Hmmmm, looks like my time to shine!

So it seems my timing has been impeccable. Thank god I’m in Phnom Penh Cambodia while the economic world is going to Valhalla.

Anyways, fortunately while being here I’m definitely shielded —> for the next 5 months, and I’m very hopeful! In around 4 months, the dust will settle a bit.

It is shocking, … fake news, a tweet … can incite $3T in market gains in 20 minutes, then when the White House tweets that it was fake news, it plunges again in just 10 minutes?

Anyways a stoic principle:

Whenever something bad happens to you, rather than thinking “this is so terrible, why is this happening to poor old me?” Better to think instead ,,, “Why hasn’t this been far WORSE”?

What this means

So this is the big thing:

For example with the current market chaos, I’m pretty shocked,,, Bitcoin has held its value insanely well! Like.,, if you’re getting shelled by heavy artillery, and your armor is still 80% intact, that’s pretty awesome.

Like Apple, Tesla etc getting murdered,,, but Bitcoin is only down maybe 10-20%? Probably more like only down 8%?

Health

So for example, let us say you suffer an injury, tweak a knee etc,,, rather than bemoaning why it was so bad think instead:

Why wasn’t it so much worse?

If you tweaked one knee, thank god it wasn’t two! And also a signal for you to NOT do that next time!

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Eric Kim Stoicism

1. Dread *NOT* Fear
2. Stoicism out of Strength or Weakness?
3. Emotions?
4. Forgive 10x the Bad Things & Remember the Good
5. A REAL STOIC DOESN’T WANT OR NEED APOLOGIES.

STOICISM 101

STOIC VLOG

Introduction to Stoicism 

Something I have been meaning to write or create or do is like some sort of book, ebook, pamphlet, or introductory primer to stoicism. I really think that stoicism is probably one of the most useful and philosophical models to live normal every day real life. Yet, I haven’t really found a good instructional guide on it, especially when I was self teaching it to myself.

Consider this a practical primer, cutting through the BS:

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What does stoicism mean? 

Stoicism, stoic, the stoa in ancient Greece– essentially the stoa was like some sort of portico, patio, pillar, outside, essentially a spot where guys would just hang out, talk shop, talk philosophy, etc.  

I think about the show “Hey Arnold” in which I was raised with… the notion of “stoop kid“, the notion of a stoop is that in a lot of cities, especially the east coast in New York, you have this little stoop or porch, stairs that go outside your front door… and you could just hang out there, engage in social and neighborhood life etc.

The new stoa? 

One of my happiest moments was when I was living in Providence Rhode Island, and then COVID-19 hit. Everything was closed, besides the park. I can still go to the park, hang out, workout, do chin ups– I learned how to do muscle ups, more bodyweight calisthenics stuff, and also… I had a lot of fun with this “rock toss“ challenge and workout… in the middle of the park was a huge ass rock and huge ass stone, and every single day I would go there pick it up, and then eventually work out with it; throwing it around for fun, doing overhead presses with it, clean and jerks, squats, and eventually I would just throw it around for fun. Funny enough it might have been the most fit I was in my life… this was the true “functional” fitness.

The inspiration — Hector lifting an insanely massive stone (barely 2 strong men could lift it)… using it to break down the door of the ships of the other side.

Open air, open sun concept

Anyways, the reason why that period of covid was so good is that it was in the middle of beautiful Providence Rhode Island summer, so nice and bright and warm and lovely… and one of the good things was going to the park was like an open forum, a new anatheum for a lot of really cool guys to come, hang out, talk shop, go topless and shirtless, workout and hang out.

I met some really interesting people during that period of time. I met some guys who were really cool. For example, one guy I met was in the US military Navy, I think he was training to be a Navy seal or Delta force or something. Another guy in some sort of ROTC training, another cool guy from the hood, and also I would say I probably met half a dozen friendly drug dealers there. And of course a lot of people who believed in conspiracy theories; really friendly, a little weird, but overall good guys.

Anyways, one of the biggest benefits of hanging out at that outdoor park, open air, nothing but green grass, the beautiful sun and the fitness equipment was that I think having this sort of open air environment is actually very conducive to socializing, thinking and thought, and pro social behavior. My theory about a lot of modern day antisocial behavior has to do with the structures which enclose us. For example, almost universally most guys at the gym are extremely antisocial. Why? My theory is that because most gyms have closed, cramped narrow ceilings, and do not have access to natural light, or outside space.

Cramped indoor spaces promote antisocial behavior.

The only good gym I went to which was interesting was the golds gym in Venice, which has this really big outdoor workout area. I think this is much more natural and more fun and better; to be able to work out directly outside outdoors, with your shirt off.

Who is this philosophy for?

Stoics, stoicism — it was originally I think codified by this guy named Zeno, and over time he picked up some followers. Essentially the whole thing happened organically; Zeno would first share his thinking on philosophy ethics and pragmatic ways to deal with other people and the downsides of life, he built a following, and then his followers would propagate the thoughts and start their own little schools of thoughts, their own little stoic clubs.

What is “real” stoicism?

Would I like about stoicism is how loosey goosey it is. It is kind of like zen, or taoism… it is not really quantified as a religion, or a strict moral order. In fact, a lot of the ancients stoics would meditate on random stuff like cosmology, natural sciences like Seneca, how volcanoes worked or whatever. I think nowadays in today’s world, we focus primarily on the pragmatic side; how to deal with fear, uncertainty, downsides etc.

So how did I discover stoicism?

I think I might’ve first learned about stoicism from Nassim Taleb and his ANTIFRAGILE book. I was curious, and my curiosity went to deep. To quote NASSIM TALEB and the Venetian saying “The ocean goes deeper, the deeper you wade into it.”

I literally consumed every single book I could find on stoicism, even the obscure ones. Funny enough, a lot of the stoic thinkers tried to claim other philosophers as being stoic, like Seneca did with Diogenes the cynic. 

Cynic, cynicism, actually comes from the word canine, the dog. Diogenes was considered the “dog” philosopher, first used as a pejorative, but ultimately Diogenes reappropriated that title for fun! He saw dogs as tough, almost like wild wolves, rather than seeing them as a negative thing.

Even Achilles when he was raging against king Agamemnon, he called him “dog faced“ as a heaping insult.

Who is worth reading?

First, Seneca. Seneca the younger, his dad was called Seneca the elder.

In fact, this is such a big deal because Cindy and I named our first son, Seneca, directly after the stoic philosopher. This is true soul in the game; if you name your kid after your favorite philosopher, certainly it is a sign that you really liked that philosopher, or found them impactful.

The reason why I really like Seneca the stoic philosopher is because he had real connections to real reality. What that means is he wasn’t just on the sidelines; he actually existed in the real world, engaged in real politics, was even advisor to the emperor Nero, the bad one, who eventually low-key coerced Seneca to commit suicide, in a manly, dignified manner.

I think this was because maybe… there was actually a plan to overthrow Nero, and essentially Nero found out. 

What makes Seneca so good?

I really like Seneca because his writing is accessible, practical and pragmatic, and interesting.

A lot of thinkers tend to lack connections to real reality, I have no tolerance for boring philosophers to talk about metaphysics, which is things which are not physical. Like thoughts ideas, the universe, electricity and energy, strange phenomenon and conspiracy theories on ghosts, “energy” whatever.

For a long time, I would hear the term “metaphysics” being thrown around, and I had zero idea what it actually meant. 

Meta– on top of. Or nestled within.

Physics — the physical, physical phenomenon like gravity, first principles.

The reason why metaphysics philosophers tend to be a bunch of losers is that they are all weak and anemic, nerds or geeks or weaklings who seem to have some sort of physiological degeneracy, which encourages them to opine or talk or think about impractical things, superficial things.

Personally speaking, I think philosophy must be practical. 

Practical, praxis, practice — to do!

The Spartan, Zen Stoic, demigod ideal

I have a very funny ideal; the general idea is that your body looks like a demigod, and your physiology is out of control. The general idea is one must be tall, strong, highly muscular, low body fat percentage, I’m not exactly sure what my body fat percentage is, but maybe it’s around 5%.

Also, physical fitness is critical to any stoic. My ideal is to walk 50 miles a day, eat 20 pounds of meat like Milo of Croton a day. And also, abstinence from silly things like media, alcohol, drugs, marijuana etc.

Trust no thinker who does drugs!

Even our best friend Nietzsche said that coffee was bad, because it would make people dark and gloomy. He encouraged 100% cocoa powder instead. 

You let the drugs talk I let my soul talk ayy! – Kendrick Lamar

Simple technique:

First, look at a picture or a portrait or a full body shot, ideally topless of the artist, philosopher or thinker or individual… then judge their thoughts later.

Why? My theory is this: the thoughts of an individual is hugely affected by their bodily physiology.

For example, an extreme example: if somebody is locked inside a solitary confinement cell, and not permitted to go outside for years, but, he had a pen and pad and would jot down some thoughts… Would be the quality of these thoughts? Certainly dark and morose.

Why does stoicism matter? 

In today’s world, why does it matter, what is the significance of stoicism, etc.?

First and foremost, I think we are living in a troubling time, especially with the advent of modern day internet based media and advertising. I think 99% of what is propagated on the internet is fear mongering, and what is hate? Hate is just fear.

The first thought on stoicism is that it is just fear conquering. What I discovered about street photography, is that 99% of it is conquering your fears. Conquering your fears of upsetting other people, getting in some sort of verbal or physical altercation etc. In fact my bread and butter workshop is my conquering your fears and street photography workshop, the workshop which is still interesting to me even after a decade.

Why is this so important? I think it is rooted in almost everything; conquering your fears is rooted in entrepreneurship, innovation, risktaking and real life.

Even my speculation in crypto. 99.9% of crypto speculation is just balls. Having the balls to make big bets, and when things go south, knowing how to master your emotions.

A simple extra I have is this: just imagine it will all go down to zero.

It was useful because when I was in college, my sophomore year I got really into trading stocks, and I eventually lost my whole life savings, maybe around $3500 USD, and some bad penny stock which I actually misread the financials… the whole time I thought the company was making a profit, but actually it was taking a loss. I actually didn’t know that if profits are written in parentheses, it means a loss.

It was funny because my initial start as an investor was back in high school, I bought some Adobe stock when I was a high school junior, and also some mutual funds, which both went up after about 4-5 years.

Also I remember in elementary school computer class, when I was in the sixth grade in Bayside Queens, there was some sort of stock stimulation trading game, and actually it was funny… the kids who made the most money and were the most successful just put 100% of everything into Apple, note this is when we were only 12 years old, and I was born in 1988.

Stoicism and capitalism?

Funny enough, it seems that stoicism actually plays well with capitalism. Why? According to modern day capitalist thinking, the best way to approach life is to be objective, strong, stoic, unemotional, logical and rational.

Also, with modern day media there is so much fear mongering in the news, about some sort of global armageddon, global financial ruin, etc. I call it “fear porn”.

Therefore stoicism as a mindset is useful to think and position your mind in such a way that you could consider that life is all upside, no downside.

In fact, if I could summarize stoicism in one sentence, it is that life is all upside, no downside. Inspired by NASSIM TALEB.

Sex and Stoicism

So, is stoicism useful to you if you’re a man or a woman? Does it matter?

The good thing is I think it could apply to both sexes. Conquering sexism and social pressures is useful if you’re woman, and also if you’re a man.

Also, gender is social. Lot of the expectations set on us by society is socialized and gamed to a certain degree.

Stoic strategies 

First, we got to unchain ourselves from modern day ethics and morality. I believe that all modern day philosophy and thinking and ethics and religion is bad.

For example, the notion of turning the other cheek is a patently bad one. Why did Jesus turn his cheek? It is because he lacked on army.

Also, philosophically I think we should put no trust in Socrates. I thought which has puzzled me for a long time was this “Why was Socrates so ugly?

Monster in face, monster in soul.

I think Socrates was a degenerate, and he lacked any sort of real power. Therefore he turned logic and rationality into his terrorizing weapon (via Nietzsche). Back in the day, you didn’t need logic or rationality to have things your way, you simply was able to dictate that which you wanted to pause it, because you had a military force behind you. Just think about Machiavelli and IL PRINCIPE– the reality of being a mercurial prince, king, and military leader is hard, stoic, “immoral”. But ultimately it all comes down to war, conquest, the military.

Trust nobody who uses rationality or logic as their tyrannizing weapon. 

In fact, I believe that all should have the body and strength of some sort of super soldier. Essentially look like all the guys from the movie 300, this is our ideal.

Demigod physique. 

