Author: erickim

  • BULL.

    The philosophy of becoming a bull:

    First, ideally you would want the physiology of a bull. Big balls, ready to charge.

    Funny thought: to become more like a bull, consume more bulls, aka steaks cows beef? Auction. Feast like the ancient Greeks and the ancient heroes of the Iliad; Hectacombs on hectacombs on hectacombs!

    nobody has lost money on the bitcoin standard if you simply help for four years

    I think being and becoming a role is ignoring short-term noise, thinking about durability longevity, thinking insanely far into the future .

    For example, think about all these pessimists when they thought about Amazon in the early days, or even Tesla in the early days, when the price to earnings ratio was way off. Now it seems like the obvious bet.

    I think the biggest thing that people forget about Jeff Bezos and why he was such a great leader is that he thought really really far ahead, at least 30 years into the future.

    What that then means is that if you want to become a true bull … You want to have iron balls, for at least the next 30 years?

  • Engineered to Win

    The most quickly to adapt to change

    The most quickly adaptable to change:


    Change is an interesting idea. Technically, all is changed. Even if you don’t want to change, you almost cannot help but change.

    For example, consider that like literally every five seconds, something in your body is changing. I don’t know too much about the biology, but I’m quite certain that like probably 1 million 1 trillion times a day, the chemicals electrical circuits, blood, hormones, molecules in our body is constantly changing.

    The funny thing is as long as you’re alive and breathing, even if you don’t force it, this is what naturally happens. For example, you don’t need to force change, or resist change, it just happens. 

    The Bitcoin thought

    So it seems pretty self evident at this point, the bitcoin standard, all bitcoin everything is the wisest idea. For example, the most logical strategy right now is that for your family savings, your family award test, it should be like 100% bitcoin. Bitcoin is the new high-yield savings account, 60% a year.

    Then, if you want to hyper charge your investing and your investments, or even thinking really big for your Roth IRA or your 401K, then what it seems then is Strategy, MSTR (the stock) is the way. I think what I like about having like 100% of our Roth IRA in strategy MSTR is that I’m like a quadrillion times certain that by the time I retire at 65, or become 65, I’m like 37 now… In 30 years I’m like 1000% certain it will be up. By a lot.

    Game theory

    So I recently watched a presentation that the “Fiatello” guy did for Strategy, and he mentions game theory. And also… Watching the Dylan LeClair interview for bitcoin treasuries, Dylan also talks about game theory.

    The general idea is that on a long enough time span, if then what Cynthia Lummis says,  the US dollar is actually designed and engineered to inflate  buy 2 to 3% a year, although in reality it’s probably more like 15% a year. I think rather than looking at government statistics, just look at the price of eggs and beef.

    Kind of a unrelated note, but there is currently an egg crisis happening in LA, because of some sort of chickenpox or something. Anyways, like literally overnight 99.9% of the egg supply was wiped out due to potential salmonella poisoning, I don’t even think you can even get eggs at Costco right now. There is also currently an egg ration at Trader Joe’s, only one pack per family per visit.

    Anyways, this becomes interesting to me because if you think about a world of imperfect money, or things which are engineered to fail, or you think about things which are engineered to win,  if you think about this in a long enough time span, 10 2030 years 50 years 100 years etc.… 300 years from now, I think 300 years from now is a good time span because you can at least think about your kids kids kids, what is going to win?

    21 million coins, hard cap forever… This is so fascinating.

    Flywheel

    So an interesting idea that Michael Saylor gives is this idea of strategy being like a huge flywheel. For example if you just take like a 1 pound weight and you spin it quickly, it is an interesting child’s toy. But if you turn that into 100,000 ton Stainless steel wrecking ball, and then you start to rotated at 10,000 RPM, it becomes a lethal war machine.

    Turbo lag

    So one thing that I have always been fascinated with is turbochargers. In fact, my dream as a 16-year-old was to turbocharge my 1991 Sentra SE-R, which by stock is powered by the formidable SR20DE engine.,, so when you turbocharge it it would become a SR20DE-T engine —

    But what is really fascinating about a turbo charger is this issue of physics, the turbo lag. What a turbo lag is is when you stomp on the pedal, there is a short delay before it goes into full speed. What that then means is that in order to achieve higher high speed of velocity, You sacrifice a short term throttle response for a longer term gain.

    For example think about quarter mile times. If you have a turbo charged car, your 0 to 60 speed is much slower, however your quarter mile speed is much quicker.

    What do you want?

    I think the quarter miles is probably a better indicator of performance than the 0 to 60 speed.  but also, none of these are probably a good marker because races are not linear —  typically a real race car goes through turns and winds, ups and downs, etc.  Certainly there are drag races, but still, at the end of the day the synthetic measures of performance are really not that necessary.

    So if you think that you are a nation or a nation state, once again thinking about short term performance is not a good one. Why? A nation nation state should at least be thinking 300 or 1000 years from now.

