A simple line of thinking, towards living the best and most virtuous life:
Just get your ass outside!
Thinking heroes
The first thought is in regards to heroes; what would a hero do, what would a hero not do? 
First, no hero in their right mind would just stay at home.
Perhaps the primary issue we have at hand is that simply, we are wearing the wrong clothes. Clothing is akin to armor; I think myself I have made this mistake many many times.  I think the optimal is to consider this:
Better to over-pack, better to over-prepared, better to wear lots of layers, and simply take it off, when you get too hot.
Better to be over hot than under cold?
In regards to heat temperature and humidity; the funny thing is in the Iliad, weather climate is almost never mentioned. The only thing really mentioned is when the rosy morning wakes up, and then when the sun goes down, and then everyone retreats back to the camp, to feast.
Maybe this is what made the Mediterranean so ideal in terms of military combat and to conquest– it never really gets that hot, and also, it never gets that cold.
Living in Los Angeles, is often very confusing because it is very difficult to predict how to dress. Sometimes it is insanely cold, and then suddenly sometimes out of nowhere, the sun comes up.
Perhaps then, the ideal wardrobe is to just wear a lot of clothes and lots of layers, and when it gets too hot, just throw it back into your backpack. 
Visions
Lots of recent turbo thoughts: 
1. Bitcoin is a really big deal:
Honestly at this point, now that bitcoin has stabilized at around $70,000 a bitcoin, and it has been already around for over a decade, I’m pretty sure it’s here to stay. I was recently looking back at my accounting and finances, and I’m very happy that I first got into bitcoin at $7000 a coin, back in 2022. Honestly at this point, I consider it a very low risk investment, and it is only going to go uphill from here.
Also, bitcoin is the first native digital currency for the internet. I think the greatest innovation is thinking about the satoshi; the very very small fraction of a bitcoin, which can be used for micro, and also nano transactions. I’m actually currently formulating some ideas of creating the first bitcoin backed photography sharing platform; if you’re interested in collaborating shoot me an email at eric@erickim.com
2. Tech thoughts
Some technology thoughts I’ve been working through include the following:
First, the human joy and delight in the environment. I think all weightlifters, bodybuilders, photographers, human beings will benefit from nature, hiking, the mountains. I think one of the greatest blessings of living in Los Angeles is that there are lots of mountain hikes, so close by. Plus you got Malibu, the Pacific Palisades, and the Huntington library and botanical Gardens are just a stone throw away! 
First, I think there is a deep connection between men and the environment. For example, no one would want to be a trillionaire, if you were forced to live inside the hood, or worse, live in a parking lot garage for the rest of your life.
Still… it looks like we like greenery, blue skies, blue oceans, the sun!
ALO (air, land, ocean)
I think the reason why Los Angeles is so appealing to many is that in theory we have everything. The water, the ocean, the sky, the ideal climate.
Truth be told, it gets very dark and gloomy here and cold… but still, compared to the rest of the world, Los Angeles is paradise.
People complain about the traffic, but people often have the wrong analogy; the reason why it is so trafficky is that everyone wants to be here, because it is the best. Kind of like living in London, London traffic etc. 
I think the very very simple way to live virtuously in Los Angeles is to plan your life around traffic. The upside of being self-employed, just drive during off peak hours; and also, upside of being a weekend warrior, mixture you use the weekend to drive out further, to go exploring, go to hikes, etc.
3. Movie analogies for real life?
I finally watched Dune part II, and I loved it! Definitely top five new favorite movies of all time. The worm riding scene was phenomenal; Denis V is a genius!
Follow the director, not the actors nor the series.
I think what is so fascinating about Dune is the pseudo religiosity embedded within it. Notions of the Lisan-al-gaib, prophecies, etc.… the metaphors of Christianity, the prophet, the Messiah, Middle Eastern cultures etc. is really fascinating. 
First, let us consider Paul Atriedes. I’m quite certain that Paul was named after Saint Paul the apostle. Similar themes in the Matrix movie, NEO, the one, Trinity, the holy Trinity etc.… Lots of Christian, christianic themes here. 
Perhaps the reason why so many millennials and yuppies are so into these weird moon and horoscope stuff is that they’re lacking religion in their life. 
And perhaps, a sociological insight; maybe having some sort of religion in your life is critical, otherwise you fall victim to weird other consumerist religions, like the cult of Apple, the cult of Tesla Elon Musk and going to Mars, the cult of money, the cult of capital etc.
Let us consider even the ancient Greeks, religion or their notion of religion and the gods was a critical part of their being.
I suppose the nuance is that the way the ancient Greeks thought of religion and the gods was very very different than the modern Judeo Christian notion we have of religion. Perhaps I’m going to study a little bit more about ancient Greek notions of the gods etc.