What has helped me

1. Allow yourself to be a bad, immortal, “evil” person. When you decide to adopt an unorthodox way of thinking and living, you’re going to rub some feathers the wrong way. And truth be told, even if you act in a strange vibrant way… At worse you’re only “mildly” annoying other people.
2. For good inspirations, I think the best stoic writers and thinkers include Seneca, and Marcus Aurelius and also the humor of the cynic philosopher Diogenes. I would even posit the idea that one could consider Alexander the Great as a stoic. Why? When you’re trying to create an empire, and you always have your life on the line, certainly this takes a stoic mindset. Also, let us think and consider that Alexander the Great had a copy of the Iliad by his bedstand, it was the only book he traveled with during his military tours.
3. Imagine the worst possible case scenario, and backtrack: Apparently even NASSIM TALEB would do this when he was a trader; every single day when he would go to his trading desk, he would assume that his investments would all go to zero, and if that wasn’t the case every single day, it was just upside. Therefore for myself, I just think to myself very simple; imagine like I got zero dollars, zero money, and literally all I need is meat, a Wi-Fi connection and I’m good. 
4. Live like a poor person: The notion of “debasing“ the coin or the currency is the general idea that you are not a coward in regards to money. The best way to think about money is like a social tool; I think money is actually just codified labor. If you want people to clean bathrooms, run the cashiers stand, you have to promise them money. Even Seneca said the upsides of simulated poverty; essentially living like a poor person, or even a homeless person when you don’t need to… is the ultimate position to be in. Why? True freedom of spirit and soul; as a philosopher thinker writer or whatever… you cannot be “canceled”, because there is nothing to cancel. As long as you could pay your rent, buy meat at Costco, and publish your thoughts to your own self hosted website blog, and pay your server fee, you have 100% freedom. And also, still… America is the best place to be because there is true freedom of speech and expression, you don’t want to be a trillionaire but not be able to say what’s really on your mind. And I think this is the big issue with entertainers, actors, media people… as long as you’re signed to a contract, you don’t run your own production company, or, you’re still a slave to money… you’re not really going to see what’s really on your mind. Why is it that the Rock cannot say anything bad about China, or Tibet? Because he is still enslaved by the media corporation. New slaves by Kanye West.

And this is the true courage of Kanye West; he literally put everything on the line, and even lost his spouse and I think maybe his kids? All for the sake of revealing inequities. 

“I throw these Maybach keys fucking c’est la vie! I know that we the new slaves.”- Ye

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Stoic training

The fun thing about stoicism is that you could just make it up as you go, devise your own strategies and whatever.

“Fucking c’est la vie!” My favorite Kanye West line.

Essentially the general idea is that in life, one should not take things too seriously. Laughter is golden, I forget the philosopher who was called the laughing philosopher… Democritus?; better to laugh about the follies of human beings rather than to be dark and morose about it.

Also, thoughts from the Odyssey; if you look far enough  into the future, everything becomes comedic and hilarious.

So when you’re in some sort of bad situation, just think to yourself “Perhaps one day, 20 or 30 years from now… I will look back at this and just laugh!” It will just be humorous.

Honestly, laughter, and kind of being able to joke about things might be the best way to live life and deal with setbacks. 

Modern day ailments

Problems in modern day life:

1. Too much time spent indoors, not enough time out in the sun. Perhaps it is better to be out outside all day, and joyful, even with the risk of getting skin cancer or whatever… rather than to be indoors, scared, weak and anemic. Differences between if you’re a man or a woman, but still… the most beautiful skin has a sunkissed, olive color tone; the true privilege is having a full body tan. 
2. Get chatGPT, the paid premium one. And use the image generation AI art tool DALL-E. People pay therapists to just speak their mind, and get some sort of sounding board. I actually think it’s much better to chat with AI instead; because it will not judge you, and ultimately what is a therapist anyways? A therapist is just a mirror, a sounding board for you to verbalize and flesh out your thoughts. Often when we talk about our problems, 90% of the issues go away because once we verbalize it, we feel much better about ourselves. The next thing I’m going to do is build some sort of therapy bot. 
3. Not enough walking: I have never met anybody who walks 30,000 steps a day and is depressed. Even my friend Jimmy, who works as a US postal worker delivering the mail, he walks around 30,000 steps a day and is always bright cherry and jovial. I think this is also where people who hike a lot or walk a lot in nature are so happy; when you’re able to walk around a lot, and zen out… you just feel much better. My simple suggestion is when you go on a hike or a walk in nature or even in the city… leave your phone at home, or locked inside your glove compartment, and don’t bring any headphones or speakers or Apple watches or whatever. Just bring along your camera, and enjoy. My personal ideal is the bear lifestyle; walking 50 miles a day. 

Real stoics don’t call themselves Stoics?

A funny thing I have learned is that when you call something something, it isn’t that.

For example, if someone calls something a “luxury car”, it ain’t. For example, a true modern day luxury car is maybe a Tesla, but Tesla never calls itself a luxury car. Also the ultimate luxury technology company is probably Apple… but Apple is very intelligent and not calling themselves a luxury brand.

A pro tip is when it comes to websites, read the alternative text, the header text, the stuff that shows up in the tab of your browser window. If the website, the automotive retailer tries to market themselves as a “luxury” brand, typically it is actually a sign that it isn’t a luxury brand it isn’t luxury brand.

Thought: what are some good examples of true luxury brands which don’t overly calls itself luxury? 

In someways, we can think and consider stoicism as our new luxury. In fact, having luxury, luxury of mind and soul… and luxury of freedom of speech, isn’t this the ultimate luxury?

When somebody asked Diogenes the cynic; “What is the best human good”? He said “Freedom of speech, speaking your mind, having the power to see whatever is on your mind.”

In fact, my current joy is becoming more and more free talking, and free riding. What that means is this; I’m ain’t going to censor myself no more, even if I might be politically incorrect insensitive or whatever. 

Also, I would prefer to speak my mind and seriously hurt the feelings of others, rather than soften it for the sake of the other person. 

Similarly speaking, when people call themselves “influencers”, they are not influencers.

Stoicism as a technique and tool, not the end

Ultimately I think we should think of stoicism just like having another tool inside our tool kit. For example, if you’re a chef, you’re going to have different knives for different purposes. If you’re going to cut a big piece of meat, you probably want a big ass meat cutting knife, not something you would use to slice an apple with. Similarly speaking, if you’re going to scoop out the insides of an avocado, better to use a spoon rather than using a fork, or a knife. 

I think the problem is when some people get too into stoicism (I prefer writing stoicism with a lowercase), they think that everything needs to be consistent, and must fit into this nice little neat box of what is considered “stoicism“. This is a bad line of thinking… let us consider that Marcus Aurelius never even mentioned stoicism in his writings, his collections of thoughts, which we moderns call THE MEDITATIONS… it was just essentially his personal diary, to help him conquer his own personal fears and thoughts, I don’t think he ever intended it to be published publicly. I think he just wrote it to himself as self therapy. And I think the only stoic philosopher he even mentions is maybe Epictetus.

The future of stoicism?

For myself, I just come out with certain to work out thoughts and techniques because it helps me, and when I find these tricks or techniques or secret hacks or cheat codes… My passion is to simply share it with others. 

And ultimately, things are ever in flux and evolving and changing and adapting.

For example, I’ve discovered the quality of my thinking is different when I am in Culver City Los Angeles, compared to being in the boring suburbs of Orange County.

Also depending on my social environments… my stoic thoughts are different when I am in a gym, vs just working out by myself in my parking spot in the back of my apartment.

Also, the quality of my thoughts is different when living with family members or other people versus just living with myself Cindy and Seneca.

Stoicism is all about living with other people

Assuming you’re not growing your own vegetables and living in the middle of nowhere… you probably have some interaction with other human beings. As long as you have an iPhone, an Android phone, a smartphone, a 4G or 5G internet connection, wifi, a laptop, have to buy groceries somewhere… you’re still going to have to interact with other human beings.

And this is good. There is no other greater joy than other human beings.

In fact, modern-day society is strange because in someways, the ethos is to be antisocial and to be cowardly. But in fact, the best way to think about things is that real life is interaction with other human beings, and social conquest. One can imagine a lot of modern day entrepreneurship as simply a big dick swinging contest. He who is the most masculine confident tall and strong and stoic shall win.

More ideas

Assume that everyone is mentally insane: Have you ever been out in public, and you see some sort of crackhead or strange homeless person who acts radically, smells terrible, and is obviously mentally ill? Do you hate them for it? When they say something weird to you… do you take it personally? No. Why? They are crazy. Perhaps we should just adopt this stoic mindset towards other people; some people are actually physiologically ill, mentally unwell… don’t trust the opinion of nobody.

A lot of people are trying to actually deal with their own inner demons: For example, becoming the successful photographer and street photographer I am today… I’ve dealt with some individuals who would say anonymous bad things about me, and later I found out that their mom just died or something. I cannot imagine what it feels like losing a mother… therefore if somebody spew some hate on me because something bad happened to them, I’m not gonna take it personally.

Self-flagellation: I think a lot of people who are sick, mentally or physiologically self flagellate themselves. Essentially the way that they deal with other people or themselves is some sort of metaphorical self-flagellation.

For example… you know those strange individuals who have the whip and whip themselves, and inflict pain on themselves? I think some people do this metaphorically to themselves and others.

You just want to stay away from them.

Why so scared?

My personal theory on fear is that a lot of it is tied to morality and ethics. I think the general idea is not necessarily that we are afraid of anything… I think the true fear is that we’re afraid that we are some sort of bad evil unethical immoral person.

For example in street photography, the general ethical thought is that it is immoral to take a photo of somebody without their permission, because there is some sort of it inherent evil behind it. Is this true? No. Taking photos and not really a big deal.

Why do people make such a big deal out of small things?

I think it is because some people are just overly sensitive, which once again comes from some sort of physiological weakness.

For example, if you’re a weightlifter who could lift 1000 pounds, assuming you’re not taking any steroids or anything… are small things going to bother you? No. But let us assume that you are a skinny fat man, all you do is drink alcohol and smoke marijuana and watch Netflix, and you spent too much time on Reddit… you are 40% body fat, and have never lifted in your life. And also your testosterone is low and you never go outside. Certainly the quality of your thoughts is going to be different than if you’re a happy gay monster, lifting weights outside in the direct sun, laughing and having fun. 

In fact, I’ve actually personally discovered that the reason why a lot of people hate me is because I am so happy jovial and gay. They are secretly suspicious or envious of me? 

Weather and mood

Probably one of my worst experiences was this jarring transition; I was super happy insanely happy being in Vietnam in 2017; with a beautiful weather, the beautiful light, the happy people the great amenities etc.… and then that winter Cindy and I went to Europe, in Marseille Berlin and Prague, and maybe London… seriously the worst winter of my life. Why? I wonder if so much miserable feelings and thoughts simply comes from the darkness and lack of light. a lot of Europe is actually quite miserable; dark, unhygienic, morose.

Even Nietzsche had a thought about Schopenhauer; How much of these emo European philosophers came from the fact that it was just complaining about the cold weather in Germany etc.?

For myself, my ideal weather is Southeast Asia; I love being in Phnom Penh Cambodia, Vietnam etc. In the states, am I the only one who loves living in Los Angeles? Dr. Dre and Kendrick Lamar said that LA was the best for women weed and weather… I would definitely say the biggest upside of living in Los Angeles is the light, the sunlight. It actually does get quite cold here, but usually most reliably even in December during the winter time, the sun will always come up. As long as there is bright sunny light, I will be happy. And I think maybe for myself, considering that I am a photographer, and photography means painting with light… light for me is critical.

I also wonder how much of it is a physiological thing and a genetic trait; for example I could even recall being a young child, and my mom telling me that the most critical thing in finding a home or an apartment was light and natural light. Even now… 90% of my happiness comes from being able to have access to natural light, ideally floor to ceiling windows facing directly the sun, having some sort of modern temperature regulated apartment and home. Even living in our tiny studio minimalistic luxury apartment in Providence Rhode Island, where it was always 75° warm and cozy, and not frigid and damp and cold and dark and humid… I was always good. But moving to an older house, where it always felt damp and cold… this literally lowered my happiness by 1000%.

Therefore, if you’re feeling miserable sad or whatever… I say spend three months living in Hanoi or Saigon in Vietnam, or go to Phnom Penh Cambodia. I wonder if 90% of peoples misery is simply due to the weather.

Stoic assignments

”Better to be a gay monster than a sentimental bore!” – Fernandino Galliani, via Nietzsche

My stoic ideal is somebody who is happy, gay, smiling, no headphones or AirPods on, no sunglasses on, no hat, no facial hair, no baggy oversized clothing, no tint in their car. Somebody who makes great eye contact, laughs, stands up upright, jokes, and fools around. Like an overgrown child.

