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STOICISM 101

STOIC VLOG

STOIC.

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:


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


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.


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


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:

See all philosophy >


PHILOSOPHY BY KIM

IDEAS BY KIM

  1. A LIFE WITHOUT PAIN, DISCOMFORT OR (LIMITED) SUFFERING IS NOT A LIFE WORTH LIVING?
  2. BIGGER IS WEAKER.
  3. How to Become a Philosopher
  4. Deep Vanity
  5. Time Will Tell
  6. What is Wisdom?
  7. LOOK *BEYOND*
  8. BECOMING MORE IMMORAL?
  9. ‘LUCK’ VS COURAGE
  10. ‘SKILL’ VS MERIT?
  11. Becoming Antifragile
  12. How to “Improve” Men
  13. The Art of Virtue
  14. How to Dominate
  15. JUST SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCES AND WISDOM WITH OTHERS.
  16. How to Get More Done in a Single Day – MEMENTO MORI PHILOSOPHY
  17. THINK FOR YOURSELF
  18. Cruel?
  19. GO DEMIGOD.
  20. How to Be Happy: Challenge and Danger Philosophy
  21. To Become Greater, You Must Become *LESS* Productive!
  22. Imperfect Beauty
  23. The Philosophy of Pleasure
  24. What Interests You?
  25. Anti Theory of Everything
  26. Become?
  27. STRONGER OR NOT?
  28. Carte Blanche Ideals
  29. CHOOSE JOY
  30. Don’t Judge Your Impulses
  31. On Becoming Less Human
  32. COWARDICE.
  33. The Philosophy of Futurism
  34. PHILOSOPHY IS VALUE-SETTING
  35. PHILOSOPHY IS NOT LIFESTYLE
  36. WHY STANDARDIZATION IS BAD.
  37. YOUR OWN TABLE OF VALUES.
  38. RETRO IS BAD.
  39. INSANELY LOFTY THOUGHTS.
  40. Strive to *Lose* Weight, Not *Gain* Weight
  41. DIABLO II ANALOGIES FOR REAL LIFE.
  42. If You Know Your *WHY* You Can Discover Any *HOW*
  43. Life is Too Short to Be Miserable
  44. What Consumption Takes Skill?
  45. OFF THE GRID.
  46. REALITY IS CRUEL.
  47. Pain is Information
  48. WHY REMOVE VULGARITY AND DISORDER FROM OUR EYES?
  49. AUTOTELIC.
  50. UNPLUG.
  51. How to Become a Philosopher
  52. SUBOPTIMAL IS OPTIMAL
  53. THE LUST FOR MORE.
  54. TO DO IS TO BECOME.
  55. IN PRAISE OF AGGRESSIVE.
  56. THE PHILOSOPHY OF OPTIMISM
  57. OUR PHILOSOPHICAL WILL TO EXISTENCE
  58. Is Hope a Vice?
  59. MOVE MEAN
  60. Carte Blanche Ideals
  61. One Interesting Thought
  62. What Lasts? What Doesn’t Last?
  63. A WOUND STIMULATES THE RECUPERATIVE POWERS
  64. Children & Purpose
  65. Thoughts on Becoming a Parent
  66. Where Does Our Desire to Upgrade Come From?
  67. WE ALWAYS NEED SOMETHING FURTHER TO ASPIRE TO.
  68. Self-Task Yourself an Awesome Mission in Life
  69. Differentiation vs Equalization
  70. My Passion to *Become* Something More
  71. No Aesthetic or Ethos is Forever
  72. What is Your Higher Purpose in Life?
  73. IT WILL NEVER SATISFY YOU.
  74. How to Decide
  75. Things You *Want* to Do vs Things You *MUST* Do
  76. Towards a More Beautiful Mode of Existence and Future
  77. EXTREME GRATITUDE.
  78. AMAP (As Much as Possible) or None.
  79. Why or How Does it Matter?
  80. The Philosophy of Time and Events
  81. How *Not* to Resent
  82. FORWARD LOOKING
  83. DOMAIN FLEXIBILITY.
  84. The Miracle of Human Growth
  85. EXTREME ADAPTATION.
  86. Why Plan?
  87. You Don’t Need to Justify Yourself
  88. The Philosophy of Ego
  89. True vs False Passions
  90. How to Achieve Tranquility
  91. On Making Your Own Philosophy
  92. The Purpose of Life is to Create New Life
  93. Think On!
  94. The Wisdom of Doing Nothing
  95. Congruency
  96. My Thoughts on Meditation
