, but <em>living<\/em> the answers. Anaxagoras would get it\u00e2\u20ac\u201dbody and mind ain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t separate; they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re the cosmos in sync.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>How It Went Down<\/strong>: Post-lift, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d sit sweaty, scribbling ideas. One day: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Constraints breed creativity.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d That came from squatting \u00e2\u20ac\u02dctil my legs screamed. Pain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a teacher.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Street Vibe<\/strong>: Anaxagoras said nothing\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s created or destroyed\u00e2\u20ac\u201djust rearranged. Lifting rearranged <em>me<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u201dmuscle, mind, soul. I philosophized to understand that alchemy.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>4. I Got Sick of Noise and Craved Signal<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The world\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s loud\u00e2\u20ac\u201dclickbait, ads, talking heads. I ditched email, skipped news, and built my own bubble: X, walks, meat, BTC. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s when I got deep. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d wander streets, no phone, just thoughts, asking, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s worth living for?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t chasing likes or trends\u00e2\u20ac\u201dI wanted <em>truth<\/em>. Blogging became my outlet\u00e2\u20ac\u201devery post a stab at clarity. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d write stuff like, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t shoot for Instagram, shoot for your soul.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s philosophy\u00e2\u20ac\u201dcutting through bullshit to find what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s real. I became a philosopher \u00e2\u20ac\u02dccause I couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t stand lies, mine or anyone\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>How It Went Down<\/strong>: I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d walk an hour daily, no distractions, letting questions bubble up. One day: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What if happiness is just action?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d That fueled a dozen posts. Thinking became my drug.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Cosmic Kick<\/strong>: Anaxagoras ignored Athens\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 chatter for the stars. I ignored the noise for signal\u00e2\u20ac\u201dsame vibe. Philosophy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just chasing the eternal in the mess.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>5. Teaching Turned My Questions into Fire<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just think\u00e2\u20ac\u201dI <em>shared<\/em>. Blogging, workshops, e-books\u00e2\u20ac\u201dI poured out everything: photo tips, BTC rants, life hacks. Why? \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcCause teaching forces you to clarify. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d tell newbies, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Best camera\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the one you got,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and realize I was preaching freedom, not gear. Every lesson was me wrestling with <em>why<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwhy create, why fight, why live? I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d read Anaxagoras (okay, maybe not, but vibe with me) and think, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153This dude got exiled for truth\u00e2\u20ac\u201dI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m just blogging mine.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I became a philosopher to give others the tools to ask their own big questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>How It Went Down<\/strong>: I wrote 300 posts a year, each one digging deeper. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Be a charming motherfucker\u00e2\u20ac\u009d wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just advice\u00e2\u20ac\u201dit was my code for connection. Teaching made me sharper.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Street Vibe<\/strong>: Anaxagoras said <em>Nous<\/em> moves all things. Sharing my ideas moved <em>me<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u201dfrom a shooter to a thinker. Philosophy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s contagious like that.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>6. Life Kept Punching, and I Kept Swinging<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Real talk: life ain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t easy. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been broke, doubted, stressed. But every hit\u00e2\u20ac\u201dlost gigs, BTC crashes, bad days\u00e2\u20ac\u201dmade me ask, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s this teaching me?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d shoot through pain, lift through doubt, blog through chaos. Each scar was a lesson. I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t become a philosopher in a comfy chair\u00e2\u20ac\u201dI did it in the trenches, asking, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Why keep going?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and answering, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Cause I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m Eric Kim, and I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t quit.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Anaxagoras got exiled and kept thinking; I got knocked down and kept creating. Same grind, different era.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>How It Went Down<\/strong>: After a rough day, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d shoot \u00e2\u20ac\u02dctil I smiled, write \u00e2\u20ac\u02dctil I understood. One maxim\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I assume I can do anything\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00e2\u20ac\u201dcame from hitting rock bottom and climbing out.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Cosmic Kick<\/strong>: Anaxagoras saw change as illusion\u00e2\u20ac\u201dlife\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s punches just rearrange the particles. I philosophized to make sense of my own rearrangements.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The Truth About Why I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a Philosopher<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I became a philosopher \u00e2\u20ac\u02dccause I couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t <em>not<\/em>. The streets asked me why people hustle. Bitcoin asked me why we trust. Lifting asked me why we suffer. I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just snap photos or stack sats\u00e2\u20ac\u201dI chased the <em>why<\/em> behind it all. Every shot, every rep, every blog was me saying, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Life\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a puzzle, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m solving it my way.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Anaxagoras would probably smirk and say I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m stirring the cosmic <em>Nous<\/em>, finding order in the mess. I say it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s simpler: I philosophize \u00e2\u20ac\u02dccause I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m alive, and living\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s too big to not think hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m no sage\u00e2\u20ac\u201dI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a dude with a camera, a barbell, and a blockchain, asking questions louder than the noise. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s my philosophy: live bold, think deep, love fierce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yo, you feelin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 this? Wanna get philosophical yourself\u00e2\u20ac\u201dmaybe question your own <em>why<\/em> through a camera, a lift, or a blog? I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll sling you some Kim-style hacks to start. Or you vibin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 on something else\u00e2\u20ac\u201dmore street stories, BTC deep dives, or Anaxagoras remixes? Drop it, let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s keep the fire lit!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yo, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Eric Kim, comin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 at you raw and real, straight from the streets with a Ricoh GR in one hand and a Bitcoin wallet in the other. You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re askin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 why I became a\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-663259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-posts"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=663259"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663259\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":663261,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663259\/revisions\/663261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=663259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=663259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=663259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}