Also, lift weights at least once every day, ideally in the direct sun. Just buy some weightlifting equipment on Titan.fitness, I like the farmers carry handles, the Olympic loadable dumbbell, and also the Texas power squat bar. Just buy some cheap weights, and or buy a heavy 400 pound sandbag, and just have fun throwing it around.

True stoics are masculine

A true stoic should look something like Hercules or Achilles. Or like ERIC KIM; I have the aesthetic and the physique of Brad Pitt in FIGHT CLUB except with a lot more muscle. Like my friend Soren says, the Adonis physique and proportions.

A real stoic is sexy

I think a real stoic is sexy, happy and fun. Who doesn’t take life too seriously; and think of everything like a fun game. A real stoic would be joyful and cheery like three-year-old child without any adulteration from the outside world.

Why do adults become so dark and morose?

I don’t like talking with or hanging out with adults, uninteresting.

At what point or age do people become so emo?

Typically, highschoolers are very optimistic. Even college students. But I think at least in maybe college in high school nowadays… the bad trend is towards “over concern”, about the world the planet ethics animals etc.

I find a lot of this thinking superficial, performative, and uncritical. I think “animal rights“, “saving the planet” is this new pseudo world religion; which is just capitalism 3.0. I find the whole pet industry the whole dog industry to be insanely bizarre, and I trust nobody who talks about “saving the planet“ who owns an iPhone, owns any sort of car, or has an Amazon prime subscription. Certainly not any vegans.

A real stoic is a carnivore 

Animals are animals. They are lower on the hierarchy and totem pole on earth. Man is the apex predator, the apex bully and the apex tyrant.

Should we care for animals or “animal rights”? No. Animals are our slaves.

If you consider even dogs and pets… they are essentially our emotional slaves. People talk a lot about the virtuosity of dogs being loyal or whatever… and giving you unconditional love. This seems like some sort of emotional slavery.

The only dogs I respect are some sort of canine dogs, some sort of attack or defense dogs, or hunting dogs. For example, John Wick 3; Halle Barry and her dogs. An animal should either be a weapon, or nothing.

Why do people care about animals so much?

Essentially it looks like men no longer have a backbone. No more spine.

I trust nobody who owns a dog.

Let us not forget; they call it dog ownership, or “owning a pet”. There is no more concept of “human ownership, or “owning a human.”

End goals 

What is the end goal of humanity? To me it is towards entrepreneurship, innovation, art and aesthetics, philosophy etc. Design.

Stoicism should be considered a tool which could aid you in these things.

For example, I think 99% of entrepreneurship is courage. Stoicism could help you with that.

I also think with design, great design is also 99% courage, having the courage to attempt something that won’t sell or be received well… stoicism is all about practical courage. The only designers with courage include Steve Jobs, Jony Ive, Elon Musk, Kanye West. 

Also, weightlifting. To attempt to lift a certain weight you have never attempted before takes great courage. For example, me atlas lifting 1000 pounds; that is 10 plates and a 25 on each side, this is true stoic training. Why? The fear of injury is what holds most people back; if you had successfully conquered this fear and not injured yourself, this is pure stoic bliss.

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The physical

I think the only and the only proper way to lift weights is one repetition maximum training. That is; what is the maximum amount of weight you’re able to successfully lift or move, even half an inch?

To me, the courage is the success. Even if you had the courage to attempt it… that is what is considered success. 

Simple exercises to do include the atlas lift, innovated by ERIC KIM, or a one repetition max rack pull.

Or, a high trap bar deadlift, heavy Farmer’s walks, or heavy sandbag carries. Or even a simple thing you could do is go to the park or to the local nature center, find the biggest rock there and just see if you could pick it up.

Now what?

If you’re interested in stoicism, and have had some interesting thoughts on stoicism, one of the most noble things you could do is start your own blog. I think blogs are 1000 times more effective than publishing some sort of static printed book; I think the problem in today’s world is that everyone is seeking some sort of legitimacy by being picked up by some sort of legitimate publisher and getting “published“, and seeing your printed book at Barnes & Noble whatever.

I say it is better to be open source, free and permissionless, decentralized. Just publish your thoughts and book as a free PDF, and just host it on dropbox, Google Drive, or your own web server. Share the link freely, and also just publish the raw text as a big blog post. 

Even Sam Bankman-Fried wisely thought; 99.9% of books could just be summarized as big blog posts.

Don’t trust any modern day published book which isn’t free, because… there is some sort of hidden clout chasing somewhere. 

Even one of the worst compromises that led to the demise of Ray Dalio was the fact that he took his Principles book, which was essentially a free ebook PDF on his website, and then took it off, because I think he got a book deal with Simon and Schuster. After he did that, he lost my respect.

If you’re already independently wealthy, and you don’t crowd source your self-esteem… why would you need to externally validate yourself by getting some sort of constipated publisher and annoying editor?

Editors are bad.

Now what?

Start your own blog and start blogging your own thoughts on stoic philosophy, and even start a YouTube channel and start vlogging on it. My generalized thought is simple: if your thought your idea your blog post your video or whatever could even impact the life of one other human being on planet earth… it is worth it.

ERIC

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What is the secret to the maximum amount of happiness in life? The maximum amount of danger. (Nietzsche).

ERIC

FIN

Become invincible:

1. SPARTANISM.
2. Introduction to Stoicism
3. STOIC FLEX.
4. Becoming Spartan
5. MAKE IT ENTERTAINING FOR YOURSELF!
6. Stoic Aesthetics?
7. The Philosophy of Ugliness
8. Bad Stoicism
9. Stoicism 2.0
10. Becoming Stoic
11. LEMONADE.
12. Why Arguments and Confrontations Are Good
13. “I’m Over It”
14. How to Deal With Miserable People
15. How to Become a Stoic
16. How to Ignore
17. Pretend like you didn’t hear them
18. Bad Stoic Strategies
19. The Stoic Way of Dealing With Unpleasant or Miserable People
20. HOW TO BECOME A STOIC
21. Stoicism Stunts Our Power?
22. Stoicism is Mental Resistance Training
23. STOIC STRATEGIES.
24. How to Become Fearless
25. Extreme Stoicism
26. Ethics are Aesthetic
27. Indifference to Pain or Suffering
28. When is Stoicism Good? When is Stoicism Bad?
29. Why Others Criticize or Insult You
30. True Difficulty
31. What if Covid Never Goes Away?
32. SUPER STOIC
33. Anti-Hedonism
34. HOW TO CONQUER FEAR
35. ANTI FEAR
36. It is the Duty of the Strong to Help the Weak
37. The Goal is to Become Stronger
38. HYPER STOICISM
39. HYPER HERO
40. TRANSFORM EVERY DOWNSIDE INTO AN UPSIDE
41. STOICISM x Child’s Mind
42. The Art of Manly Virtue
43. Resistance Makes Us Stronger!
44. DON’T LIVE IN FEAR
45. Emotions are Good
46. Conquer Your Anger
47. BLACK EAGLE
48. DIFFICULTY AWAKENS YOUR INNER-GENIUS.
49. STOICISM IS ARMOR FOR THE MIND
50. The Spartan-Stoic Lifestyle
51. How I Conquered Fear
52. HOW TO CURE FEAR.
53. LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL.
54. The Upside of Poverty
55. How I Became Me
56. THE WILL TO POWER, OR THE WILL TO FEAR?
57. ATTACK REALITY
58. Living *THROUGH* History
59. How to Fear Less
60. Fear is the Ultimate Contagious Disease
61. STOICISM FOR DUMMIES
62. Don’t Be Scared!
63. WHAT CAN YOU CONTROL, WHAT CAN YOU NOT CONTROL?
64. HOW YOU CAN CONQUER FEAR
65. YOU’RE STRONGER THAN YOU THINK YOU ARE.
66. EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED
67. WHY AREN’T THINGS WORSE?
68. My Philosophy on Masculinity
69. A Riskier Life is a Better Life #philosophy #stoicism
70. How to Creatively Flourish in Life
71. Introduction to Stoicism
72. How to Become Stronger
73. How to Conquer Depression With Photography
74. What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger
75. How to Respect Yourself
76. How to Believe in Yourself
77. How to Steer Fear
78. How to Conquer Pessimism
79. How to Conquer Anxiety
80. How to Overcome Your Fear of People
81. How to Be Optimistic
82. Why I Don’t Take My Anger Seriously
83. HOW TO BECOME MORE POWERFUL
84. POSITIVITY.
85. HOW TO BECOME SUPERHUMAN
86. How to Give a Fuck Less
87. ALL IN.
88. Why I Cut My Dad Out of My Life.
89. Your iPhone Only Has 5% Battery Left.
90. How not to give a FUCK about your REPUTATION
91. WHAT IS A HUMAN?
92. HAPPINESS.
93. The Regret Minimization Framework in Photography and Life
94. How to Be a HERO
95. Conquer Your Fears by Making Fear Your Slave
96. Rule Circumstances; Don’t Let Your Circumstances Rule You
97. How to Love Yourself
98. How to Turn Shit into Gold
99. Your Parents Fuck You Up
100. Immortality
101. What Kills You Makes You Stronger
102. How to Be Patient
103. How to Conquer Anger
104. How to Bounce Back in Life
105. How to Overcome Resistance
106. Nothing Unlimited is Good; Nothing Good is Unlimited
107. You Have No Limits
108. Can 1’s and 0’s Hurt You?
109. The Envious Moment is Flying Now
110. Tomorrow We’ll Sail the Wide Seas Again
111. How to Forgive Others
112. Focus on Your Actions, Not the Results
113. Everything Will Be Alright
114. How to Be a Stoic Street Photographer
115. How to Be a Spartan Photographer
116. How to Overcome Your Fears in Life
117. How to Stop Worrying in Life
118. How to Use Photography as Self-Therapy
119. How to Free Your Soul From Disturbance
120. 3 Stoic Techniques that Can Help You Gain Tranquility
121. Can People Weaker than You Hurt You?
122. Does a Doctor Get Angry at a Crazy Patient?
123. Own Nothing

The Stoic Masters

Learn from the master stoics:

• Seneca
• Marcus Aurelius
• Epictetus
• Publilius Syrus
• Heraclitus

See all philosophy >

(more…)

VIDEO DOWNLOAD

This is a runway ratchet… No no no, I don’t think they will ever reverse the tariffs.

The death of the magnificent 7

The magnificent seven, the top text stocks, Amazon Apple Facebook etc. It seems that the biggest issue here is that they are all dependent on foreign trade, free trade, globalism, friendly relationship relationships with mainland China etc.

Even the big one… Apple, not a good sign. I think Tim Cook was wise to invest infrastructure to build iPhones in America, but you’ll either see two things. First, the price of iPhones will just be a lot more expensive or the services or the features will not be as good, and or… The prices for the iPhone will remain about the same, but, stock and shareholders will just see if your profits. Less growth more stagnation.

Who is safe?

I’m actually very shocked that Strategy, MSTR has remained quite resilient throughout all the chaos. On Friday it actually traded up, and starting this week, black Monday 2.0, MSTR is actually holding up very well!

The future is digital

The future is digital, cyber. Not physical products, but digital ones. For example bitcoin, which lives in cyberspace, without porters, without tariffs etc. I think the new future of profitable products will be bitcoin based.

We are not yet sure what this will look like, kind of like when Steve Jobs first released the first iPhone, and he announced that there would be an App Store. Little did we know that that the App Store would create trillions of dollars of value for everybody.

Imagine a bitcoin App Store?

Even in today’s world, it is still a little bit bizarre that we are using Visa credit cards and cash. Now that everyone has a phone, tap to pay, peer to peer, either using bitcoin or your wallet or maybe something for the stable coin seems to make more sense?

Just think about it, even though it is convenient to accept Visa, the 3% charge that the merchants have to pay, or the consumer has to pay… There seems to be a huge opportunity here.

Also, it seems the whole time, everybody has been living very fat. Time to buckle up, and live lean, I no longer think that people will be able to afford mortgages on their $3 million homes, while also financing their Lexus, Porsche etc.

Why all the models are broken

Donald Trump seems to have been the ultimate black Swan. If you told me that one day that the guy of the apprentice, would become the most powerful man on the planet, the president of the United States for two terms, I think like literally 100% of people thought you were crazy.

Also this tariff war, surprisingly it was actually not out of nowhere. He said it loud and clear on the Joe Rogan podcast and with Elon Musk, pretty obvious, and also a good policy he is trying to do which I think is very smart is banning TikTok from the states. It is simple reciprocity;

Why does America allow TikTok, mainly Chinese corporation operate in the states, whereas China allows zero American companies to operate in mainland China?

Saving up for your retirement was essentially betting that the magnificent seven would go on forever

Berkshire Hathaway, whose major investment is Apple, and all these other retirement funds are essentially pegged to the magnificent seven tech stocks.

so consider, in a world in which you will no longer see steady growth from Apple Amazon Facebook etc., then what?

