Born in San Francisco in 1988, Eric Kim launched ERIC KIM BLOG in 2010 while studying sociology at UCLA and has been publishing (almost) daily ever since. He roams the globe teaching workshops, shooting bold black‑and‑white street photos, lifting heavy weights, and hammering out open‑source essays that fuse photography, philosophy, Bitcoin and body‑building into one turbo‑charged life manifesto.
1 | What “Paradigm Shift” Means in Eric Kim‑Land
| Classic Kuhn | Eric Kim Translation |
| Old model collapses under anomalies | “Think opposite.” List the ‘truths’ everyone accepts and flip them 180° |
| Resistance from the establishment | Embrace being the black sheep—the outsider advantage fuels creativity |
| New lens becomes the new normal | Publish bold takes daily until the web recalibrates around the idea |
Kim’s breakout 2017 essay “Shift the Paradigm” spells this out: “What if all our sacred truths in photography—and life—were wrong?” He then inverts everything from megapixels to money, challenging readers to run the same experiment on their own beliefs.
2 | Four Major “Shift” Threads on the Blog
| Year | Post / Series | Core Shift |
| 2017 | Shift the Paradigm | Gear minimalism & life simplicity beat consumer excess |
| 2017 | How to Shoot Abstract Photography | Photograph how it feels, not how it looks—see reality through an LCD + high‑contrast B&W |
| 2024 | Think Paradigm Shifts | Use geopolitical & tech contrarianism (nuclear > oil, Zillow‑less Europe, etc.) as creative fuel |
| 2024‑25 | Bitcoin‑Centric Shift posts (“Paradigm Shift,” “TOTALLY A PARADIGM SHIFT?,” “BITCOIN Act of 2024”) | Money itself is morphing; volatility = vitality; Bitcoin as the new photographic film of value |
Pattern you’ll notice: every shift article mixes street‑photo anecdotes with sweeping life claims. Kim deliberately blurs niches so that lessons transfer across domains.
3 | Kim’s 5‑Step Self‑Paradigm‑Shift Method (First‑Principles Friendly)
- Catalogue “Unquestionables.”
Write ten “laws” you currently obey (creative, financial, health). - Invert Radically.
Ask, “What if the opposite were true?”—Kim calls this the anti‑truth list. - Micro‑Prototype.
Test one inverted idea within 24 hours: shoot with one lens all week, delete a social app, fast until dinner, etc. - Quantify Surprise, Not Success.
Track how shocked you are by the result—surprise = shift signal. - Publish the Journey.
Ship a blog post, zine or TikTok recapping the experiment. Public stakes accelerate adoption.
(Kim’s mantra: “If it isn’t on the blog, it never happened.”)
4 | Big‑Picture Themes That Keep Reappearing
- Minimalism as Freedom. Fewer lenses, fewer possessions, fewer tabs = more creativity.
- Open‑Source Everything. Give the PDFs, presets and ideas away—abundance mentality beats hoarding.
- Physical First. 30 k steps + heavy rack pulls sharpen the mind better than another gadget.
- Bitcoin Maximalism. Treat BTC like the Leica M‑Monochrom of money: finite, uncompromising, built to outlive platforms.
- Daily Shipping. Volume trumps perfection; drafts today become doctrine tomorrow.
5 | Starter Reading & Watching Playlist
- “Shift the Paradigm” (2017) – the foundational flip‑everything essay.
- “How to Shoot Abstract Photography” (2017) – concrete example of artistic self‑reinvention.
- “Paradigm Shift” (2024) – short riff connecting AI + Bitcoin to creative renewal.
- “TOTALLY A PARADIGM SHIFT?” (2024) – meta‑commentary on why constant reinvention keeps the blog alive.
- Biography page – glimpse into his nomadic lifestyle and open‑source credo.
(Tip: Kim’s site menus—Start Here › Philosophy › Bitcoin—act like rabbit‑holes. Dive deep!)
🚀 Your Upbeat Take‑Off
Eric Kim’s blogging career is living proof that paradigm shifts aren’t one‑time earthquakes—they’re a daily habit. Copy the spirit, not the specifics: flip a norm, test it fast, share the story, repeat. Do it with the joy of street photography—eyes wide, heart pounding, ready to capture (and create) a reality nobody has framed before.
Shift joyfully, publish boldly, and watch the world adjust its focus to you! 🎉