4. Lowered cybertruck?
The other day, I saw a funny sight; somebody traded in a cybertruck at the Culver City Toyota dealership, and I was able to inspect it up close in real life.
The first thought I had was if you think about the roof line, the fastback design in the back, and overall proportions, it is almost like a modern day Lamborghini Countach, the ultimate wedge design. And then a funny thought; if you took a cybertruck, and you lowered it, and you slammed it, in theory it is the ultimate sportscar design. 
Anyways, still… the cybertruck is the best thing to have happened in car design perhaps the last hundred years. Even when I went to the Peterson automotive museum with Seneca, seeing an original Bugatti from the 1920s, in all black blew my mind. They were able to engineer phenomenal things over 100 years ago, why is it that all the modern car design is so lame? 
Anyways, if I were to get any modern day car, it would definitely be a cybertruck, maybe I would do a matte orange wrap on it. 
Also the good thing about the cyber truck, seeing it compared to all these other pick up trucks, it is actually not that big; I was a bit dubious, but I think it would be manageable to park in Los Angeles!
5. Other tech thoughts
So it looks like Apple Vision Pro, the initial enthusiasm and the novelty factor has died off. A bad sign; meeting some head directors of video game companies, they haven’t even bothered to try it out!
I think video games are a fascinating analogy for real life, because I think essentially… video games are a true metaphor for what we would really like to do in real life, our ideals.
For example, the new assassins Creed is out on iPad and iPhone Pro; I think in someways, people like the idea of becoming the assassin. To just explore the real city, to parkour around, to do real life world exploration.
Let us consider, if you were the assassin of assassin’s creed… Would you just be at home all day, watching Netflix, and staying inside your apartment? Probably not.
6. So What’s the point of life?
I think what a lot of people think is what is the point of life.
When you say point, the point of life… do you mean to say purpose, telos?
First, the reality is that you were born, you had a mother and father, you are alive. And ultimately it is up to you how you decide to direct your biological energy and power, to do what you desire to do.
The very very simple thought is the purpose of sex, sexual intercourse, men and women is to procreate and have children.
It seems that out of all this nonsense about gender and sex politics, nobody is talking about the kids! 
I think overall, modern day consumerism, nobody really wants to have kids anymore. They would just prefer to have dogs, travel to Japan, eat sushi or whatever. But I think this type of hedonistic living actually making people sad and miserable. People do not have purpose to living in life, and I think this is actually what gives people existential dread. Once you have a kid, life becomes very very straightforward and simple, and improved. There is no longer any sort of existential dread, raising your kid is the ultimate joy.
7. The ultimate tragedy?
I think the ultimate tragedy is when you have the elderly, older men, older women, without any kids, or with kids but no grandchildren… to me this is very sad.
For example, I think generally speaking, the notion of generational wealth, generational power, or to extend your power, across centuries, across generations… this is what people desire.
I think the reason why people invest in real estate property… Is that they want to build generational wealth.
“Generational wealth, that’s the key. I started off with shit so that shift started with me“– JAY Z
Why generational wealth?
Thinking centuries ahead is difficult; and also, a little bit novel in the sense that you think the question:
What’s the point of the purpose of building up wealth, for future generations, when you yourself cannot enjoy yourself?
For example, a lot of individuals live their lives, make money in order to spend it. They want to spend money, like buying a Lamborghini and giving themselves driving pleasure or whatever. Once again, much modern capitalism and consumerism is focused on hedonism:
The more money you make, the more money you spend on things, the more pleasure it will give you.
I think the reason why this line of thinking is a bit wrong is that if you think about your bodily synapses, there is a certain upper limit of hedonistic pleasure one can have. I think this is where people get into really weird drugs, in order to heighten their hedonistic pleasures.
In fact, pleasure is not the purpose of life. I think the purpose of life is to augment power, your power. How does one do this?
1. Having kids:
In the will to power, Nietzsche has this vision that in the future, families with multiple male children will be given benefits. I think the reason why so many men desire to have at least one son is that they want a new patriarch, a new king of the family to continue their lineage. I think a lot of people make the foolish optimization of earning a bunch of money, during their lifetime… but ultimately the best custodian of your economic power and wealth is your children, not some strangers or committee.
2. Physical, physiological power:
If you looked at all the marketing material for cars, objects and stuff… typically they tend towards the more muscular, the more aggressive, etc. For example, I think the reason why it is so fascinating to study the psychology of men who desire certain cars is that it shows the ideals they have for themselves. Example, people want to be louder, more aggressive, the appeal of loud exhaust or tailpipes. Or they want to feel more big and dominant, if you think about the lifted trucks, overlanding vehicles etc.
However, my personal thought and belief is that instead of wasting all that money in an external avatar which is your car, or vehicle… Don’t you recognize that your own human body is the ultimate vehicle? The ultimate thing to upgrade? 