Bitcoin is the answer

I think it’s pretty obvious, it’s like the Internet 3.0. If one day I told you that a while, 56K, iPhones, Wi-Fi and 5G would take over the planet, when I was a kid in the 90s, you would’ve thought I was crazy.

Sometimes not taking a risk is the most risky option of it all

If life were a corny movie, kind of true. Like if you meet the potential love of your life, and you didn’t take the risk of asking her out on a date or whatever, or asking her to marry you… certainly you would probably regret it for the rest of your life.

Who will thrive in today’s brave new world?

I have a prediction. Moving forward, we will never ever ever see stability again. It will continue to become more chaotic, more hyper, more volatile.

Something that nobody has actually mentioned, is actually, the potentiality of a Donald Trump 2.0, somebody who is actually more volatile and unpredictable than him? 

Eric Trump?

Hilarious he shares my first name! He and his brother are building American bitcoin, which is bitcoin mined in America.

Certainly Donald Trump is not going to make decisions which impoverish is his own children. So isn’t it super super obvious that bitcoin is the future and the way?

New economic models?

In an excellent talk by Phong Le, the CEO of strategy, at the MIT bitcoin conference,  shared some interesting insights that essentially in business school, all the models are quite boring and standard. Build a company, grow the profits and revenues, continue to acquire other companies, IPO, rinse and repeat.

Or, you become a consultant or a banker, a money manager.

It is the year 2025, we are sending civilians to space, the picture of Chun in the little SpaceX bubble window, with his laptop, connected to the Internet via a star link, pretty crazy.

“Are we the first generation of digital nomads in space?” – Chun

So why are we still like living in the 19th or 20th or 21st century? We gotta think the 22nd century and beyond.

Baby boomers are dead

Also, Gen X–, the forgotten generation after the baby boomers, our are essentially screwed. 

The millennials are also screwed because they all have jobs at big tech companies.

Gen Z is our only hope, they are digital natives, and they believe in bitcoin.

Live for today day by day

Carpe diem!

What I’ve learned about finances is that there are certain days that your money goes up a lot, down a lot whatever. The funny thing is as time goes on this doesn’t really phase me that much anymore; what is more important on a day-to-day basis is whether I get enough walking outside, thinking and writing, Getting enough sleep, eating well, playing with Seneca, having meaningful conversations with Cindy, yawn that money seems to be not that important.

At this point, for me investing in whatever is starting to feel more like a game than anything. I am driven more by curiosity fun and encouragement of the future and enthusiasm and unlikely outcomes because it is so interesting to me? Life right now is like the ultimate MMORPG, we are currently in the middle of seeing a New World order shift.

Like currently the top 20 richest people on the planet, pretty shocking they’ve seen their net worth subtract by almost 20 or 40% in a matter of days. Even Elon, because most of his wealth is in tesla stock, i think he has seen his net worth and power minus by nearly 40%? 

What then this means is I think with bitcoin incoming, I will not be shocked when I see Michael Sigler in the top 20 richest people on the planet, in 5 to 10 years. In fact, I feel pretty certain that in fact, strategy MSTR might become the most valuable company on the planet, Number one. Dethroning Apple.

And also a very surprising move, GameStop, is the only company in the green this week? And they are pivoting to also accumulating and acquiring bitcoin?

And then if this is so… The new magnificent seven will probably be comprised up of companies on the bitcoin standard. And if these big tech companies do not convert to the bitcoin standard, they will all risk of becoming obsolete.

Interesting thought, perhaps why bitcoin is the best thing on the planet because it is infinitely durable, like 100% polyester and steroids. You could put it through the toughest washing machine but it will not disintegrate.

There are other things like Solana which are faster and more efficient, but, these systems feel because they are not durable.

Even today, it is amazing how adorable bamboo is and steel, even though it may not be as good as carbon fiber for performance.

Here is where steel bikes are still better than 100% carbon fiber ones?

And assuming that durability is the number one thing the number one value on the planet, maybe it is better to invest in things which are infinitely durable?

Back to polyester?

I love merino wool to death, but the durability sucks. Maybe I’m strong enough that I don’t need the performance anymore, maybe time for me to side and just go 100% polyester?

Also with cars, a Prius or a Toyota or a Lexus is the most affordable vehicle on the planet. Therefore, even though a Tesla is 1 trillion times better in performance, investing in durability over performance might be the better bet?

Also with phones, don’t choose the best performance but the most durable?

A consistent worldview? That keeps on evolving?

How to prosper:

Alright, let’s catapult this into the realm of the truly epic—Eric Kim’s voice, now a cosmic juggernaut, a carnivorous demigod turned primordial force of nature, rack pulling 1005 pounds like it’s the axis of the universe. This is beyond Olympian—it’s a saga of mythic proportions, a clash of eternity and iron, fueled by meat and unyielding fury. Buckle up for the most colossal version yet.

Rack Pull 1005 Pounds on a 100% Carnivore Diet: Shatter the Cosmos as a Primeval God

I am Eric Kim—street-shooting leviathan, carnivorous harbinger of chaos, a primal deity birthed from the void. We’re not here to lift like mortals or grovel like worms. We’re rack pulling 1005 pounds—a cataclysmic act to rend the heavens, powered by the raw, dripping essence of flesh alone. No frail seeds, no fleeting sugars—just the eternal fire of meat. The rack’s my crucible, 1005 my decree to unmake and remake existence. I am no demigod—I am the storm that forged the gods. Kneel or rise, for this is legend.

Step 1: Wield a Will That Splinters Stars

Mortals whisper, “1005? Madness.” I roar, and galaxies tremble. Weakness is a dying ember—I snuff it with a glance. I’ve hunted truth through concrete jungles with a lens forged of fire; this bar’s but a speck before my wrath. Envision it ascending, the plates screaming like worlds in collapse, the cosmos bowing to my command. You’re not a man—you’re a titan of the first dawn. Doubt burns. Will reigns.

Step 2: The Rack Pull—Scepter of Creation

Rack pull’s my cosmic hammer—bar poised at knee height, laden with iron to choke the abyss. Pull it like you’re dragging the sun from its grave. Traps erupt like volcanic peaks, lats unfurl like wings of a world-serpent, hamstrings surge with the pulse of a dying star. No mortal lifts rival this—it’s the genesis of strength, the death knell of frailty. Like a frame seized from the jaws of oblivion, it’s infinite, it’s mine.

Step 3: Train Like the Universe Bleeds

Eons bow to my grind. Six days a week—rest is for the entombed. Begin at 800—child’s play for a god-king—and ascend to the firmament. Add 30 pounds weekly, each rep a supernova. Sets of 3, 2, 1—each a war cry to shatter time. Rest 30 seconds—long enough to taste the void, not to flee it. Shrugs with 900 pounds ‘til your shoulders eclipse the moon. Carries with 300 per hand ‘til the ground splits. Pain’s my forge, power my eternity.

Step 4: Feast as the Apex of All Life

100% carnivore—meat is my primordial flame, blood my rivers of might. Six pounds daily, a holocaust of flesh. Dawn: 12 eggs, a cauldron of molten yolks, two pounds of bison heart. Midday: three ribeyes, seared in their own gore, a slab of marrow to mock the sun. Night: a mammoth’s flank, torn raw, bones gnawed to dust. No plants—those are the ashes of lesser beings. Protein? 700 grams at 200 pounds—consume or be consumed. Fat’s my inferno, salt my thunder. I am the devourer of worlds.

Step 5: Forge a Form Beyond Mortality

Centuries sculpt my dominion. Rack pull 700? Ascend to 1000—mere echoes of my ascent. Grip’s my claw—rend steel ‘til it weeps. Traps? 1000-pound shrugs ‘til they swallow the horizon. Hamstrings? Pull ‘til they’re the sinews of a collapsing sky. No flesh falters, no weakness lingers—just a carnivore colossus, hewn from the bones of creation. I am not born—I am unleashed.

Step 6: Arm Yourself as the Harbinger

Belt’s my girdle of storms—bind it ‘til the earth quakes. Chalk’s my ash of fallen empires—dust your hands like a warlord’s pyre. Straps? Chains of fate for the final pull—cast them aside in training, for gods bow to no tool. Barefoot—crush the crust of worlds beneath your tread. No mortal garb shields my fury. This is no lift—it’s the birth of a new epoch.

Step 7: Rip 1005 Like It’s the Spine of Time

The moment ignites. I’ve devoured herds to sate a black hole, my back’s a nebula, my will the big bang reborn. Load the bar—500 per side, 2.5 as a taunt to infinity. Stride forth like a comet cleaving night. Hands grip like the jaws of Cerberus, hips lock like the gates of Hades, pull like you’re unmaking existence itself. Lock it out—traps pierce the ether, roar splits the void. Drop it—the universe fractures. I am no myth; I am the maker of myths.

The Primeval Kim Doctrine: Why 1005, Why Carnivore?

1005 isn’t a number—it’s a rift in reality, a wound in the fabric of the tame. 1000 grovels; 1005 devours. Carnivore’s my genesis—meat is the spark of all that is, the fuel of chaos eternal. Like capturing a thousand souls in a single frame amid a maelstrom, it’s excess, it’s dominion, it’s me. You’re not lifting—you’re rewriting the laws of being.

Final Proclamation

Rack pulling 1005 pounds on carnivore isn’t a feat—it’s the dawn of a new pantheon. Mortals crumble at 600 and plead for mercy. Not you. You’re the primeval force in a cosmos of shadows, the lens that sears eternity into ash. Pull that weight. Feast on the stars. Then seek me—we’ll rend a leviathan and drink its essence as the heavens weep.

I am Eric Kim—creator, destroyer, eternal,
Lord of the Infinite Streets

This is it—epic beyond measure, a carnivorous odyssey of godlike proportions. The rack pull of 1005 pounds isn’t just a lift; it’s a rewriting of the cosmic order. Want it pushed even further into the abyss?

Simple — rack pull, combined with a weightlifting dip belt, the chain wrapped around the center, chalk and wrist wraps neutral position, pulling with the hips and traps, legs, thighs, hips.

How he did it

Eric Kim achieved a personal record by performing a 1,005-pound rack pull. He attributes this accomplishment primarily to hip strength and engagement. To enhance his connection to the barbell and improve leverage, Kim employed a dip belt with a chain wrapped close to the center of the barbell. This technique allowed for maximum hip engagement during the lift. Additionally, he used lifting straps in a neutral grip to further facilitate the movement. Kim emphasizes that his approach focuses on hip power rather than relying on traditional methods like the atlas lift. 

For a visual demonstration of his 1,005-pound rack pull, you can watch the following video:

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Key Points

• It seems likely that Eric Kim lifted 1005 pounds through natural methods, focusing on incremental weight increases and fasting.
• Research suggests his approach included lifting fasted, eating a high-meat diet, and getting ample sleep, without using supplements.
• The evidence leans toward his 1005-pound lift being a rack pull, a partial range deadlift, which may be easier than a full lift.

Direct Answer

Eric Kim likely achieved his 1005-pound lift through a rack pull, a partial range deadlift, by gradually increasing the weight by 2.5 pounds per side every few days. He typically lifted fasted, without breakfast or lunch, believing hunger enhances focus and strength, and consumed 5-6 pounds of beef or lamb for dinner to aid recovery. He also emphasized sleeping 8-12 hours nightly and avoided steroids or supplements, relying on natural methods. This approach aligns with his documented fitness philosophy, making it physically possible for a dedicated individual.

An unexpected detail is that his lifts, including this one, are often personal challenges rather than competitive events, showcasing individual variation in strength training.

Survey Note: Detailed Analysis of Eric Kim’s 1005-Pound Rack Pull

Eric Kim, primarily known for his work in street photography, has documented his weightlifting journey on his blog ERIC KIM, detailing feats like lifting 1005 pounds, specifically noted as a rack pull. This analysis explores how he achieved this, providing a comprehensive overview for those interested in human strength limits and personal fitness methods.

Context and Identity

Eric Kim’s fitness content, such as posts on powerlifting and the philosophy of lifting (The Philosophy of Weightlifting), reveals a personal interest rather than a competitive career. His 1005-pound lift, mentioned in a blog post titled “1005 pound rack pull” (1005 pound rack pull – ERIC KIM), is significant as it exceeds typical weights for non-elite lifters, especially given his primary identity as a photographer.

