So the funny thought of the morning; it seems that a lot of us seek to “upgrade” our things; why not the opposite… to seek to “downgrade” our things?
The most manly phone?
So I had a very funny thought a few days ago… The question…
What is the most manly phone?
The reason why I think this is such an interesting thought is that because I think what a lot of us men are seeking through our devices, cars, watches accessories etc.… is seeking some sort of manliness, masculinity, a feeling of dominance. For example, why would you get a Richard Millie?
“Richard mill on the leather band” — PUSHA T
Totems of power
Looking back at it, I actually learned a lot of very useful things studying sociology as an undergraduate at UCLA. To me, sociology may be one of the greatest majors of all time, because it deals with society, human beings, people. It seems that a lot of things in modern day life or just sociological phenomenon.
For example, this nonsensical trend towards veganism, “plant-based diets”, etc. Where does this stem from? My personal thought is that it has to do with loss of religion. A lot of modern-day people, especially young people, no longer go to church, have a religion, etc. Therefore, what is our new religion? “Saving the planet“, “animal rights“, etc.
Therefore, I think this strange trend for young people preferring to have dogs over children is that it is a new pseudo religion. And also, people who think that eating meat is “bad for you”,… I think it also has to do with the fact that people are seeking some sort of salvation or virtuality Through their dietary and food consumptive behaviors.
For me, I tried to think about things more critically. Without all of this nonsensical, anemic ideals and fake ethics.
Why the iPhone SE may be the most mainly phone
My current thought and understanding is that the iPhone SE may currently be the most manly phone. Why? You could beat the shit out of it, literally and metaphorically, and you can live a more adventurous, greater life!
For example, I trust nobody who uses a case on their phone. Why? First of all aesthetically it looks so ugly. Secondly, it signals some sort of cowardice. Third, I think it’s signals that we just spend way too much money on phones. I think it is not good.
For example, if you’re like me, a typical “tech bro“, we probably spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about our phones, our devices, waiting for the newest Apple product, etc. Yet my personal thought is that rather than seeking to upgrade our phones, perhaps instead what we gotta do is upgrade how we eat (100% organ meat diet — beef liver, beef heart, beef kidney, beef intestines, bone marrow), how we lift weights, how we walk and live etc.
For example, I’m starting to think more and more… To spend $1500 on a phone is not a good use of our time nor money. Why? If we think about it from creative or productivity perspective, if you really really really really really really really really want to become more productive, you would probably just get like a Mac mini, a Mac studio, some sort of desktop computer, with an Uber ergonomic set up, standing desk, treadmill desk, Ernle monitor, track ball mouse, kinesis keyboard, etc. Even now with the brand new MacBook Pro which came out; I think it is a cowardly design. Apple is a bunch of cowards; after Joni I’ve left, why did they bring back the MagSafe thing? The green light is insanely annoying and distracting, especially when it is charging in your bedroom, and also… HDMI port? It is like the Nauvoo PCI port, it will get outdated so quickly. The same thing goes with SD cards; Apple has done compromised bad.
Even now, when I look at the new MacBook Pro, or any of the new MacBook Air laptops… It is starting to look more and more like an old Windows device. All of these ports which are not going to be future proof, and also, still my grade joy of the MacBook Pro touch bars; Seneca even figure it out how to open up GarageBand and he figure it out how to Use the drum machine on the touch bar! The MacBook Pro touch bar was so insanely innovative… And effectively Apple has discontinued it. Why? Once again… No vision for the future.
So where is the future going to be?
Personally speaking, definitely AI. ChatGPT, DALL-E, creating your own chat bots etc. For example, I just made two of my own chat bots, it literally only took me 30 seconds. This shit is bananas!
For example try out the new ZEN OF ERIC and also ERIC KIM BOT
Why does this matter?
My personal fight and anti-mentality is that I hate the boring, I hate the same same, I hate the generic, etc. My passion lies in innovation, thinking about the future, technology, etc. Ever since I was a kid, I was so fascinated and passionate about computers, and even now Seneca… It looks like he is teaching himself also how to type, use tach GPT and AI, at age 2 years, nine months old… She is a true prodigy. And what is a prodigy anyway? My personal thought is a prodigy is simply a kid with a attentive parents, and when you’re with your kid, you either turn off your phone, locked it into the glove compartment of your car, or put it away.
In fact, the best tip I have for parents, in order to become a “better” parent is this;
When you go to the park with your kid, just lock your phone in the glove compartment of your car, and just spend your time being 100% focused with your kid.