  97. The Philosophy of Purpose
  98. Emulate Yourself
  99. Good Fear, Bad Fear
  100. For the Betterment of Humanity or Just Yourself?
  101. What you *really* believe in and care for is manifested through your actions (or non-actions)
  102. Why Culture is Your Enemy
  103. YOUR EXPERIENCES ARE KING.
  104. LIFE IS INHERENTLY GOOD.
  105. Artistic, Physical, and Philosophical Muscles
  106. All New Experiences are Good Experiences
  107. What is the Purpose of X?
  108. UTILITY.
  109. Philosophy is a Luxury
  110. The Attempt is More Interesting than the Result
  111. Joyfulness vs “Happiness”
  112. Effectiveness Over Happiness
  113. Self Actualization
  114. MAXIMAL ENGAGEMENT
  115. Life & Pain
  116. On Living Every Day with No Regret
  117. Learn as if you’re going to live forever, live as if you’re going to die tomorrow
  118. Live Every Day Like it Were the Last Day of Your Life
  119. Self-Determination
  120. FALSE GRATITUDE vs REAL GRATITUDE
  121. HOW TO LIVE MORE
  122. THE UPSIDE OF TRAGEDY
  123. Satisfaction is a Sucker’s Game
  124. Supreme Repose
  125. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF LIFE? According to ERIC KIM
  126. STUBBORN, FLEXIBLE
  127. EVERYTHING HAPPENS AS IT *SHOULD* HAVE HAD HAPPENED
  128. Good Addiction, Bad Addiction?
  129. What is the Best Life?
  130. The Philosophy of Thinking
  131. The Philosophy of Conspiracies
  132. Conspiracies
  133. Growth
  134. Skepticism.
  135. What Do You Really Want Out of Life?
  136. Seem or Be?
  137. Learn Through Pain
  138. Respect Yourself
  139. In Praise of Elitism
  140. Why Independent Thinking?
  141. I Will Never Die
  142. Bitter is Better
  143. The Genesis of Nihilism and Existential Dread
  144. The Ethics of Personal Enrichment
  145. Good vs Not Good
  146. Punished by Privilege
  147. Abstinence Over Moderation
  148. Just Leave Others Alone
  149. You Can Only Critique that Which You Truly Understand and Love
  150. ERIC KIM Critique of Metaphysics
  151. Only Trust Philosophers Who Deadlift
  152. Heuristic: If Someone Talks Shit About Others Behind Their Back, Most Likely They’re Also Talking Shit About You Behind Your Back
  153. Virtue is a Privilege
  154. What Are Your Life Goals?
  155. Honesty
  156. Why I’m Anti Moderation
  157. No Spite, No Malice.
  158. Ascending Life or Descending Life?
  159. Double Edged Sword
  160. Ignorance.
  161. Why I Don’t Trust “Nice Guys”
  162. Why You Must Share Your Opinion
  163. Selfish Isn’t Evil
  164. Wisdom is the Goal
  165. YOU ARE KING.
  166. MASTER YOURSELF
  167. What is “Good” for You is Often what is Bad for You
  168. Care.
  169. BITTERSWEET
  170. ONE REP MAX
  171. Morality and Ethics is the Snare
  172. BY HELPING YOURSELF, YOU BEST HELP OTHERS
  173. Insanity is Good.
  174. Think Deep.
  175. PHILOSOPHY IS THE FUTURE.
  176. Open Mind vs Closed Mind
  177. ENTHUSIASM IS GENIUS
  178. Towards a More Critical and Rigorous Line of Thinking
  179. How to Encourage and a Foster Independent and Free Thinking
  180. What is the Purpose of Life?
  181. WHY PHILOSOPHY IS SUPREME.
  182. Elitism.
  183. I Cannot Form an Opinion About Somebody Until I’ve Met Them in the Flesh
  184. ALL GENETICS ARE GOOD GENETICS.
  185. Happiness vs Freedom
  186. The Birth of a Hater
  187. My Way Isn’t the Right Way
  188. Walking as an Existential Thing
  189. Why I’m So Tolerant
  190. Mortal Gods
  191. THE HUMAN SPECIES
  192. Why I’m So Skeptical
  193. Just Follow the Money
  194. Why Selfish?
  195. WHY WE CANNOT BLAME OTHERS
  196. Why Are We So Anti Elitism?