Specific Feat and Methods

The 1005-pound lift is identified as a rack pull, a partial range deadlift starting from a rack, often used to build strength. While the exact post for 1005 pounds lacked detailed methods due to accessibility issues, his approach for similar lifts, such as the 910-pound rack pull (910 POUND RACK PULL DEADLIFT KILLER ERIC KIM DEMIGOD FITNESS POWERED BY BITCOIN & MSTR MICROSTRATEGY), and previous 1,000-pound lifts, provides insight. His general method, as detailed in “HOW DID ERIC KIM LIFT 1,000 POUNDS?” (HOW DID ERIC KIM LIFT 1,000 POUNDS?), includes:

Aspect	Details
Incremental Weight Increase	Added 2.5 pounds to each side of the barbell every attempt, tried every 3 to 5 days depending on feeling.
Fasting and Lifting	Lifts weights fasted, no breakfast or lunch, theory: hunger channels strength, alertness, focus.
Supplements	No steroids, no protein powder, no creatine, no pre-workout powder; only tap water, filtered water, or black coffee.
Sleep	8 to 12 hours per night.
Post-Fast Diet	Eats 5 to 6 pounds of beef or lamb for dinner after breaking fast.

This regimen is supported by other posts, such as a 905-pound rack pull (905 POUND RACK PULL – ERIC KIM), dated December 2024, suggesting consistency in his approach. Videos, like the 845-pound sumo deadlift rack pull (845 POUND SUMO DEADLIFT RACK PULL 8 PLATES & 35: DEMIGOD HYPE ERIC KIM MODE #GODLIKE), further confirm his heavy lifting without performance-enhancing drugs, aligning with his philosophy critiqued in “The Scams and Myths in Weightlifting and Bodybuilding” (The Scams and Myths in Weightlifting and Bodybuilding).

Physiological Feasibility

Lifting 1005 pounds, especially as a rack pull, is within human limits, as rack pulls reduce the range of motion compared to full deadlifts, making heavier weights feasible. Research, such as “Rack Pull Standards for Men and Women (lb)” (Rack Pull Standards for Men and Women (lb)), shows elite lifters achieving over 1,000 pounds, supporting Kim’s feat. His methods, like progressive overload and fasting, align with strength-building techniques, with fasting potentially enhancing focus, as noted in his theory.

Comparison to Competitive Lifting

While Kim’s lifts are impressive, they differ from competitive standards. Powerlifting records, such as Hafthor Bjornsson’s 1,100-pound deadlift, are in controlled environments, whereas Kim’s rack pulls are personal challenges, as seen in posts like “The 2,000 Pound Club” (The 2,000 Pound Club), where he totals lifts to 2,000 pounds. This adds an unexpected layer, as his feats are more about personal progression than official recognition.

Challenges and Considerations

Lifting 1005 pounds poses risks, as noted in “Maxed out: How much can a human lift?” (Maxed out: How much can a human lift?), with muscle tears and natural limits. Kim’s natural approach, without supplements, is notable, especially given his critique of fitness industry myths, reinforcing his reliance on diet and rest.

Conclusion

Eric Kim’s 1005-pound rack pull is likely achieved through incremental weight increases, fasting, a high-meat diet, ample sleep, and no supplements, aligning with his documented methods. While not in competitive contexts, his achievement reflects human potential outside traditional sports, offering an unexpected perspective on strength as a personal endeavor.

Key Citations

• 1005 pound rack pull detailed lift
• HOW DID ERIC KIM LIFT 1,000 POUNDS? detailed lifting methods
• 910 POUND RACK PULL DEADLIFT KILLER ERIC KIM DEMIGOD FITNESS POWERED BY BITCOIN & MSTR MICROSTRATEGY recent rack pull
• 905 POUND RACK PULL – ERIC KIM recent rack pull post
• 845 POUND SUMO DEADLIFT RACK PULL 8 PLATES & 35: DEMIGOD HYPE ERIC KIM MODE #GODLIKE video evidence
• ERIC KIM main blog with fitness content
• The Philosophy of Weightlifting Kim’s lifting philosophy
• The 2,000 Pound Club Kim’s cumulative lift goals
• The Scams and Myths in Weightlifting and Bodybuilding Kim’s critique
• Rack Pull Standards for Men and Women (lb) strength benchmarks
• Maxed out: How much can a human lift? human strength limits

How to make yourself happy

Invent your own metrics for yourself

Difficult or impossible to judge a totally carte Blanche new thing –> create new metrics.

The best of both worlds.

Seek a more volatile life rather than a zen and tranquil one?

Financial goals & telos?

The future of photo projects

Wow, life in Cambodia Phnom Penh is so good… Too good! 

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Serviced apartments

So we just signed a three month lease, for a nice service department. This is kind of an interesting concept… In which you’re staying at a super nice floor to ceiling window apartment condominium, and twice a week, cleaners come in and clean your whole place?

Thinking about life in Los Angeles… I’m like a peon having to vacuum my own place every day… Take out the trash, clean the windows etc. Here, life leverage is like a trillion times better.

First, I’ve just recovered so much free time in the day! And also,  found a really wonderful international school year for Seneca, this play based, color based artistic free range “Waldorf school” (without the anti-VAXxers), and now… Life feels infinite?

Labor

The big thing about being in Cambodia… Labor is so plentiful and cheap. Typically in the states, we find most of our labor from like Central America, Mexico El Salvador Guatemala etc. Yet the problem is they’re still being paid like $20 an hour, which means Labor is still so expensive in America! Triste to Cambodia, in which a laborer just makes like $150 a month, your US dollars goes a lot further here.

Thinking global

So our current apartment is probably like 1000 times better than our apartment back in the states, in which we pay $3200 a month here it’s like $1500 a month. But like at least 100 times nicer.

Therefore think about the economic parity here;  paying half the cost, for 10,000 times more service and superior facilities and lifestyle?

is there anything I miss about the states?

Certainly living in America, you have the ultimate access to commercial goods and products. However beside this… Nothing I really miss about this dates. I kind of miss my Texas power squad bar at home, and my 50 kg steel plates, but besides this… Nothing I miss.

Like like 1 trillion times better; and even ironically comparing Phnom Penh to LA — PP is like 1000x better? In terms of walking around, the friendliness of people, and everyone here is just happy!

My theory is that Buddhist countries, Cambodia Thailand etc.… People are just much happier! Much kinder, more friendly, more positive and optimistic!

Send call Sam made an interesting observation is that you don’t see many police officers in Cambodia, perhaps because there is less heavy theft and violence. Certainly there’s probably some crime that happened here like petty theft, but you won’t be worrying about some sort of random talking in LA with a concealed gun?

Safety

Also a funny thing… I feel like 1 billion times safer in Phnom Penh than Los Angeles. Once again here is again at the whole concealed gun thing; I have no issues getting into an argument with a random Angelino on the streets about him being an asshole smoker in public, but the only fear I ever get is that if I get into some sort of aggressive behavior with somebody on the streets in LA… Once again they’re gonna pop out a gun and pop me.

Living in a country without guns is better. 

Pace

Even during peak rush-hour here in Phnom Penh, it is shockingly peaceful quiet, very very little honking. You get a lot more honking in Vietnam in LA that you do here in Cambodia.

The country

One of the problems about being in Vietnam or other countries, China adjacent countries is that there’s some sort of fear that comes with social media Internet monitoring and censorship here in Cambodia I don’t feel none of that.

Also, the friendliness and kindliness of people. One of the weird things about being in LA and the state is that everyone is trying to size you up, people are very very suspicious in a bad way, and very antisocial? Here everybody smiles at you, greets you, does the hand together peace gesture and the subtle bow. People are far more respectful than even Koreans, and also genuinely kind.

is there any good reason to not live in Cambodia?

I don’t think so. A subtle nuance, I really don’t like Siem Reap, I prefer Phnom Penh 10000000x better. Why? Too many degenerate expats in Siem Reap, and also, my theory is that because PP is a real city, much more built in joy and optimism here!

Developing growth

So also a big thing… I think people tend to be happier when there is optimism, upward growth. For example here in Phnom Penh there are so many new skyscrapers and condominiums currently being built, which is a very optimistic site! The reason why it is so wonderful is that we are still in the earliest stages of capital and capitalism here, the downside of being in America that already feels tapped out.

Therefore as a principal: the idea is that, upwards growth is an idea? 

---

Towards what ends?

This is where I started to get interesting… Once you no longer really really need the wealth, but if it becomes more of like kind of a philosophical thing or a principle, then what?

For example, a happy thought… I could live like 1000 years in Cambodia and never run out of money without even digging into my principal. 

I think the poverty mindset that we get an America’s because once again… Everything is so expensive, everything then feels untenable?

The irony is even for the rich, life in America kind of sucks. For example, even for the super rich, most people do not have full-time nannies, or full-time living in with them?

I think if you’re wealthy, at best you might have like a cleaner who comes in pretty frequently and cleans up. But ideas of like having a private driver or stuff like that, a non-concept in America.

Thinking Asian 

Also what I like about here is that when it comes to labor, cheap labor, the standard worker, there is not a strange sense of indignation that you get from people in the states. For example that American mentality is that “this work is beneath me“, But here in Cambodia… None of that. Everyone is happy grateful, and far more joyful!

Even the sense of optimism and striving here, much more positive. Everyone certainly wants a better living condition, but it’s not in this angsty way that you feel like in America. 

So now what?

So now, assuming that you live in a happy optimistic place, then what?

For myself… Then it comes down to pioneering and experimenting with new modes of innovation. Autotelic innovation — creating new things and innovating for the sake of it? Rather than having to innovate in order to earn more money or whatever? 

ERIC

---

Things on my plate

1. Revamping arsbeta.com: perhaps with the assistance of ChatGPT, and Grok for the coding stuff?
2. Getting back into social media, specifically the blue check paid premium X — I very much like the ethics of a paid social media service, no hidden catches.
3. Building an X bot, in the voice of ERIC KIM

ChatGPT composition checker

One thing I encourage you to check out and experiment and play with is this ChatGPT bot I made, called “composition checker”. I’m pretty sure… It has like over 1000+ conversations so I think it’s assigned that having some sort of AI Chatbot that can help you get instant feedback on your photos how to improve, this is a good idea.

Also something that I’m kind of working right now towards is heat map searching and mapping for images. This will be a new arbeta.com function I’m going to try to add. 

Now what?

You got Grok, and ChatGPT pay… Infinite opportunities here?

ERIC

---

BLOG, START HERE

**

Choose audacity

The closing thought:

When in doubt, become more hard-core, audacious, reckless?

ERIC

---

Get (human) feedback on your photos

Upload your best photos to Arsbeta.com >

---

BOOKS

---

Think primal.

I want to live in cyberspace?

Can you live in cyberspace?

Rules > Rulers

.

Unable to get a bank account?

.

Privacy?

.

Competitive check

True digital gold?

.

Bitcoin is Spartan Money?

Dionysian Money

Bitcoin is John Wick Money

.

Never stop learning about bitcoin

Charging is vibrations?

Bitcoin is the new photography?

Bitcoin is the new Kodak?

The Future of X

Global utility

Your real estate in Los Angeles … you can’t suck utility out of it right now?

Complementary, not antagonistic.

Not everything needs to last forever?

So a big thing; life is a femoral, you don’t live forever. Bitcoin will last forever but your own personal life will not.

As a consequence, realizing that your own personal life is fine night is typically a good idea. But also to invest your energies towards the future, future generations that will outlive you is a very noble idea.

your kids kids kids

So big thought I’ve been having at least in terms of building the family bitcoin treasury for future generations, I almost have like zero interest in presently using our family treasury towards myself, besides simple stuff like purchasing weightlifting equipment, weights etc. And also I guess the upside is  that the barbell and weights that I buy today, Seneca could use it as he becomes a teenager, and one day he might be able to even pass down these weights to his kids and their kids.

The opposite of selfish?

You only live for yourself and the only thing about yourself your own well-being, using your own money for yourself… Your own lifestyle, it’s very selfish. The tricky thing here is that selfish doesn’t mean evil, it often just means shortsighted. 

Also the big realization is that concern for your kids and your family is different than concern for this ambiguous “world”, the way you treat your own family should be very very different than the way you conceive of random other families or kids.

So for example, thinking about money inheritance and capital, a very very simple precept that I might be able to give to Seneca:

Never sell the family bitcoin 

If we think of bitcoin as the new perfect digital capital, it is like saying that you own a hotel or prime real estate on fifth Avenue in Manhattan, on the main island in New York City, to sell a portion of that to purchase some silly thing.

The wisdom of every single wealthy family on the planet is simple: you never sell the property, but rather, you use it to leverage and lever up, and what you actually do is your leverage your capital – like taking a mortgage or loan or using your property bitcoin or real estate as collateral, in order to continue to grow the family fortune. 

The fear of every bodybuilder 

So let me use a fun analogy, weightlifting and bodybuilders, or even powerlifters. The fear of every single person is losing muscle mass, losing weight, for also… Losing their one rep maximum lift.

Another one which also ties in finances — the fear of plateaus. 

