ERIC KIM

INSANE ABUNDANCE

Perhaps the best way to think about an approach life is towards radical and insane abundance; idea that you’ll never run out.

I think this is mostly the appeal of Tesla, digital things; is that it is infinite.

Zeiss lens wipes?

OK, some funny random things:

First, my beloved Zeiss lens wipes. they are truly pardoned on the best. I have not discovered anything even halfway good.

It’s super annoying because I always run out of them. And having to re-order them is always a pain in the butt.

However, fortunately they come in a pack of around 200, sometimes even 400.

Then very much to our surprise, the other day on our front door came another pack of 200! I think Cindy did the Amazon subscribe and safe thing about half a year ago, for the small discount, and forgot to unsubscribe. Now I have enough Zeiss Lens wipes to last me a small lifetime.

ECO 80oz hair gel?

Another scam in the world is hair gel, hair wax, hair products.

For men, in which we are all striving to become more masculine manly dominant etc.… one of the biggest scams out there is in regards to hair products.

For example, why is it that a little shitty tiny hair wax paste thing could cost $20 $30, 40 even $50!?

My best discovery is discovering on Amazon, you can get this insanely huge top up hair gel, 80 ounces, this brand called Eco — which lasts you an insanely long time! And I think the huge tub is only about 25 bucks.

My only personal desire is not to be one of these LA losers who’s always wearing a baseball cap. I only ever wear my baseball cap when I run out of gel, but otherwise, I hate the look and aesthetic because you just end up looking like everybody else.

Why think infinite?

I’ve been through the whole game; doing everything and in between in photography.

One period that I went through which was super annoying was Fatar, even though I love the process and the aesthetic to death, the notion of film, 35 mm film, and log film that runs out, that you had to buy money to purchase, and also pay for processing, pay more money to get this scanned etc.… Now that I look back at it, it is such a scam.

Why?

It is not infinite!

Compare this to digital photography, now that I am 36 years old, I’m starting to look back at it and I’m starting to appreciate digital photography more and more.

First of all, it is infinite. At this point pretty much storage is free, if you use Google Drive, Google photos, WordPress, Flickr, your own website whatever. It is so cheap it is effectively infinite.

I am shocked, even on my antiquated Lumix G9 camera, the original one, it has still held up very well, and is built like a tank!

The photos that it produces our great, I have gotten so many great photos out of it, with Seneca growing up, videos and beyond.

Infinite food and coffee?

In terms of real goods, a practical one is coffee. I’d like this idea of having infinite coffee, very much like the joy wonder living in Vietnam, especially in Saigon; that is Center of great coffee and coffee roasting.

The reason why I love it so much is that it is the freshest coffee of all time. And not only that, it is closest to the source, some of the finest fine robusta beans grown in the central Highlands.

Anyways, when I run out out of my own good coffee, what I do instead afterwards is either go to Whole Foods, which often has good deals on the coffee selections, or Cindy just orders a 5 pound bag of coffee on Amazon prime, which lasts forever essentially.

Also with food, The reason why I love Costco so much is because you essentially know that at in regards to meet, you’re paying rock-bottom prices. We may still complain that meat and food is too expensive, but truth be told, this is just the reality of inflation. Which means, when your beloved beef ribs used to only cost you 199 a pound pound, and I’ll cost you 499 a pound, essentially the value of the US dollar has the value valued by half, because everything is two times more expensive, not because things are actually more expensive, but because the US dollar is worth less.

Let us consider, people 20, $25 an hour to be a janitor, and people are still not fighting… This is a bad sign. I think even the other day I saw that McDonald’s was hiring for $18 USD an hour. That is what I earned Graduating from UCLA as an undergraduate, a four-year college degree!

Which makes me think, for Seneca’s generation, will he need to go to college? Probably not.

***

Why?

Thinking about abundance, radical abundance, I think the reason why this is so good and important is because when you think unlimited, you become unlimited.

Who likes feeling constrained? Nobody that I know.

The secrets?

Something which is still very very shocking to me, looking at Seneca, at three years one months old… He essentially has infinite energy more or less. Typically his workflow is when he wakes up, he rubs his eyes, uses the bathroom and rinses off, and then starts his slow waking up process by stepping into the bathtub, turning on the hot water, and slowly booting up underneath the Faucet of the hot tub.

How to Live a Better Life

People have the wrong thought and assumption that somehow… having more money will make them live a “more” better life. This is not the case.

Here this is where critical thinking, physiology, practical thinking comes into play. I think if your true goal is to live a better life, you gotta think about physiology, environment, life in general, not money.

The sun?