  197. What Actually Interests You?
  198. How to Become Yourself
  199. SELF HATE
  200. Optimistic Fatalism
  201. Death is the Ultimate Creative Constraint
  202. FLUX.
  203. How to Think for Yourself
  204. FLESH
  205. How to Live the Best Life
  206. Why Live a Life Without Regrets?
  207. Why Plato Ruined Art and Aesthetics for Us
  208. Self Respect
  209. Hypocrite vs Contradict
  210. Ideals vs Reality
  211. Spaceship Philosophy
  212. What is Your Ideal Life?
  213. MY EXTREME GRATITUDE TOWARDS LIFE AND BEING ALIVE!
  214. Critique of Utilitarianism
  215. Don’t Treat Others the Way You Want to Be Treated
  216. The Eternal Recurrence of Tragedy and Joy in Life
  217. Elite Asceticism
  218. Why I Don’t Like Numbers
  219. Action and Reaction, Cause and Effect
  220. The Antidote to Nihilism: The Philosophy of Nothingness
  221. ERIC KIM Notes on Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
  222. EXPLOIT CHAOS.
  223. WHY I DON’T BELIEVE IN GENETICS
  224. Self-Wisdom
  225. The Future Belongs to the Fearless
  226. INDIVIDUALISM
  227. Why Live Forever?
  228. THIS TOO WILL PASS.
  229. Why Education?
  230. How to Become Yourself
  231. Things Shouldn’t Go Back to the Way They Used to Be
  232. Why Am I So Cruel?
  233. The Great Joy of Existence
  234. Virtue for the Sake of Virtue
  235. NO DISDAIN.
  236. INTELLIGENT IGNORANCE
  237. A LIFE WITHOUT PAIN, DIFFICULTY OR TRAGEDY ISN’T A LIFE WORTH LIVING
  238. BITTER IS BETTER.
  239. EXPLOIT THE BEST FROM TRAGEDY AND LIFE 
  240. DISREGARD FOR SELF-PRESERVATION
  241. PAIN.
  242. WHAT IF EVERYTHING IS NOT GONNA BE ALRIGHT?
  243. Tomorrow is Never
  244. Life is the Ultimate Creative Constraint
  245. EMBODIED REALITY
  246. BLACK SWAN
  247. THINGS WILL NEVER GO BACK TO THE WAY THEY USED TO BE
  248. What are you *really* afraid of?
  249. HAPPINESS ISN’T THE GOAL
  250. Philosophy is King
  251. Why is Selfish Evil?
  252. YOU’RE CONSTANTLY IN A STATE OF BECOMING
  253. ENTITLEMENT A SIN?
  254. NARCISSISM
  255. BE BRUTALLY HONEST WITH YOURSELF
  256. WHY FREE WILL?
  257. OBEY YOUR OPINION
  258. EGO IS GOOD.
  259. WHY IT IS GOOD TO BE INTO YOURSELF
  260. Seek the Good Pain
  261. Anti-Perfection in Photography, Art, and Life
  262. Can You Become an End into Yourself?
  263. WHY I LIVE
  264. Why I Hate Decline
  265. Why I Eat
  266. Why am I So Positive and Optimistic?
  267. EFFORT IS ENJOYMENT
  268. Never Stop Gaining
  269. TRUST YOURSELF
  270. A Life of Maximal Personal Independence
  271. What Do You Desire to Become?
  272. What Do I Want from Technology?
  273. Stratified Society
  274. Do You Love or Hate Reality?
  275. On the Brian, Body and Mind
  276. I’m Maximally Happy, Now What?
  277. Care over Fame
  278. ACTIVE NIHILISM
  279. Never Stop Subtracting
  280. How to Live a Happier and More Epic Life
  281. A Risker Life is a Better Life
  282. Only Work on Things You Can Imagine Doing for Eternity
  283. How to Maximize Your Happiness
  284. Influence
  285. The Gladiator Makes His Plans once He Enters the Ring
  286. Meditations on Meaning in Life
  287. There is Nothing More Interesting than Human Beings
  288. Is Hope a Vice?
  289. EGO
  290. Why Be Unique?
  291. Happiness is Metabolism Health and Strength
  292. You’re the Hero
  293. Is Productivity a Virtue or Vice?
  294. Why Do We Prize the Rare?
  295. The Joy of Uncertainty
  296. How Should I Best Use My Time and Life?
  297. A Life Without Pain or Suffering Isn’t a Life Worth Living
  298. Free or Unfree?
  299. What Do You Really Care For in Life?