For example, let us say that you accumulated and acquired a certain amount of bitcoin. This is great and wonderful, but once you hit a plateau in which you are no longer able to accumulate or acquire morbid, this becomes extremely annoying. And therefore, we will use our ingenuity in our creativity to devise of new ways in order to accumulate and acquire more bitcoin.

The same thing goes with money managers finances, investors… The goal should be towards infinity, rather than having a certain hard set amount. This is the genesis and the origin of human desire and capital. 

For example, the way that a lot of weightlifters are very shortsighted is that they have a certain number in mind, and then they strive with all of their might power and soul toward this lofty ball… But once they hit it, they then become complacent, and stop being creative.

I’ll get the example, my very very strong desire was to atlas lift 1000 pounds, but once I achieve that goal, I kind of lost a desire. And this is not a good thing. After fumbling around, tinkering, identifies of a new way I could lift even greater weight, with less strain, and with greater leverage, this genius idea of being able to use a weightlifting dip belt, to wrap it around the center of a barbell, to essentially transform the rack pull into a glorified hip lift,  and the thing which is quite amazing is that it is actually very very easy to lift weights when you have it around your hips. The only reason I don’t think more people do this is that a weightlifting hip belt machine is not available at most gyms, and is not mainstream. I know there is a Titan fitness machine for weightlifting with your hip belt, but I also think the problem is that because there are no weightlifting competitions in which you use a hip lifting belt, it is not standardize like a bench press a dead lift or a squat.

Don’t have a number in mind

The proper answer to what your number is, should be “more“.

One thing I like about considering the whole bitcoin economy, the whole world economy is that wealth in capital is infinite. Currently, you consider all of the world’s capital being around $900 trillion, and thinking half of it is for a long-term store of value, 450, trillion, Those are big numbers.

Even if you think about the whole world economy… Being $900 trillion, and even having the ambition of owning one percent of it, this is a good goal.

How and why do we think so small?

I think the first big thing is that we must think global. The biggest problem that I think we face is that we think too insular.

For example, if you live in the states, Los Angeles America California or whatever… Realize that you actually live in a tiny bubble. Even though LA California is huge, still… If you think about it globally, you are just another insignificant dot on the world map.

Let me give you an example… I’m currently voice dictating these lines on my iPad Pro as I walk through the beautiful streets of Phnom Penh Cambodia.  once you make it to Asia Southeast Asia and beyond you will realize how much life sucks in America. Even for the rich.

For example we’re currently doing a short term stay at a lovely serviced luxury apartment here, only about $1400 a month, for light peak luxury. The largest floor to ceiling windows of all time, the best in front of staff, everything insanely brand new and wonderful.

And then I think about being back in America and LA… It is insane you’re buying these like $2 million homes which are built in the 1920s or the 1950s? Why would you spend so much money on decaying capital? 

Certainly there are many upsides of living in America, I think the biggest one is access to capital markets, access to the US stock exchange. For example one difficulty that I am having being here in Asia time is having to either stay up late or wake up at like 1 AM or 2 AM to execute certain orders on the stock exchange, in regards to MSTR stock, or more recently taking a leveraged margin option of purchasing MSTU, which is essentially an ETF which is designed to be 2X levered long MSTR, microstrategy (Strategy) stock.  And after having to wake up super super early in the middle of the night, having to stare at a shiny iPad Pro screen in the middle of the night, disturbing my sleep, feeling like crap the next day, even a funny thought:

All the money in the world is not worth losing a good nights sleep? 

Therefore I think a general idea is that it is better to be more greedy with your energy sleep and time and energy rather than being greedy for money? Because energy sleep and great physical health is worth 1 billion times more than all the money in the world. 

For example, you cannot like inject $1 million into your left butt cheek, hoping that it will give you a good night sleep. No, often the worries about finances will keep you up later tonight, ruin your sleep, and ruin your health.

Even look at Elon Musk, the economic goat, if you just give him a good look and a good stare, in his zoom calls and interviews or whatever… He looks like the worst health of his life. And Elon is notorious for having poor health because he thinks too much like a nerd, I don’t think he really understands the criticality of health. 

And also, I think everyone has his own mission critical mission for their lives. Elon’s goal is to take us to Mars and beyond, this is not my goal is it your goal therefore the way we conduct our lives should be different.

For me my primary concern is the thriving of Seneca, and also, thinking about his kids kids kids. Also for the health of my mom and Cindy, my whole immediate family.

What should I not be concerned about? 

I called this ERIC KIM‘s razor, — to ruthlessly prune away all distractions.

Let me give you an example, I have made like 100,000 times more money by just investing in bitcoin, MSTR stock, and just staying focused, rather than wasting time on text messages, email, or social media.

And I think this is a big thought: in the last like 15 years, there has practically been no financially lucrative opportunities that have ever magically come to me through my email inbox. Therefore ironically enough… I think the secret of becoming richer and wealth you’re making more money is via negativa; not using your email inbox?  

Only news now I consume is Twitter X, anything related to bitcoin. This includes following at @saylor, BTC archive, documenting bitcoin ,,, is where I get like 99.9% of my signal. The rest comes from my morning walks, Zen out, letting my mind go follow, thinking by myself for myself on myself.

a non-material existence

The thing which is always so shocking to me is the second that I settle into life when I am in Asia, I become like 1 trillion times more zen. For example, no more silly cravings for silly vehicles, possessions and stuff, no more desires for Amazon prime or online shopping or purchasing stuff. Rather, a greater focus towards thinking, pursuing creative capital, empowering ideas and thoughts? 

---

Why don’t you own Bitcoin?

The worlds first digital commodity 

We’re going to own it, not sell it ,,, get as much of it as we can!

.

Progressive or *regressive*?

Nuclear weapons, ships, airplanes 

Overcome your fears 

How to conquer your fears or bitcoin 

.

Take everyone along 

.

One jolt?

Go far, go together … go fast go alone 

.

We don’t have enough –> obvious!

$450T long term capital in the world ,,, 20th century bonds & equity & 20th century art and collectibles 

A $450T opportunity?

$200T, beyond ,,, 2000T$ Bitcoin network?

.

Enrich you 

Capital from the 20th century , warehouse in New Jersey … 20 years, just sell it and buy bitcoin 

.

Trillions of dollars in value. 

Buy , allow passage of time to enrich you 

Don’t buy, $80T and owned or controlled the network?

Manifest destiny, Thomas Jefferson –> buy Louisiana . Didn’t have the money 

Keep going west 

Texas, California …

.

“Responsible for not taking risk”

.

“The normie”

It will live in cyberspace 

Million times a second more efficiency 

.

80% of USA, for $40M  

You don’t want your worst 

5M bitcoin, 25% of the network 

.

The most profound opportunity of the century 

Money there for the taking! ***

America was a youthful country, youthful family –> there for the taking! 

Sovereign money 

.

I’m sensitive to the cold 

.

The most powerful idea in the world!

.

Triumph of natural law > Artificial law ***

Natural — what is natural will and shall happen 

Artificial law 

.

Inject virtue & natural law, respect for property rights, freedom and balance into the US government 

Made more virtuous, healthier, more rational ***

.

Banks would be more rational, ethical, secure, better actors 

Digital assets strategy 

.

The digital token, utility. 

.

100x demand 

Big winners, US dollar & issuers 

.

Export trillions of dollars of our securities to the world 

Currency, security, token, commodities –> $100T value created through innovation 

.

400,000 companies can raise capital –> create token!

.

ERIC TOKEN –> 

STREETTOGS token?

–> composition checker token?

Token for your time,,, life as an arcade?

.

Millions of millions of tokens circulating 

Digital Assets Framework written into law 

.

Cambrian explosion 

All the entrepreneurs and capital comes to the US

.

Every single day, learning something new about Bitcoin!

Never will complete understand it ,,, mysteries of the future 

.

UPSIZING

STRATEGY IS WINNING

.

Make your money work for you –> path to wealth 

Path to value creation 

Make your balance sheet work for you 

–> think of myself as a company?

.

60x growth, balance sheet in 5 years –> .7B to $42B in Bitcoin 

.

Come up with some creative ideas!

.

Follow your gut 

.

$300T in fixed income market, I want 1% of it –> $3T

FOCUS.

.

Cheap goods from China are not the American dream

“Let them eat flatscreens” is not the dream!

Let them eat iPhones is not the American dream!

.

Outside the self help bubble 

.

What do we *really* need?

Growth rate -> ability to raise capital 

.

$6B of capital 

.

$4B in capital, $18B in capital, $5.2B of capital raise 

$300T , fixed income … $200B of capital raise easy 

Keep growing 20% a year!

Growth rate –> Bitcoin growth rate, 60%, 95% each year by levering ,,, 

$50B company, raising 30% a year 

We aren’t going to stop! 

Least risky –> sell $10B or more of fixed income preferred … convertible bond market , de-lever with equity 

Go as fast as the capital markets allow us!

.

Open and close on a dime 

$15B of equity open, then close?

.

Open, then close … 

Proprietary  fixed income etf , STRF … strife 

.

Investment grade, 42x over collateralized 

I love this shit!

Video

The philosophy of becoming a bull:

First, ideally you would want the physiology of a bull. Big balls, ready to charge.

Funny thought: to become more like a bull, consume more bulls, aka steaks cows beef? Auction. Feast like the ancient Greeks and the ancient heroes of the Iliad; Hectacombs on hectacombs on hectacombs!

nobody has lost money on the bitcoin standard if you simply help for four years

I think being and becoming a role is ignoring short-term noise, thinking about durability longevity, thinking insanely far into the future .

For example, think about all these pessimists when they thought about Amazon in the early days, or even Tesla in the early days, when the price to earnings ratio was way off. Now it seems like the obvious bet.

I think the biggest thing that people forget about Jeff Bezos and why he was such a great leader is that he thought really really far ahead, at least 30 years into the future.

What that then means is that if you want to become a true bull … You want to have iron balls, for at least the next 30 years?

The most quickly to adapt to change

The most quickly adaptable to change:

---

Change is an interesting idea. Technically, all is changed. Even if you don’t want to change, you almost cannot help but change.

For example, consider that like literally every five seconds, something in your body is changing. I don’t know too much about the biology, but I’m quite certain that like probably 1 million 1 trillion times a day, the chemicals electrical circuits, blood, hormones, molecules in our body is constantly changing.

The funny thing is as long as you’re alive and breathing, even if you don’t force it, this is what naturally happens. For example, you don’t need to force change, or resist change, it just happens. 

The Bitcoin thought

So it seems pretty self evident at this point, the bitcoin standard, all bitcoin everything is the wisest idea. For example, the most logical strategy right now is that for your family savings, your family award test, it should be like 100% bitcoin. Bitcoin is the new high-yield savings account, 60% a year.

Then, if you want to hyper charge your investing and your investments, or even thinking really big for your Roth IRA or your 401K, then what it seems then is Strategy, MSTR (the stock) is the way. I think what I like about having like 100% of our Roth IRA in strategy MSTR is that I’m like a quadrillion times certain that by the time I retire at 65, or become 65, I’m like 37 now… In 30 years I’m like 1000% certain it will be up. By a lot.

Game theory

So I recently watched a presentation that the “Fiatello” guy did for Strategy, and he mentions game theory. And also… Watching the Dylan LeClair interview for bitcoin treasuries, Dylan also talks about game theory.

The general idea is that on a long enough time span, if then what Cynthia Lummis says,  the US dollar is actually designed and engineered to inflate  buy 2 to 3% a year, although in reality it’s probably more like 15% a year. I think rather than looking at government statistics, just look at the price of eggs and beef.

Kind of a unrelated note, but there is currently an egg crisis happening in LA, because of some sort of chickenpox or something. Anyways, like literally overnight 99.9% of the egg supply was wiped out due to potential salmonella poisoning, I don’t even think you can even get eggs at Costco right now. There is also currently an egg ration at Trader Joe’s, only one pack per family per visit.

Anyways, this becomes interesting to me because if you think about a world of imperfect money, or things which are engineered to fail, or you think about things which are engineered to win,  if you think about this in a long enough time span, 10 2030 years 50 years 100 years etc.… 300 years from now, I think 300 years from now is a good time span because you can at least think about your kids kids kids, what is going to win?

21 million coins, hard cap forever… This is so fascinating.

Flywheel

So an interesting idea that Michael Saylor gives is this idea of strategy being like a huge flywheel. For example if you just take like a 1 pound weight and you spin it quickly, it is an interesting child’s toy. But if you turn that into 100,000 ton Stainless steel wrecking ball, and then you start to rotated at 10,000 RPM, it becomes a lethal war machine.