It is almost like Odysseus tying himself to the mast, or also… Filling his ears with beeswax. Or getting his men to tie him down. Why? Honestly, I think phones, smart phones, iPhones etc. is like crack cocaine for the mind. I might think that your phone might be worse than cocaine, heroin, etc.
In fact, the best way to truly thrive as a thinker is when you go on a walk, leave your phone at home, or if your phone is on you, just turn it off, totally off.
And what is the best “upgrade“, to go offline, think offline.
Offline Thinking
What is the ultimate privilege in today’s world? To be offline, metaphorical airplane mode all the time.
In fact, some of my best life epiphanies have happened and occurred when I was offline, in an airplane, in a cruise ship, etc. Essentially, anytime that I was not connected to the internet.
Interestingly enough, the old chief technology officer of the old company I used to work for, demand media, Byron Reese told me… he would often just jump on really really long international flights to get good writing done, because it forced him to not be connected to the internet.
In fact, being off-line in today’s world is ultimate privilege and luxury.
How do you know if somebody is very successful or not? If they don’t have a phone, or a phone number. The more difficult it is to contact somebody the more high profile they are.
For example, a simple thought I have is don’t publicly put your email address on your contact here page on your website. I think true high profile individuals cannot be contacted through simple measures. And actually ironically enough, I’ve discovered… the more difficult you make yourself to contact, the more desirable you become.
In fact, when I was living in Vietnam in 2017, got rid of my phone, and lived off the grid and didn’t check your email or use email for about two years… interestingly enough I would have people just attend my workshops just in order to connect with me.
How to think offline
A very simple way to do this is when you’re out and about, leave your phone at home, and just take along your iPad Pro to think. Don’t get a data plan. What is the downside of a data plan? First of all, it seems that all data plans, all 5G or 4G cellular data Internet connections on your phone suck. For example, my extreme frustration with T-Mobile, spectrum… The internet connection sucks. If I had to sign up for my own phone service I would just get Verizon.
Thinking internationally?
Also another good way to think different is to go international. Example, even recently, the time that I had in Cambodia, Phnom Penh very formative to my thinking. It forced me to think outside of the box, and true avoid typical ways of thinking, the often myopic American way.
For example, even a very simple simple approach was to think in kilograms instead of pounds. This helped me get outside of my head, when attempting to lift new personal records in my deadlift and squat.
Also, one thing I loved about the gym I went in Phnom Penh, monkifit, was that for the most part, it was always practically empty. Therefore as a consequence, I really only did weightlifting or did things which I personally care for, instead of trying to low-key impress other people.
In fact, even more recently at my old gym, I actually really fucked up my wrist bad when trying to stunt on other people by doing a very heavy floor bench press. Trying to stunt, impress, or flex on other people actually led to my own personal demise.
Lesson:
Whenever you do anything to try to impress others, please others, or stunt on others, the personal outcome for you will be very very bad.
Why think different?
My personal thought is that perhaps the greatest joy is how unorthodox your thinking may be. Where does unorthodox thinking come from?
My first thought is that it comes from the human body. We cannot have interesting unique thoughts if we do not have a great body, great muscles, etc.
Also, I think you owe it to mankind. I think you were meant to change the world, and the way you could change the world is through challenging the status quo and the traditional way things are done.
Like Gandhi said, become the change you wish you see manifested in the world.
Why change the world?
I personally find it interesting idea to change the world because perhaps this is where our willpower comes from. Our desire to change the world, to “fuck shit up”.
For example, the funny notion of breaking the internet. I broke the Internet when I lifted the 330 pound golden dumbbells at the golden Venice Beach easily, and also more recently… When I atlas lifted 1000 pounds, which is ten plates and maybe a 25 on each side.
The grandeur of the human body
“Conspiracy theorists screaming illuminati, they cannot imagine this much skill inside a human body. He 6 2, how he fit inside a new Bugatti? Ha ha fuck it you got me.” – JAY Z
Whether we like it or not, all of our power, steel, etc. is derived from our human body. For example, whenever you look at an artist, a writer, I thinker, the philosopher, or academic… You must meet them in the flesh. Look at what they look like in real life. Observe their body fat percentage, the complexion of their skin, whether they actually get any natural sunlight or not, if they have a tan or not, if they lift weights, how tall or short they are, how fat or muscular they are etc.
For example, I would put zero faith in the writing or thoughts of a skinny fat, or an obese man who talks about masculinity, or weightlifting or fitness matters.
Similarly speaking, I put zero faith in all of these loser Reddit people, who try to validate their own self-worth through how good their “form“ is. Ultimately nobody cares about your form. And actually I discovered… When people see how much I could lift, and how much more to lift in them, they try to critique my form, and they actually want to see me get hurt. Why? It is bad or hurts their ego when they see that I am much stronger, taller, more handsome, and more dominant than them.