  300. Anti-Satisfaction in Life
  301. Why Think?
  302. The Eternal Return
  303. Only Do What is Best for You!
  304. Truthiness
  305. Why Be Happy?
  306. Permissionless Living
  307. In Praise of Unconventional Wisdom
  308. Become the Change Which You Wish to See in the World
  309. Happiness
  310. Beyond Freedom
  311. Idolize People, Not Stuff
  312. What Makes You Stronger? What Makes You Weaker?
  313. Why Hate?
  314. The Secret of Happiness
  315. You’re Constantly in a State of Becoming
  316. Life is about Choices, Not Obligations
  317. Anti-Nihilism
  318. First, Do What is Best for You.
  319. Live Dynamic
  320. How to Prosper
  321. Is the Point of Life to Be Satisfied?
  322. SUPREME EFFORT OF WILL.
  323. How to Become more Idealistic
  324. Thrivival 101
  325. Create Yourself
  326. Non-Small
  327. Inspiration
  328. How to Live a Heroic Life: Dare the Heights!
  329. Human Augmentation
  330. Prune
  331. Happiness: Do What You Want to Do (And Don’t Do What You Don’t Want to Do)
  332. Avoid Vain (Empty) Pursuits in Life
  333. Modern Slavery
  334. Kill the Leeches
  335. Wisdom Augmentation
  336. Why We Need Friction in Life
  337. Straight Line Philosophy
  338. What’s Your End-Game in Life?
  339. Create Your Own Happiness Today
  340. Desire Both Pain and Pleasure in Life
  341. Try the Impossible
  342. SELF-RESPECT
  343. Anti-Social Extrovert
  344. Never Blame Anybody But Yourself
  345. Human Flourishing
  346. Simpler, Not Better.
  347. How to be Free
  348. Embrace the Extremes
  349. Cultivate Your Own Culture
  350. COURAGE.
  351. Thrivival
  352. Inner Power
  353. How to Live a Purposeful Life
  354. My Definition of Happiness
  355. Why Change is Good
  356. Why Work?
  357. How to Live the Happiest Possible Life
  358. The Two-Pronged Approach to Maximize Joy in Your Life
  359. You Always Have Another Option!
  360. INFINITISM
  361. Never Stop!
  362. What is Your Self-Directed Purpose in Life?
  363. Live Today Like it Were Your Last
  364. Do You Photograph to Live, or Live to Photograph?
  365. ARTIST-PHILOSOPHER
  366. Live Life to the Fullest!
  367. In Praise of Selfishness
  368. Why You Must Be a YAY-SAYER to Succeed in Entrepreneurship and Life
  369. Why I Love Walking
  370. Live Life Like a Video Game!
  371. Simple Luxuries in Life
  372. Treat Your Life Like a Fun Experiment!
  373. Only Prove it to Yourself
  374. You Don’t Always Need to Feel Joyful to Live a Fulfilling and Meaningful Life
  375. Life is Too Short to Be Bored!
  376. Money Cannot Destroy Boredom
  377. How to Find Inspiration in Life
  378. Why You Must Ignore Haters to Succeed and Win in Life
  379. An Active Life is a Happy Life
  380. My Simple Joys in Life
  381. Never Stop Striving
  382. How to Motivate Yourself in Life
  383. How to Be Optimistic in Life
  384. How to Dictate Your Purpose in Life
  385. In Praise of a Dynamic Life
  386. PURPOSE.
  387. How to Enjoy Life
  388. Photography Therapy
  389. How to Conquer Regret
  390. Take Your Play Very Seriously.
  391. How to Prosper
  392. Memento Vivere
  393. Destroy in Order to CREATE
  394. Trust Your Body More Than Your Mind
  395. Make Photos to Make Meaning in Your Life
  396. Seek Knowledge, Not Information
  397. The Purpose of Human Life
  398. How to Overcome Impedence
  399. Why I Love Death
  400. How to Be Centered in the Eternal Now
  401. How to Be Happy
  402. Why Do You Care What Others Think of You?
  403. Why I’m Happy
  404. Why?
  405. Why I’m So Prolific
  406. How to Reduce LAG in Life