Probably the greatest realization and discovery that me Cindy and Seneca had recently was the discovery of the California science center, taking the metro, and being able to access it all simply while jumping on the metro, not having to drive at all. The reason why this is such a big deal is that Truth be told, this life workflow has brought 1 million extra joy to my life.

Why?

First, there is all this talk about cities of the future etc., and the truth is taking the metro, will indeed provide you with a “better” life.

How and why?

First, contrary to the traditional antisocial behavior modernist line of thinking, the truth is people are actually much happier when they are kind of surrounded by people, or at least adjacent to other people.

For example, when you’re on the metro, being able to just be surrounded by other human bodies is actually strangely comforting, fun, and even the last few times that we have all taken the metro together, we had discovered some really cool people! Small talk, meeting new folks has been extremely uplifting.

Second, physiology. Thought to myself; we know that is bad, and that is good… I thought of this invention of a standing car. We have standing desks, walking treadmill desks, why not the equivalent for transportation?

Surprisingly, it exists! The metro!

When you’re riding a metro, you could be straight up, and even walk around the cabin. The reason why this is so useful is that your physiology has improved by 1 billion x.

Also, thinking about your kids; kids love the metro! Actually which is funny; adults, we all dream about owning a certain type of car, but, kids don’t really care about ownership; they care more about experiences.

For example, the first time we jumped on the metro from the Culver City station, it was probably the most joy I’ve ever seen in Seneca’s face and his life.

Why? When we are walking around the metro, he always sees the metro going around, but I don’t think he actually really knew you could actually go on it. And once he is on it, it is so exciting and fun!

First, it is actually really really fast. A lot faster than driving, even if there is no traffic, which is an impossible in Los Angeles, even on Saturdays and Sundays.

Second, you get a really really cool elevated view of Los Angeles. I find it actually really exciting to jump on the metro, because what we have going for us in Los Angeles, is that our metro is above ground, which means that we are not trapped underground like the mold people in New York City. I think the reason why people don’t like the metro in New York City is that you have to go underground, in Los Angeles, it is all above ground, which means that you get lots of natural light, and great view of the city.

what is the purpose of human beings?

I think this is the question which has pled flossers for thousands of years. The truth is that we are here, this is a fact. Now what?

A lot of these loser existential philosophers wonder, why are we here?

I believe that this line of thinking is a waste of time. Much more productive to consider, now that we are here, what should I do with my life?

I think most people approach life the following way:

How do I progress through life with a minimal amount of pain, sorrow, and suffering… and maximize my base pleasures?

For example, people do the pain in the sorrow of modern day living with painkillers, antidepressants, marijuana, television and media, music, podcast, going to festivals, going to burning man, psychedelics, alcohol, drugs etc. Modern day soma.

Ideas

First, the simple thought is in regards to transit, getting around, tried to figure out whether you could do it all while standing, or walking, etc.

Even my critique about riding a bicycle is that it forces you to sit. Anything which forces you to sit is bad.

Second, think the sun. I watched this insanely inspiring IMAX film at the California science center with Santa and Cindy, called deep space, and the general thought about it was that the sun was the epicenter of all life at least in our galaxy.

And then the turbo thought I had:

Think Heat.

We also saw the Leonardo da Vinci exhibit, and he attempted to create a perpetual machine, but as we all know, it is impossible and it doesn’t work and it feels because much of motion is actually lost to heat.

Which made me think, is motion, power, life, just heat?

Even one of the easiest modern day ways to make your life better is to crank up the heat! I find that people have this foolish optimization in life in which they subject themselves to terrible cold in order to “save money”. But don’t these fools realize that converting your money into heat, for your home is probably the wisest trade?

Therefore, ways to heat up your life include creaking up the heat at your house, doing hot yoga, or investing in insulation for your home, or just wearing insulated clothes. For example set up buying a new BMW or Tesla, just buy a brandnew Canada goose jacket!

Food?

The difficulty with prices is that it is all framing.

For example, the big issue with apps, digital things that nobody wants to pay money for an app. Or a game. Because it is digital, we all think and hope and wish that it should be free. Why? The reproduction of digital things are technically free, but The big issue here is that the cost of production and maintenance is high. As a consequence, nobody likes to pay for digital things.

This is here where the subscription model has become interesting; I think people are actually more willing to pay for a subscription than to actually pay for a digital good.

The halving!

The bitcoin halving is happening very very soon, on April 20. Don’t be left behind.

Finance thoughts?

What is it that people in Los Angeles, the Bay Area, California, or whatever like to complain about or comment on? The cost of living.

For example, rent, rent prices, as well as buying a house, homeownership, single-family homes, condos etc.