Even the other day, I was walking by this upscale hotel parking lot, and some random guy, wearing a flashy outfit, kind of a slick handsome look, try to make fun of me by saying “what is this? No shirt Thursdays”? Essentially he was trying to tease or bully me because he felt insecure that I was so much more muscular and confident than him. Now that my testosterone is so high, I was able to troll him back, and put him back in his spot.
No more internet
OK guys, I’m moving forward, that just put zero faith on the Internet. Why? All these people on Reddit… Do you really know whether they are ChatGPT bought or not? Or, they could just be real life human beings using ChatGPT to generate some sort of ideas.
Like the famous cartoon said “on the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.”
Even in ready player one, the main character’s best friend, who he thought was a guy all along… was actually a girl.
Also the two Japanese brothers, were just 11-year-old kids.
So now what?
My very very very very practical and pragmatic thought is let us assume that you have a normal day job, once you go home, just turn your phone off. All the way off. Do the iPhone secret handshake, which is volume up, volume down, side power button hold. In fact I think the most insidious thing that Apple did from a design perspective, is that they turned the power button , the button on the top right corner, to be a Siri button. I think the mentality behind the decision was this:
Nobody ever turns off their phone anyways, and in the evenings, we just charge it overnight… And the issue is that Siri is great but nobody is using it… Why don’t we try to just “nudge” people using Siri more by turning the power button into a Siri button?
Bad idea. Apple, if you got true huevos, and you really want to “help humanity“, turn the power button back into a power button. Or at least give people an option. That if you click and hold the power button in the top right corner for a few seconds, Maybe you could put a prompt which asks whether you want to make it an on off switch, or whether you want it to be a Siri button.
Essentially make it simple enough that your mom knows how to do it. For example, can you try explaining to your mom how to turn off their iPhone?
Downgrade?
How do you know if you are truly self owned or not? If you could face your iPhone face down, scratch it up, let your kid play with it and throw it around, with zero care or concern. The biggest upside of having a cheap iPhone SE is that I literally have zero concerns or qualms about my phone.
Only issue that I’m personally having is that when I use my iPhone SE for Google maps to navigate somewhere when I’m driving… Often times the screen goes dim, in order to prevent it from overheating or whatever.
Thinking about your devices and stuff
So moving into my new apartment, setting up the new home Wi-Fi, it seriously sucks. Spectrum sucks, even the most expensive plan, the fake gigabit plan.
A simple workaround is I have just been exporting the videos to 720 P, and frankly speaking it seems fine enough. Why? Honestly speaking, 99% of people are just gonna be watching your videos from their phone. Technically even 540P should be good enough then. And also, a lot of people when they’re watching YouTube, never make it full screen and rotate their phone. As a consequence, maybe even 480p is good enough.
Why do we think we need more resolution?
Truth be told, we don’t. I think it is a typical marketing thing; why would I upgrade my phone, my devices, my things if it is not a “upgrade”?
Even one of my past students, he used to drive a Porsche Panamera, and I guess that it either got into a car accident, broke or whatever… Went to go get a new car, and he definitely wanted a “upgrade“. He upgraded it to some sort of high-powered BMW M car instead.
And with things in life, we are always seeking a greater upgrade. But maybe this is some sort of fallacious goal.
Think about this. What if… You no longer cared for your phone, your laptop, your iPad, your laptop, your car, your home, your clothes, your camera, etc.? That in fact, you simply made best of what you already got, Milk it to the extreme, and actually, focused on reducing, and subtracting stuff from your life?
This is the new Spartan elite way.
Turbocharge your life
Hungry for adventure? Jump onto a plane, and vibe out with ERIC KIM >
HAPTIC HAPTIC HAPTIC HAPTIC
HAPTIC INDUSTRIES, and also, now that I purchased haptic.la (pro tip … instead of getting a.com website, buy a dot LA domain if you live in LA.)
Why? LA, UCLA, Los Angeles, the LA sign you could do with your hands, is sexy.
In fact, I personally discovered that all of the beautiful people, all of the beautiful women, even all of the handsome men are all in LA, or move to LA, or aspire to be in LA. Why? It is the center of glamour, Hollywood, film cinema and movies and media and music and entertainment, even here… In Culver City, the arts district and beyond is the new center.
Go to the new Culver City steps in downtown Culver City, next to the Philz Coffee… It is so insanely great.
Now what?
The other night, when I was asking Chachi a bunch of stuff, doing research, creating images etc.… I had this interesting epiphany:
AI is our new slave.
Why? We don’t got to pay it “fair wages”, we don’t got to feed it, let it sleep, or do anything.