Masters of Philosophy »

Personal Philosophy »

Stoicism »

Zen Philosophy »

Life Lessons »

Learn more: Start Here >


Entrepreneurship by KIM

Change and do, and build or do things differently … based on what you believe the ideal world *should* look like:

  1. Annoyance & Entrepreneurship
  2. Why Doesn’t Anything Satisfy Me?
  3. ZERO FINANCIAL CONCERNS
  4. How to Gain Ascendancy
  5. Business vs Entrepreneurship?
  6. TAKE REAL CHANCES
  7. Making Money as a Hobby
  8. The Best Exercises for Entrepreneurs
  9. INCOME VS EXPENSES MONEY LIFESTYLE PHILOSOPHY
  10. Entrepreneurship is the privilege of being able to attempt something new
  11. How to Become More Influential
  12. The Point of Life is Entrepreneurship?
  13. How to Think Like an Entrepreneur
  14. Become the Outlier
  15. Self Reliance
  16. How to Extend Your Reach
  17. NEWS: How to Think Like an Entrepreneur
  18. PVP (Player vs Player)
  19. How I became so influential
  20. WE LOVE THE *SENSATION* OF RISK-TAKING
  21. WHY HIGH PROFIT MARGINS?
  22. INNOVATION THOUGHTS
  23. OVERCONFIDENCE IS GOOD.
  24. GARAGE ENTREPRENEURSHIP
  25. PERHAPS IT IS GOOD TO BE “DELUSIONAL”
  26. USE YOUR WEALTH TO BUY STUFF, OR TO BUILD AND INNOVATE STUFF?
  27. HOW TO THRIVE
  28. Target Demographic
  29. Ambition Over Happiness
  30. Anti Collaboration
  31. The Will to Economy
  32. Why New?
  33. CHOOSE ADRENALINE.
  34. No Looking Back.
  35. 1000x Different
  36. BECOME SPENDTHRIFT
  37. THE BENEFIT OF JUST ONE.
  38. EXTREME INNOVATION.
  39. Practicality is Boring
  40. BECOME YOUR OWN STANDARD.
  41. NEVER STOP ITERATING.
  42. CONDENSE.
  43. Take Lots of Small Financial Risks
  44. Control Over Convenience
  45. Why Are Chinese Companies So Innovative?
  46. INSANELY DIFFERENT.
  47. Why Doesn’t Anything Ever Satisfy Me?
  48. THE GREAT PASSION.
  49. Perhaps Dissatisfaction is Good
  50. ONE REP MAX.
  51. WHAT DO YOU *REALLY* WANT IN LIFE?
  52. LIFE IS ABOUT STRIVING FOR MORE.
  53. NEVER STOP LINKING.
  54. THE GREATEST.
  55. WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE!
  56. THE BEST IS YET TO COME.
  57. ERIC KIM CRITIQUE OF ROMANTICISM
  58. COMPLACENCY.
  59. JUST BUY IT.
  60. ALL ABOUT YOU.
  61. MOVE THE WORLD
  62. Boring or Not Boring?
  63. What if Your Past Self were Inferior to Your Present Self?
  64. THE PHILOSOPHY OF PROGRESS
  65. CULTURE IS YOUR ENEMY.
  66. Difficulty & Interest
  67. The Will to Expansion
  68. What is Work?
  69. SOUL IN THE GAME.
  70. JUST START IT.
  71. Not Boring
  72. PRIDE IN YOUR OWN NAME / BRAND
  73. AS MUCH AS YOU CAN TOLERATE.
  74. Speed is Paramount
  75. TAKE IT BACK TO THE BEGINNING.
  76. A Life With No Risk Taking is *NOT* a Life Worth Living
  77. Dissatisfaction is Good
  78. GREATER STRENGTH, GREATER CHALLENGES.
  79. In Praise of the New
  80. Uncorrupted Desires
  81. You Cannot Fake Passion
  82. SELF-OVERGOING
  83. FORM YOURSELF.
  84. Personal Entrepreneurship
  85. RELENTLESS.
  86. PUT YOUR NAME ON IT.
  87. A Life of Expansion
  88. SELF-ENTREPRENEURSHIP
  89. YOU ARE THE EXCEPTION.
  90. Use Your Life as an Experiment to Self-Develop Yourself to Heights Never Seen Before
  91. Invest in New Developments
  92. Investing Towards What End?
  93. The 90%/10% Principle in Entrepreneurship
  94. Speed Wins
  95. The Philosophy of Happiness
  96. When to Over-Estimate, When to Under-Estimate?
  97. Never Stop Iterating
  98. Money as a Tool for Life and Artistic Experimentation
  99. Less But More Premium
  100. Mainstream vs Low-Key Success
  101. Why Dissatisfaction is Good
  102. SEEK YOUR OWN PERSONAL MAXIMAL BENEFIT INSTEAD OF COMPLAINING
  103. Manifest Your Destiny
  104. Is it Best to *Not* Communicate Your Inner Thoughts or Ideas With Others?
  105. CREATE THINGS YOU WISH TO SEE MANIFESTED IN THE WORLD
  106. How to Do More Work
  107. CONTROL.
  108. Competition is for Losers
  109. Change.
  110. Your Competitive Advantage with Insanely Fast Wifi and High Speed Internet
  111. Pseudo Individualism
  112. Natural Internal Promoting vs External Promptings