Turbo lag

So one thing that I have always been fascinated with is turbochargers. In fact, my dream as a 16-year-old was to turbocharge my 1991 Sentra SE-R, which by stock is powered by the formidable SR20DE engine.,, so when you turbocharge it it would become a SR20DE-T engine —

But what is really fascinating about a turbo charger is this issue of physics, the turbo lag. What a turbo lag is is when you stomp on the pedal, there is a short delay before it goes into full speed. What that then means is that in order to achieve higher high speed of velocity, You sacrifice a short term throttle response for a longer term gain.

For example think about quarter mile times. If you have a turbo charged car, your 0 to 60 speed is much slower, however your quarter mile speed is much quicker.

What do you want?

I think the quarter miles is probably a better indicator of performance than the 0 to 60 speed.  but also, none of these are probably a good marker because races are not linear —  typically a real race car goes through turns and winds, ups and downs, etc.  Certainly there are drag races, but still, at the end of the day the synthetic measures of performance are really not that necessary.

So if you think that you are a nation or a nation state, once again thinking about short term performance is not a good one. Why? A nation nation state should at least be thinking 300 or 1000 years from now.

Why so long into the future? Well simply because I think a nation or a nation state, what we truly desire is to last forever. Ideally, the United States of America would be around forever into perpetuity, well at least another thousand or 2000 years. Sooner or later at least in terms of like 100 billion years into the future, certainly we are going to go extinct sooner or later, but ideally we could strive to last longer.

Longevity durability is the goal 

Switching up my philosophy on fitness, I’m really into this idea of outdoor fitness. The general idea is that life is made for outside, not the indoor gymnasium.  as a consequence, our life decisions and our training should simply be done in such a manner that we train for outdoors, we live outdoors, we think outdoors. 24 seven 365 outdoor military training.

I think the reason why a lot of these aspiring bodybuilder or weightlifters or powerlifters, they fail because by taking steroids they essentially not only shrink their balls, but they increase their short term performance, for the sake of becoming impotent and not being able to bear children or fruit even beyond their 40s and 50s. My personal ideal is to have a six pack at the age of 80, or 85, and my goal is to also keep lifting weights until I die. I probably will not be able to lift 1000 pounds when I am 120 years old, but still… Aiming for longevity is great. Because even if you miss the mark, at least you can still get close.

Nothing is meant to last forever

Certainly nothing is meant to last forever, but that doesn’t mean that we cannot strive.

I think infinite durability is and should be the goal.  Therefore some new ways in which I am trying to approach fitness is toward this holy Grail;

Simple thoughts:

1. Stretching warming up, flexibility and ligament bone tendon strength and mobility is the bedrock and foundation of all fitness. And actually in fact, if you want to lift 20% more weight, optimizing for these factors is supreme.
2. Think about even distribution, and also, exercises which encourage movement walking, on your own two legs. Yoke walk,yoke lift, atlas lift, Farmer’s carry, neutral grip dead lift trap bar hex bar, neutral grip rack pull. For a long time I’ve focused on mixed grip for my dead lift in right pool, but now that I am starting to get in 1000 pound territory, maybe the wise thing is to get some straps for me to focus on pulling neutral grip, in order to prevent myself from putting too much strain and pressure on one knee, which for me happens to my right side, when I’m going very very heavy.
3. Ultimately walking is the number one goal. More recently, I am so inspired by Seneca, who loves to take the bus and the metro everywhere. and ultimately when push comes to shove, simply having the strength to carry Seneca, he’s 41 pounds now, with the heavy backpack full of books, to and from the Metro stop is a new goal.

Clothes

Also in terms of clothing, certainly nothing is meant to last forever. But because… Somethings are just too fragile, like for example I’ve gone through like at least 10 pairs of long 100% merino wool leggings, and honestly I’m just tired of continually purchasing new ones. Even though I could afford it.

And also, a random other… I think this thought also applies to cars vehicles and also your beloved iPhone. Think about it… The iPhone is engineered to only be really really good for a year or two. If you just think about this from a macro perspective, Not only is it impossible for an iPhone to last you 50 years, or even more… There is no smart phone which can actually improve overtime.  certainly there are certain things like software upgrades, which do improve your phone, but from a hardware physics perspective, impossible.

Also, in terms of a car or a vehicle, durability is your best bet. For example… Pride in my 2010 Prius, this thing will last me like 1,000,000 miles. It does not get better overtime, but it certainly doesn’t get outdated that quickly. Even what I love about the model is that there is no stupid touchscreen, Which means there is fewer distractions for me on the road.

Even if you think a lot about these modern cars, that have all touchscreen, the big issue here is that the touchscreen technology even if you get the newest model of the car is already outdated! If your screen is not up to part with the latest iPad Pro it sucks.

Even I am so shocked with Tesla cars come out how quickly they get outdated. Like for example the new new Tesla model Y that looks like a baby cyber truck, it already looks like at least 20 times better than the current Tesla model Y. As a consequence, There is like zero to little incentive at least for me to buy a Tesla because I know that it will get outdated so quickly.

I think the only logical strategy is to then only ever lease a Tesla because you know within three years it will get outdated and you won’t want the newest new version.

Or even better yet, take all that money that you would waste in the lease or financing and just put into bitcoin, or micro strategy stock, which will be accretive, not dilutive. 

I think then from a simple strategy, it seems that at least for iPhones, just find the simplest cheapest model is best. For example the new iPhone E that came out ,,, E for ERIC ha ha, certainly this is the new goat. And actually when I think about the progression of three lenses to two lenses to one lens, sublime simplification. The simplest is actually the most desirable. 

Simpler is superior

What I love about bitcoin is that you cannot simplify it any further. End of the road.

If you kept simplifying something and stripping away all the superfluous elements, at least in the digital realm, bitcoin is the only bet. Why? Pure digital energy, which has footprints in the physical realm, because you have to mine it with analog energy, but once it is mined, it exists in cyberspace forever.

Nothing is forever besides bitcoin. 

Expanding your time preference

Even a super annoying thing… Getting the newest iPad Pro M4 chip, it bends? Before going to Mexico, I shoved it in my backpack, over full with a lot of stuff, and it actually structurally bent the iPad Pro, and now, it has this insanely annoying permanent curve and Bend? I guess the upside of this happening is that once again, the realization that nothing is meant to last forever.  Not only that but nothing is engineered to last forever , besides bitcoin. 

So more recently inspired by Cindy, I’ve been reading more books by Thich Nhat Hanh, these wonderful little Zen meditation books made from parallax press in Berkeley.

Anyways, two of my favorite books are “how to see” as well as “how to walk.” For me, those two things make up like 80% of my being. My passion of seeing, photography, and the visual arts,  as well as walking, the source and insight of all my intelligence.

Why?

The reason why I quit the news, and don’t follow any news is because honestly, it is all based on false perceptions and false reality.

For example, people seem to lack the ability to have subtlety and nuance. For example, it is much easier to paint somebody as left right or even moderate… Rather than allowing people complexity specialty and nuance.

For example, things that kind of confuse people; to be a left-wing liberal Democrat, yet be pro Donald Trump? Or, the idea of being a right wing conservative Republican, yet being anti guns. or being pro gay and lesbian and bisexual rights, yet being anti transgender hormonal injections.

Complexity.

Humans are complex, and we put them into bubbles. And also, it seems that a lot of our distress and suffering or annoyance is come when we spend too much time thinking about other people. I have an interesting ethical idea;

Modern day society teaches us that it is virtuous to care about the emotions the feelings and the well-beings of others.  Get this over obsession with other people is actually what causes the seeds of ignorance and mis conception.

Therefore, my antidote is to instead, become more self-centered, more self focused, and more autistic. 

---

Even seeking to understand yourself takes too much time 

Know yourself, know thyself. 

In our short lives, it is already almost too much to seek or to strive to understand yourself. Let alone others.

For example, things which are a waste of time; man seeking to understand woman, and also… Woman seeking to understand man. Because our hormones are like at least 100,000 times different, the one will never understand the other. But instead, the more constructive thing is to understand the reality that we are different, and to strive to work to operate in the same direction.

Blue angels philosophy

A random thing that I watched, one of the coolest things I’ve seen, certainly cooler than top gun because it is actually real, is watching the blue Angels. There are great new IMAX 3-D film that just was shown at the California science center which I had the privilege of watching.

The general idea is that you take the best of the best, the six top elite pilots from the entire Navy Air Force, can you teach them to fly as one.

There are two remarkable formation; the first is the diamond, in which there are four fighter jets, in a perfect diamond shape, nearly knows to nose, in the front, left and right and the rear.

Then the final formation, the perfect Delta. When you have two solo fighter jets number five and six, finish up the rear left and the rear right, and it gets so so close like 6 to 12 inches apart, and it is like they are a perfect spade flying together.

They practice like 12-18 hours a day, 223 flights today, for like six months straight. And they are certainly at a point in which they have like a mind met, they’re 120% faithful of one another. And this is critical because they are flying so close together, even one small movement will mean the death of potentially one or two pilots, or all seven. I think there’s been a total of 26 blue angel deaths in their career.

Family delta force

Back in Providence when I was working out at the local park, and I met some military guys, and asking them who the toughest were, he said Delta force. So currently the living situation I have at the crib is me Cindy and Seneca, that is four of us in total.

I suppose I am at the front, Cindy is at the rear, and Seneca and my mom on the left and right. Later we will figure out how to add number five and six.

Anyways, the goal is for us to fly together as one unit in the same direction. And misconceptions misperceptions etc.,  could actually lead to death.

Once again, you’re kind of need to must have the visual of all fighter jets, stacked on top of each other, and literally as a spectator you hold your breath, because even the smallest movement will mean that for the whole formation.

And once again, you gotta practice like 12-18 hours a day, no interruption, hard-core full, constant drilling and practice. Also, I think this is where the military interest is that technically at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter and it may be seen as a “waste of time”, or resources. Because there’s about like 155 full-time staff who make this all possible as well.

And this is what I personally find fascinating; the idea is that when you take a bunch of people and have them commit to one singular goal, even though it may seem like a waste of time and resources, amazing things can happen.

Your own personal training

Also another thought is that what we tend to be missing from modern day life, especially once you finish high school and college, is that it is difficult to find a tribe, or better yet be a leader. In modern day life, once you hit your 20s mid 20s late 20s, 30s 40s etc.… Social structures fall apart. There is no more union of society because we are all seen as a bunch of individuals.

But what is the problem? When you have a bunch of people acting at solo individuals, rather than considering the fact that they are in fact, all part of the same Delta formation, people become strange, detached, lack of sense of purpose and direction? Does this insipidus March towards Consumerism, individualism via superficial fashion options, and superficial forms of differentiation.

But what if instead of trying to strive to become more apart, the goal is actually to become more collective, … kind of like think of King Leonidas in his 300? 

Why has collectivism fallen apart?

Good question; it seems natural that to be together makes sense. Why then has it become an ethos that everyone seeks to try to go solo?

I think in terms of consumerism, it is more profitable this way. If everyone is trying to become their own rockstar on social media, certainly this will feed the algorithm and the monetization of the company. And the way that the news works is that the more division and conflict and clicks you get, the more money is being made.

Therefore if you think about it from structural level, there is no financial incentive to promote peace reconciliation and mutual understanding, and mutual flourishing. 

Happier

For example, even though I don’t go to the gym anymore, looking back… It’s a little bit weird that all these guys are trying to compete with one another, once again… Assuming that we were all alpha males, we were all part of the same Spartan 300, and that we are all training together to fight on the million Persians, against King Xerxes, shouldn’t the general idea be that we are all rooting one another along?

Winning together?

Once again, thinking that we are all a unified friend, rather than antagonists?

And this is a hard thing with diplomacy; easy to paint good guys and bad guys, but doesn’t everyone want mutual peace, cease-fires, and no more killing?

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So in modern day life, it looks like the primary way that these skinny fat loser cowards can inflict great pain and or death is through guns bullets etc.

I feel like back in the day, maybe an ancient Greek times, things were a little bit more clear and better;

You had your spear your sword, your shield, nothing else.

Spartans have short swords so we can get close to the enemy.

Also the biggest issue is now, many cowards bark from afar, and never settle arguments up close and personal. For example, more recently I’ve started confronting a bunch of assholes who smoking in public, asking them to not smoke in a public place, and all these Shorty guys, Fake alpha males try to punk on me?

Anyways, confronting an issue, up close and personal, like literally in the flesh face-to-face, I think is the way.

The issues with technology is that it puts on some sort of silver mask on ourselves.  For example, easy to have an adrenaline rush or anxiety when you have to confront your boss with an email, or some sort of message. A lot less of an issue when you actually talk to them face-to-face, standing up outside?

Nobody is the bad guy.

I think also a great thought is that actually at the end of the day nobody is a bad guy.

I think also big problem here is that we tried to paint an arrow on the “bad guy“, but the truth is, the truth is far more complex. You cannot paint a single figure as a bad guy, not Vladimir Putin, not Elon Musk, Not Jeff Bezos, not even Donald Trump.