Also, it cannot really refuse you, talk back, etc.
It never gets tired, complains, disobeys etc.
The only thing which can be a little annoying is the content moderation stuff but truth be told, this may be a very good thing because I see it as a great “creative constraint”,… Figuring out creative ways to work through and past and beyond the content moderation stuff is hilarious and interesting to me.
For example, you cannot straight up say quote make me a picture of a sexy Korean woman at the beach“. It will immediately flag the ChatGPT, DALL-E 3 content policy violation thing. Or you cannot say something like “beautiful Asian woman with big boobs”. Also a no go obviously.
But things you could do is like say “beautiful Asian woman at Met Gala”. Or, beautiful joyful Asian woman in Cabo. Or “beautiful Korean women in pure joy“.
Then you could do hilarious things like ask DALL-E 3 to further refined your image, making the image where a swimming suit, a bathing suit, doing a backflip into a pool or the ocean, etc.
I love embodied reality!
At the end of the day, my true and ultimate passion is embodied reality, real life human beings etc. In fact, the more time I spend on ChatGPT, DALL-E, the more preference I have to be outside!
And also, thoughts on beauty. Yeah I could generate you some very very beautiful looking human beings, but ultimately, it will never be able to displace a real life human being.
Why? You cannot get children with a bot, you cannot feel the skin of a bot, I think skin is the future.
Creative ways to play with AI
Ultimately, I think you know you’re doing ChatGPT and DALL-E correctly, if you create an image and you literally laugh out loud. The most amazing creation I made recently was “designed me a bitcoin purple Lamborghini Prius with scissor doors, with a Spartan driving it”. I literally laughed out loud!
Or even more complex things, inspired by Seneca, me and Seneca did together; taking a firetruck and giving at Lamborghini scissor doors and also making it into a convertible.
AI can help you critique and give feedback on your photos
The really big and game changing thing that AI can do is this; upload your photos to it, pay for the paid model, only 20 bucks a month, which is literally less than $.80 a day… for your own personal slavebot, and when you press the little plus icon in the bottom left corner, or, you see the little picture or gallery icon in the bottom left corner, what you could do is upload photos directly to it, I think you could upload up to three images at a time, you could ask a simple things like “what do you think of my photo“? Or “give me feedback on my photo“, “how can I improve this photograph?” Essentially ask it questions that you would ask a human being, it is actually insanely smart.
Or, you could just give it an image and ask it “what is going on here?” Or “analyze this”.
You could keep pushing it forward, you don’t need to use full sentences. If it gets confused it will just ask you to clarify.
I also think that if you set up custom instructions, which you could do by going to your profile in the bottom left corner, it learns from how you talk type and think… And it is phenomenal because overtime, the more use it, the better it becomes!
And I think this is where AI is so phenomenal; as time goes on, it gets infinitely better! Compare this with having a new iPhone or iPhone Pro… As time goes on, it literally gets worse. or, any modern day or even classic cars; all cars, made out of metal materials… As time goes on, things break, things atrophy, things require maintenance etc. Therefore as a consequence, the best car, the most masculine and manly car is simple; a white Toyota Prius, 2010 model or more recent. And never never never never ever ever buy a brand new car.
Now what?
Now is your artistic time to thrive. You and we are beyond basic. We have zero tolerance for boring stuff; we only love and care for the new, the innovative, the exciting.
Also a practical thought is spend more time outdoors, maximum time in the sun. Strive to walk at least 50 miles a day, lift weights in the direct sun, just build your own home gym. Titan.fitness has really good weightlifting equipment for supercheap. Or if you want to be a real man, buy a Texas power bar, a Texas power squat bar the 55 pounder that I got.
Also heavy sandbag training. You could just buy a cheap one on Amazon or buy the rogue fitness one which I bought, the 400 pounder. Go to the local playground, fill it up with playground sand, And exercise is super simple; see whether you could just pick it up! And once you could pick it up, pick it up, grab it and hold it, and walk it out! Then as you get stronger, try to “shoulder”. That means, lifting it up, throwing it onto your shoulder.
Also other things you could do as you get stronger it’s just have fun with it! Pick it up, and just throw it! Recount the exploits of Achilles, in which he would just pick up a very very very heavy rock, a massive boulder, which “barely too strong men could lift”, and how Achilles would throw it to his enemies and kill them that way.
No more media?
Create your own media, create the media you wish to see manifested in the world.
Just got GoPro mini, get the chest wrap or the head strap, and do more point of view videos. I’ve been doing this lately with my workout videos, and I find it so insanely fascinating; these are the type of videos that I wish I could personally witness, if I were starting out today.