As of now, I still think it is wiser to rent a more expensive place in an insanely desirable neighborhood, with the ultimate 100% walk ability score, then on a home, even a very good home in a non-walkable area.

Why in terms of your personal happiness, walking is insanely positive for your happiness. The more you walk the happier you will be.

Food

Grass fed beef, grass fed ground beef, they sell them at Costco for really cheap! Get the grass fed ground beef patties, in the frozen owl at Costco. Probably the best deal on the planet. Why breast fed beef? From a practical perspective, naturally cattle consume grass, not corn. Therefore, the real thought is if you consume cattle that was naturally fed grass, as nature intended it, shouldn’t it have superior nutrition, which will better nurse issue in terms of your overall health, well-being, how will you sleep, your energy levels etc.? Don’t be like one of these foolish people “calories “, consuming 2000 cal of Twinkies is different than consuming calories of ribeye steak or bone marrow.

Scientism

True science is critical thinking and first principles thinking.

For example, a true scientist is not foolish enough to believe calories in calories out, the insanely foolish idea that somehow the average human being “burns” 2000 cal a day, and if one keeps their calorie consumption to below 2000 a day, somehow he or she will not get fat.

The reason why most scientists are foolish is that they think scaler, numbers in numbers out, rather than dynamics.

The truth about that, getting fat, pudding on post fat tissue is it has to deal more with hormones, insulin levels, sugar and starches then it does with calories.

Also, I think the whole thing about protein overblown. I think actually, if you’re true goal is to put on muscle mass, and to become more muscular and dominant, the true goal is actually cons more dietary cholesterol, and beef liver, organ meats, etc.

For example, loser Bill Gates is trying to get all of us to eat less meat, to consume more of a “plant based” diet“. But let us consider what he looks like, just google it, Google images what Elon Musk tweeted “the quickest way to kill your Boner”– (picture Bill Gates, with his obese morbidly obese stomach jutting out. )

Sleep

What is my definition of maternity, or the modern day man?

Somebody who trades his or her health for money and productivity.

For example, anybody who sacrifices their sleep in order to finish their work relay tasks, or to be more productive, is a slave to this system.

My very very very simple suggestion is when you get home after work, or when the sun goes down or whatever, turn off your devices 100%. Turn off your phone, all the way off, turn off the iPad etc.

Instead, the best way to wind down in the evening is take a really really hot bath, or take a really really hot shower, read a book or whatever. Try to hit a new meat PR, a new meat personal record, how many pounds of grass fed ground beef can you consume in one sitting?

Media is toxic

I’ve also found that one should have a strict cut off time for consuming media. My funny thought is actually the best time to consume me any sort of media, watching a movie or Netflix is actually first thing in the morning. Why? Media is insanely stimulating, and will disturb your sleep, Because a lot of these plot lines in these shows and boobies keep your brain running even late at night.

If you want to watch a movie or show, do it while drinking or consuming your morning coffee.

Anti screens?

The other day Cindy Seneca and I visited the Tesla store in Santa Monica, and some thing I never realized:

Looking at the touchscreen LCD display in a Tesla at nighttime really hurts your eyes.

That alone made me think, because sensitive to light, never buy a Tesla.

Even one surprising thing that I personally love about my 2010 Prius is that there is no glaring LCD screens. And also you could easily turn off the display if you want to. I am a tech whiz, but I couldn’t intuitively figure out how to dim the screen of the Tesla LCD screen; Not good.

iPad is bad for kids?

Send because now three years, one month old, and I am actually very very happy that ever since he was born, he has never watched YouTube, any of these dumb shows or whatever. As a consequence, he is not subjected to any media.

The only apps I consider good for the iPhone or the iPad is GarageBand, switch playgrounds on the iPad, and more recently, I’m a big fan of the poly bridge 2 app; Seneca loves the physics.

However ultimately, at times I’m considering just throwing away my iPad Pro in the trash. Why? Even when he is doing something “educational”, like learning about physics on the iPad, he is static and still, and actually a big problem about kids on an iPad is when they are so focused on it, they will often pee in their pants, they forget their bodily controls.

Airport, my suggestion is if you’re going to be a new parent or whatever, the simple thoughts:

Never buy your kid an iPad, a stupid Amazon tablet, whatever.
on your iPhone, never install the YouTube app, uninstalled it immediately. It is like giving your kid heroin.
On the iPhone, the only app you should let them play with is GarageBand.

The real world

At the age of 36, looking back at my childhood, my only regrets is how much time I wasted watching TV, and playing video games. The truth is only reason why I played so many video games to watch so much TV was that my mom was at work all day, and my dead dad was just watching TV all day, so I had no parental supervision, overseeing, Nobody to guide me in real life.