The simple thought is if you want to expand your wingspan, your stance, your fenders, fender flares or whatever… just eat more meat, eat more steak, more beef, more dietary cholesterol, more organ meats, more beef liver etc.
In terms of height, unfortunately you cannot make yourself taller, but what you could do is stand more upright. For example, a 5 foot 5 man who stands upright, chest up actually looks more confident and dominating than a 6 foot 2 men, who is hunched over. therefore I suggest, the first thing you could do is fix your posture.
How do you fix your posture? I think it comes down to practice, and also maybe your shoes. Just buy some Vibram five finger shoes, and practice standing really upright, walk a lot, quite a lot of hiking, don’t use your phone.
Also, practice doing exercises which are about standing upright, and walking. For example, Farmer’s walks, deadlift walk, squat walk, yoke walk etc. Any sort of exercise which involves walking and standing upright is good.
3. Economic power & wealth
If I think about money, what exactly is money? It is your human labor, your physiological power embedded and imputed into a thing.
For example, the genius and brilliance of bitcoin is that there is so much energy and power imputed into a bitcoin.
People for a while was saying all this nonsensical stuff about bitcoin is bad for the planet blah blah blah, but what is really bad for the planet? Air conditioning, washing machines. The electricity output of air conditioning alone is at least 100,000 times worse than bitcoin production.
Also, most of the bad news about bitcoin mining was from mainland China, in which bitcoin miners, would use cheap coal to fuel bitcoin production, but the nuance is this–
Why do Americans care that mainland China was using coal to pollute her own environment?
For Americans who have never been to developing countries… We have never actually smelled or tasted pollution… You start to think and realize:
The upside of being an American is that all of your lovely iPhones are produced elsewhere, which pollutes a foreign country and a foreign place, while you yourself enjoy your beautiful devices and your clean air.
Even consider, really rich mainland Chinese families, none of them want to live in Beijing or Shanghai, even if they had all of the Rolls-Royce’s in the world. They all eventually buy a house in Vancouver somewhere with clean green air, and the aspire their children to start a life in America.  
I think the difficult thing is getting your wealth out of the country. For example, China, mainland China knows that the smart and rich mainland Chinese people want to take their wealth out of the country, and eventually go to America or somewhere else. Let us consider; that all the rich mainland Chinese people send their kids to study at American universities? The opposite does not happen; rich Americans do not send their kids to study Beijing or Shanghai, no. Rich mainland Chinese people want their kids to study at Harvard or Yale, maybe even UCLA.
Travel
I still haven’t come up with a good definition of traveling, maybe world exploration is a better analogy.
For example, if you thought about real life like a video game, Angkor Wat is such a fastening place. Angkor Wat is essentially the environment and landscape of tomb raider; even the locals in siem reap call the second temple “tomb raider”; I think they film the movie there. 
Anyways, something I’m very excited about is that next year, Cindy Seneca and I will be living in Cambodia for about six months; and I’m also doing an Angkor wat workshop there. 
Essentially I’m starting to become more and more interested in man-made environments, and having this question in my mind:
If your real life was a video game, a real world MMORPG, how would you live life? 
- No car: no true epic video game warrior has a car. Maybe at best of horse, but even that is not necessary. If you are thinking about your life like Diablo, your main character, you just run around.
- Character building? What then is the purpose or ethos of video games, RPGS, MMORPGS? The general idea is towards character building, leveling up, building up your statistics, your strength and your abilities, unlocking new armor weapons, engaging in even greater boss battles. Certainly much of real life is not like that, so then I suppose a bit question at hand is how can you transform your real life to mimic that of a video game?
ERIC KIM CAMBODIA ANGKOR WAT TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY EXPERIENCE 2025
Adventure beckons you:
ERIC KIM TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY ANGKOR WAT WORKSHOP EXPERIENCE (April 24-27th, 2025)
If you desire new frontiers, new adventures, a new you — this experience is for you.
Assignments
- Upload your best photos to arsbeta.com
- Make your own photo blog (bluehost.com) and install WordPress.org
- Buy 60 pound weight vest on Titan.fitness, and go on a long hike with it
- LUMIX S9 looks cool — get it with the new pancake f8 lens?
Films
- DUNE II– watch the extras, buy it in iTunes Tv store.
- Cinema BY KIM
Now what?
Start your own blog, email newsletter ,,, and start publishing the future!
What to study?
Michael Saylor— his website url is brilliant (Michael.com)
Also Bitcoin — hope.com
I’m literally watching all Michael Saylor interviews and podcasts, the man is a genius!
Forward the money
Feeling fire? Forward the turbo!
Beginners mind is best
He who owns the spice (Bitcoin) shall own the universe