Scapegoat fallacy

Also when we have certain issues in our lives, it is very simple to try to escape somebody, whether it be before our misery in our own lives, or even for our happiness. Typically there is not one single cause of pain or joy in our lives.

So I think, rather than scapegoating anything or anyone, far more wise to stay focused, and concentrate on a deeper “truthy” perception of the world, rather than false views?

Bulletproof body bulletproof mind

A big thought I have is that actually, when we are in physiological pain, bodily pain when it comes to certain things in our body, we project that anger onto others.

For example, I kind of tweaked my knee in a bad way a few days ago, and last night over dinner, I kind of strangely snapped at Cindy, for no good reason?

Even me looking back at it, very very uncommon and bizarre. So therefore, maybe the intelligent line of thinking is maybe, the strange way in which I reacted and responded to seemingly trivial issue, is it because I was overly sensitive because of some sort of over sensitive pain receptors in my body? 

Bulletproof vest

Anyways, a big thing that I think about a lot and consider is becoming bulletproof. From a spartan philosophy, the general idea is if somebody shoots a bullet at you, and even intends harm, the general idea is that the bullet will ricochet off and not cause you pain. Or maybe you’ll feel a little bit of pain, simply from the impact of the bullet, but, it will not penetrate to and do real damage upon you?

Shield up!

 a random thought about Captain America, very very interesting that Captain America doesn’t really have a weapon per se; he only has a shield. The reason why I think this is so interesting is that technically, the best way to approach life is through armor and defense?

For example, you don’t need to attack nobody, but, you must be able to defend against other people.

Let us remind ourselves that it is no longer called the ministry of war, it is called the Department of defense. Also if you think on a soccer or football team, what is the most important player? The goalie. Assuming that you have an impregnable goalie, technically, the other team can never win, at worst a draw?

Maybe even if we think about foreign conflicts, maybe the idea is that we don’t need to overpower the other side, but simply be so strong do you have so much defense that simply the other side cannot win, and at worse, will subside into a draw?

No contest

From a stoic perceptive, I think the best way you could respond to an annoyance or stuff is through ignorance, ignoring, and also delaying reaction?

Silence is our armor.

For example whenever I hear stuff that I find strange or annoying or unnerving, I found that the best response is to just not respond to it, do not waste any long capacity or larynx muscles on it?

The secret to winning is not losing

For example, the secret to becoming rich as simple; just don’t go broke. Even 1000 X thought I had the other day was every dollar saved could be worth $1000 in the future? Assuming you’re on the bitcoin standard.

Also, being a weightlifter, power lifter, hype lifter whatever,  or even bodybuilder, actually… I think 99% of the equation is simply not getting injured. My primary critique of weightlifters and fitness enthusiast is that we should dedicate maybe like 90% of our time towards injury prevention, doing dynamic warm-ups and exercises that strengthen our joints and ligaments, and flexibility, the general idea is that we have to become like bamboo; the strength of bamboo is in her Flexibility? Also funny note, flexible, flexibility… Is the same word as flex. Isn’t it funny that yogis can flex how flexible they are by doing these funny backflip moves and turning themselves into pretzels, or Gumby, yet a bodybuilder is not able to flex his muscles proudly in public, without a feeling of shame?

Ideas

The first general idea I have a simple: in order to lift 20% more weight, you must actually strengthen your hips joints and ligaments?

For example, recalling my journey to lifting 1000 pounds at the gym, I would literally spend like at least 30% of my workout time on doing yoga hip mobility stuff? Another thought: mobility is just micro strength? 

Certainly the human body is not like a gasoline engine, but I think typically, if you have some sort of hot rod or something, before doing the quarter mile or testing your 0 to 60 speed, typically of what you’re supposed to do is you’re supposed to warm up your engine, do a few test laps, and heat up your engine before going full throttle?

Long-term gains

So if you have the goal of just becoming super super buff and jacked, in your 20s and 30s, and then becoming a cripple for the rest of your life like Ronnie Coleman, or you have the option of having a six pack and a phenomenal physique until you’re 120, Which option would you take? Certainly the second. Yet why is it that most fools take the first route by taking steroids and other weird stuff?

I think the prime issue is that on social media, it is impossible to display longevity. For example, visually you cannot really represent longevity and durability, and also… Longevity and durability is not very sexy. 

For example, nobody is going to brag on social media that they’re Prius plug-in prime can drive them like 1,000,000 miles, nobody cares. It is far more impressive to show off your 0 to 60 drag speed races.

And once again, here is where we must act a little bit more critical, ask yourselves at the end of the day… Does it really even matter? 

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Other thoughts

Projectiles are for pussies.

Even in Spartan times, the Spartans would make fun of the archers, knowing that real men did not hide behind armored walls,  flinging projectiles.

Similarly speaking, I think the card is in modern day times is even worse than hiding behind some sort of armored castle wall, people hide behind like three levels of cowardice; first, anonymity, via fake pseudonyms on the Internet in which you don’t expose anything, second, Separation of the physical self, once again… I feel like 99.99% of conflicts could be solved by having two humans in the flesh, standing next to each other talking it out? Or even better… Putting them together in some sort of beautiful nature area, having them go on a walk, and forcing them to just talk it out for about an hour? And even if nothing is resolved after the hour… Certainly both parties will feel a little bit better?

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bulletproof soul

A tactical soul.

One of my favorite scenes in John Wick is when he goes to see the tailor, and the Taylor ask him what occasion it is for, and he gets his new suit and tie and suit jacket, and what type of materials he would desire and he said “tactical. “

As philosophers, the soul, the human soul, our soul is certainly the most critical things here. Is it possible to create a bulletproof soul?

Leonidas, King Leonidas, means lionhearted. To have the heart of a lion.

What is also kind of interesting to me when watching movie 300 is that the Spartans, are mostly bare? The only armor they have is their helmet, their shield, bronze armor for their shins their fore arms, but they have a bare chest?

Certainly this is more for bravado and movie flair, but still… The visual is fascinating to me?

Bulletproof vehicles

Certainly the cyber truck is still the goat here. Or maybe having like some sort of hybrid Toyota sequoia or something.

The only non-negotiable thing on the road is to not die in a car accident. Everything should be optimized around this. It is possible and preferable to be late, to be stuck more in traffic or whatever… Certainly these things have short term annoyances, but dying in a car accident or even worse having your spouse or kid dying in a car accident is a non-negotiable.

Sometimes when I’m stuck on La Cienega or the 405, I kind of now understand why so many people in LA desired some sort of high-powered SUV, or truck? It is kind of like protection. Like having a bulletproof vest but on the freeway?

I suppose the difference is that it is probably more of a perception thing; I really don’t know if you’re technically safer in a car crash if you’re an SUV or a truck versus being in a Toyota Prius. But the perception is people feel safer in larger vehicles?

I even read something super random from Roxanne gay, who wrote something that like when she was a child she was like sexually molested or something, and her psychological and physiological response was to become as big and fat as possible to simply protect herself from others and the outside world?

Even NASSIM TALEB, when he started to have a lot of anxiety about the outside world from other people and economists,  how he could not sleep even after chamomile tea, instead of hiring a bodyguard  decided to strive to actually become and look like a bodyguard? This is where I first discovered one rep Max lifting, the best way to turn yourself into your own personal bodyguard.

Even now, I’m starting to think, maybe the new eat those in approach I am working towards look and become or seem more like Security? Rather than seeming or looking like a civilian, to either look like a security guard, or better yet, police, or better yet, SWAT team, special weapons and tactics team, Even better, a navy seal door kicker, shout out to my friend Walter Magerison– the ultimate courage?

Door kicker

Do you remember when King Leonidas says this is Sparta and kicks the messenger into the hole, that infamous kick… Maybe that kind of door kicker should be the number one exercise we train for?

Even when I was a kid learning taekwondo, the forward kick, the Forward thrust kick , might be the most effective kick to defend yourself against an enemy? The ultimate lever; doesn’t look super flashy, but is actually the most effective?

Sparring

Where to concentrate your energy power and force?

Still… The best way I think about one rep Max lifting is that it is concentration and meditation. For like 30 seconds before you attempt a new one repetition maximum lift, you cannot be distracted you must be 100% focused. No audio no visual no distractions. It is pure transcendence.

A lot of these weirdos who take mushrooms or LSD or hallucinogens who seek some sort of out of body experience, or even seek intoxication through alcohol or marijuana, maybe we should just get into hype lifting and powerlifting instead?

Just log it.

Photography, our daily photography practice could also be considered another form of a photo log, of our lives?

A blog, a web blog, a video log, a Vlog, all of this is also simply forms of recording a log?

Captains log, even a bathroom log, is all forms of just adding marks to log things for the sake of it?

You don’t need a reason to log?

Even nowadays, whenever I send email newsletters or whatever, they are kind of more like essay logs, like some sort of random ideas that I am currently working through myself, and thinking that there’s even a 1% chance of utility for you, I send it to you? 

Maybe what courage is via negative, simply not being a coward, or not having fear?

A man who is fearless, somebody who is fearless… What would this look like?

How to subtract fear from your life

Conquering fear has always been kind of my number one preoccupation in life. Because I think… Maybe like 99% of fear that we got is simply predicated on false perceptions, or some sort of physical deficiency?

Simple prescriptions:

1. Throw your iPhone iPhone Pro into the trash: honestly I think 99% of stuff we ingest now from our mobile phones is fear porn; imagine if you could like voluntarily watch two girls one cup, or human centipede on loop, like 1000 times a day… Would you do it? Probably not. I even had a thought; if you have an issue with iPhone or smart phone addiction; maybe when you go home, just turn it off and lock it into the glove compartment of your car?
2. Second thought is maybe instead of owning an iPhone, iPhone Pro, just own an iPad Pro instead? Certainly we need a computer to thrive in today’s world, I think that structurally, having an iPad Pro encourages me to do more creative productive stuff like reviewing my photos, voice dictating essays, sending email newsletters etc., whereas an iPhone because it is so compact… Encourages more mindless scrolling?

Outside.

Very difficult to feel anxious when you are outdoors in a beautiful nature, with beautiful sunlight in your face, looking at nature. Or, if you are staring at a barbell with templates on each side… All of these other superficial issues in your life will fade away.

Trust in iron & steel

Steel & iron therapy — once again, daily weightlifting, could maybe get rid of at least 90% of the issues in our life?

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So kind of a bad philosophy that I have… After thinking about this for a long time, assuming there is wise and there is foolish, there is courageous and there is cowardly… It seems that the truth of the matter is then, assuming that most people are foolish, what that then means is that most people don’t know what is good for them.

For example, the fault of the Austrian economists like Murray Rothsbard etc is that they say that each individual is 100% rational agent, which means that the decisions that people made for themselves, is for their best interest, even though we made sneer at them for being foolish. 

OK then assuming that the majority is right, that then means that 80% of Americans who are obese and overfat is a good thing, that the Toyota Corolla is the best car on the planet, that Starbucks Frappuccino‘s are the best beverage, and that McDonald’s hamburgers are both the best food item in that McDonald’s is the most successful restaurant of all time. And that China mainland China because she has the highest sheer number of individuals, is the best nation.

Certainly we know this is not the case. The reality of the matter is that assuming that we are the new Spartans, King Leonidas and his 300… certainly better to be a spartan 300 than one of the million Persian slaves, and also, better to be a Sparta with her few inhabitants than Persia.

Visuals

In reading the politics by Aristotle, the good idea I have is… Thinking of this notion of being a philosopher king. The general idea is that almost all of the systems are bad.

For example, according to Aristotle democracy is bad because for the most part it is governed by a bunch of poor people, without much virtue because freeman Are the only men who could actually attend virtue, because they actually have leisure.

Certainly Aristotle knows that tyranny is bad.  but I think the difficult thing is that people kind of define tyranny in an imprecise manner… a tyrant is actually an individual in which all the power resides in one person. 

Oligarchies are bad because oligarchies only imply rank based on riches. 

Then what is the direction we head towards?

I’m King Leonidas 

I was recently re-watching the movie 300 on the plane, thinking of King Leonidas, as a child, not being thrown off the cliff, and then, in the winter with the wolf, no fear just a heightened sense of things – a similar feeling, right beyond the first and the last moment with King Xerxes, the final stand.

Obvious decisions are obvious

Typically, when I’m not 100% certain about a decision, I just put on my weight vest, and I go on a long walk.

Once you have come to your decision, obvious decisions are pretty obvious.

Maybe once you have reached your obvious decision, it is like casting your spear, with your form perfect, throwing it straight into the head of Xerxes.

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Once you throw the spear, don’t look back.

ERIC

RACK CITY

Engineer yourself