As a consequence, my number one tip is the best way to be a good parent is when you’re with your cat at the park, turn your phone all the way off, and just lock it in the glove compartment before you go out to play. Or when you’re at home, once again turn your phone all the way off.

One idea I am actually very committed to is I will never buy Seneca an iPhone, not even in high school. If you ever wants one, I’ll just tell him to get a job and buy one himself.

Maybe if he somehow doesn’t need a phone down the line, I will buy him a phone. Or just try to schedule in such a way that he doesn’t need a phone.

The future is physical

whenever Seneca plays well at the park, is running around good, going on hikes with me etc.… I feel overjoyed. The days I feel bad is when it is raining outside, and we can’t go out.

Ultimate privilege of any child or human being or adult is the privilege of being physical. The privilege of walking 30,000 steps a day, the privilege of interacting in the real world. Let us think, if you’re real life was an RPG, would you want to be stuck in your apartment all day, or conquering the real world?

ERIC

PHOTOGRAPHY IS UNIVERSAL.

SANDBOX THINKING.

So a really really cool thing that I got and downloaded for Seneca, currently him at three years old, one months old… This came and physics app called “Poly Bridge 2“.

first, it is super cool because there is the sandbox mode, which he loves, and I also find pretty incredible.

Essentially it is a physics simulator; and it is real. For myself, I have very very fond memories of discovering this game as a child, I think initially on Windows 95, on my first Acer aspire computer which was called I think “the incredible machine”.

Anyways, what I find so fun in the sandbox mode is that you have unlimited money, unlimited resources, an unlimited budget, and the whole joy of the game is just doing these physics experiments, to see what will happen!

Real life is also just physics experiments?

Surprisingly, my most memorable and favorite class of all time in high school, I will still never forget it… Was my honors physics class. It was probably the most difficult, mathematically arduous class I’ve ever taken, because it was honors class, I think I might’ve gotten a B or B minus in the class, which still counts as a “A”–

Also pro tip strategy for any highschoolers out there; it is better to take all AP honors classes, and get straight B’s, rather than getting straight A’s in normal classes.

Anyways, I really really loved physics, and also my geometry class. Why? I found it very very useful to real life, tied to reality. Almost all other mathematics and science had zero relevance to me, my personal interests, etc.

What is the big problem here?

I think the reason why Seneca loves the Poly Bridge 2 game constructor game, is that it is tied in with real physics. It is everything that he loves; planes, bridges, physics, cars, elevations ramps etc. Even with his off the grid balancing bike, one of his favorite things to do is to go up steep ramps, and also up in cross bridges. Real life, real physics is the ultimate fun thing for a kid.

Kid fun

I was born in 1988, and I suppose I grew up in the 90s. Something that got really really popular out of the sudden was rollerblading, in-line rollerblading, in-line skating, and I was really really good at it. I was insanely good at rollerblading, and I eventually got into what they call “aggressive in line skating”– imagine Tony Hawk or skateboarding but for rollerblades.

Anyways, it also tied into the fact that surprisingly, I am also insanely good at ice-skating, which is very uncommon, I am very happy and grateful that when I was a kid, my mom actually took me to go ice-skating a lot. As a consequence, I can get backwards, Skate backwards on my toes, do 360s, backwards, etc. I can essentially do a lot of stuff like Michelle Kwan.

Also, I’m actually really really good at skiing. Even as a young kid, Aussie able to do black diamond, double black diamond, no problem. I only backtrack when suddenly snowboarding got really cool, and I felt lame doing skiing, and I tried to switch. Worst decision of my life. The same thing goes with trying to get into skateboarding, it never really made sense to me, I can never really do an Ollie or anything.

Think Physics

A quadrillion fold, the most important thing to consider with physics, thinking Aristotle, first principles thinking, etc.;

The first principles line of thinking — beyond basic social norms is this: “is it possible from a physics perspective? Is there anything about the rules of physics which prevents this from happening or becoming or manifesting as reality?

The more I look and consider cyber truck, and the reason why I find it so insanely innovative is that it seems to defy all the rules of physics, but, it still works just fine.

Disrupt reality

I’ve been seeing a lot more cyber trucks in reality, in the wild, and whenever I see it, the more I look at it, the more I see it, the more I love it!

The basic thinking and logic is that I really think it is the most innovative, most beautiful, greatest and the most grand creation I have ever witnessed in my whole life. I think it might be the only car I will ever consider purchasing, now that I am a bitcoin millionaire.