Think for Yourself.

  1. Survival vs Thrivival
  2. Become Rich
  3. SECRETS.
  4. Why it is Better to Beg for Forgiveness than Ask for Permission
  5. Thinking About the Past Prevents You From Thinking About the Future
  6. How to Predict the Future
  7. Tools of Mass Distraction
  8. So What?

FREEDOM


Never stop innovating.


Entrepreneurship Mindset


Put a Dent in the Universe.


CINEMA BY ERIC KIM

CINEMA BY KIM

Cinema and film as a great stimulus, aid and teacher for photographers and visual artists alike.

Cinematography and life lessons:

Cinema and Film Reviews

  1. BOOK OF BOBA FETT CRITIQUE
  2. What *Should* Cinema and Literature Do?
  3. MATRIX 4 Critique
  4. THE PHILOSOPHY OF “FREE GUY” (Film, 2021)
  5. Why DUNE 2021 is So Great
  6. INFINITE (2021) Film Review
  7. MAD MAX FURY ROAD: Black and Chrome Version Review
  8. Why 7 Samurai by Akira Kurosawa is So Great
  9. BLADE RUNNER (1982 Original) Cinematography Review & Thoughts vs the New Version (2049)
  10. Blade Runner 2049 Film Review + Cinematography Composition Analysis
  11. REVIEW: Justice League (Snyder Cut)
  12. What Makes a Great Movie/Film?
  13. Iron Man (1) Film Cinema Review
  14. JOKER FILM REVIEW + Cinematography Composition
  15. Ghost in the Shell Anime (1995) Cinematography, Composition, Philosophy Review
  16. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Cinematography and Film Review

Space Films

Cinema and philosophy


GODFATHER


Gangster Films


ACTION FILMS

CITIZEN KANE:

Articles on Cinema

Great Cinema