I think the reason why it is such a big deal is that it really disrupts reality. Think visually, we have been trained and indoctrinated, and accustomed to the fact that cars must be round, curved, whatever. I think this is why the Lamborghini Countach Was such a big deal was it seemed to defy physics and reality. If anything the way I look at cyber truck is that it is a Lamborghini Countach on steroids.

Buy cybertruck, not a loser Lamborghini

Break necks

A phrase that get from my brother-in-law John Narciso, one of the head designers for black rhino, wheel pros, all the cool off roaring overland vehicles is this notion of “breaking necks.”

The general idea is when you have a car that is so hot sexy or whatever, people will break their neck turning around just to catch a glimpse of it. This is cybertruck.

Reality applied

Even with weightlifting, one rep max weightlifting, etc.… My principal concern and interest was essentially, like a glorified physics experiment:

How much can a human body lift?

Certainly without steroids.

ERIC KIM breaks the Internet?

My 1000 pound Atlas lift, so thing I think which will be talked about for years:

First, I do not take steroids. I don’t even consume protein powder or creatine!
Second, I lift weights fasted, which means the only thing I consume before lifting weights or working out or whatever is black coffee, and water.
I use no weightlifting belts, straps, or other accessories. Only chalk.
I am 5‘11“ tall, with a more lean build; I got a six pack, maybe my body fat percentage is around 5%, and I also follow a 100% carnivore diet. I am not one of those fat steroid guys.

Anyways, at my old beloved crunch fitness gym in Garden Grove, I was able to successfully lift 1000 pounds, which is my beloved Texas power squat bar, with 10 plates, a 25, and I think a five and 2.5er on each side.

The regimen was super simple:

Every week, just add 2.5 pounds to each side of the barbell.

Super easy. A very simple straightforward “kaizen” approach.

Back to physics

I think in the early days, they actually called sociology “social physics”. To me this is super interesting because it is true. For example, sidewalk politics, sidewalk confidence: when you’re walking on the sidewalk, there is a certain politicking which happens, whether people make eye contact or not, etc.

A simple suggestion:

You’re walking on the sidewalk in public, always give a head to people who stare at you, or throw up the peace sign.

More physics thinking

Another very simple way to think about things is think body physics. For example, the position of sitting, in terms of pure physics, it is really bad for you. Your metabolism shuts down, your spine compresses, etc. In fact, I believe that the worst modern day melody is Trying to think that sitting is a virtue and a good thing.

Let us consider the Apex capitalist desire: to be seated, sitting down on your butt, in the Lamborghini or whatever. But once again, a true man is standing.

Never rate anybody successful, dominant or strong until you have seen them standing straight up.

How to improve your posture

Probably my new favorite discovery and invention innovation is discovering this 60 pound weight fest that I purchased on Titan.fitness

The reason why it is great is that actually, it has forced me to improve my posture. Because the weights are in the front and the back, it forces me to stain straight up. In fact, instead of all these silly people, “running”– I actually think it is a far more effective exercise to just wear the 60 pound weight vest and just walk around. Better for your muscles, heart rate or whatever etc.

Real life?

Certainly real life is not like a sandbox in the video game. You cannot build a bridge in 30 seconds, you cannot erect a skyscraper in a minute.

What is your control what is not in your control?

To me I think the most interesting and disruptive notion of bitcoin, and crypto is that it is like dematerialized digital property, assets, wealth and capital. I think as of right now, my best definition of bitcoin is digital capital.

What is the best use of capital?

Certainly the first is for your own physiological greatness and grandeur. Any portion of your life and which you have to sit on your butt stuck in traffic, is patently bad. It doesn’t matter if you’re in the Rolls-Royce, a self driving Tesla, or even in a cybertruck.

What is the secret to happiness, or living a happy life in LA?

Never spend more than five minutes driving a day in LA.

I can easily rate my overall physical health, happiness levels based on the amount I drive every single day. The days I never have to jump into my Prius, I am the happiest.

So what should I do?

I think the best way to approach life is to just effort, just try it out, take the small financial risk or whatever, try it out, and figure it out as you go.

For example, I think now I’m living here in LA, Culver City for now five months… In the first two or three months, even now… Figuring out how to live a virtuous life here has been novel.

I think the slow transition from life in the suburbs to life in a cosmopolitan city has been tricky; I’m figuring it out good things and bad things, good strategies bad strategies on the way.

Difficulties and annoyances are good information

Typically when things annoy you, make you angry or whatever… Treated like good information. I think often the big problem we face is when we just let these annoyances grate us, without actually doing anything to change it.

So a simple life strategy:

When something annoys you in life, use that information to switch things up!

I think the loser mentality of life is to keep sitting on your button and complain about things, without actually changing anything your physical reality.