    Why so long into the future? Well simply because I think a nation or a nation state, what we truly desire is to last forever. Ideally, the United States of America would be around forever into perpetuity, well at least another thousand or 2000 years. Sooner or later at least in terms of like 100 billion years into the future, certainly we are going to go extinct sooner or later, but ideally we could strive to last longer.

    Longevity durability is the goal 

    Switching up my philosophy on fitness, I’m really into this idea of outdoor fitness. The general idea is that life is made for outside, not the indoor gymnasium.  as a consequence, our life decisions and our training should simply be done in such a manner that we train for outdoors, we live outdoors, we think outdoors. 24 seven 365 outdoor military training.

    I think the reason why a lot of these aspiring bodybuilder or weightlifters or powerlifters, they fail because by taking steroids they essentially not only shrink their balls, but they increase their short term performance, for the sake of becoming impotent and not being able to bear children or fruit even beyond their 40s and 50s. My personal ideal is to have a six pack at the age of 80, or 85, and my goal is to also keep lifting weights until I die. I probably will not be able to lift 1000 pounds when I am 120 years old, but still… Aiming for longevity is great. Because even if you miss the mark, at least you can still get close.

    Nothing is meant to last forever

    Certainly nothing is meant to last forever, but that doesn’t mean that we cannot strive.

    I think infinite durability is and should be the goal.  Therefore some new ways in which I am trying to approach fitness is toward this holy Grail;

    Simple thoughts:

    1. Stretching warming up, flexibility and ligament bone tendon strength and mobility is the bedrock and foundation of all fitness. And actually in fact, if you want to lift 20% more weight, optimizing for these factors is supreme.
    2. Think about even distribution, and also, exercises which encourage movement walking, on your own two legs. Yoke walk,yoke lift, atlas lift, Farmer’s carry, neutral grip dead lift trap bar hex bar, neutral grip rack pull. For a long time I’ve focused on mixed grip for my dead lift in right pool, but now that I am starting to get in 1000 pound territory, maybe the wise thing is to get some straps for me to focus on pulling neutral grip, in order to prevent myself from putting too much strain and pressure on one knee, which for me happens to my right side, when I’m going very very heavy.
    3. Ultimately walking is the number one goal. More recently, I am so inspired by Seneca, who loves to take the bus and the metro everywhere. and ultimately when push comes to shove, simply having the strength to carry Seneca, he’s 41 pounds now, with the heavy backpack full of books, to and from the Metro stop is a new goal.

    Clothes

    Also in terms of clothing, certainly nothing is meant to last forever. But because… Somethings are just too fragile, like for example I’ve gone through like at least 10 pairs of long 100% merino wool leggings, and honestly I’m just tired of continually purchasing new ones. Even though I could afford it.

    And also, a random other… I think this thought also applies to cars vehicles and also your beloved iPhone. Think about it… The iPhone is engineered to only be really really good for a year or two. If you just think about this from a macro perspective, Not only is it impossible for an iPhone to last you 50 years, or even more… There is no smart phone which can actually improve overtime.  certainly there are certain things like software upgrades, which do improve your phone, but from a hardware physics perspective, impossible.

    Also, in terms of a car or a vehicle, durability is your best bet. For example… Pride in my 2010 Prius, this thing will last me like 1,000,000 miles. It does not get better overtime, but it certainly doesn’t get outdated that quickly. Even what I love about the model is that there is no stupid touchscreen, Which means there is fewer distractions for me on the road.

    Even if you think a lot about these modern cars, that have all touchscreen, the big issue here is that the touchscreen technology even if you get the newest model of the car is already outdated! If your screen is not up to part with the latest iPad Pro it sucks.

    Even I am so shocked with Tesla cars come out how quickly they get outdated. Like for example the new new Tesla model Y that looks like a baby cyber truck, it already looks like at least 20 times better than the current Tesla model Y. As a consequence, There is like zero to little incentive at least for me to buy a Tesla because I know that it will get outdated so quickly.

    I think the only logical strategy is to then only ever lease a Tesla because you know within three years it will get outdated and you won’t want the newest new version.

    Or even better yet, take all that money that you would waste in the lease or financing and just put into bitcoin, or micro strategy stock, which will be accretive, not dilutive. 

    I think then from a simple strategy, it seems that at least for iPhones, just find the simplest cheapest model is best. For example the new iPhone E that came out ,,, E for ERIC ha ha, certainly this is the new goat. And actually when I think about the progression of three lenses to two lenses to one lens, sublime simplification. The simplest is actually the most desirable. 

    Simpler is superior

    What I love about bitcoin is that you cannot simplify it any further. End of the road.

    If you kept simplifying something and stripping away all the superfluous elements, at least in the digital realm, bitcoin is the only bet. Why? Pure digital energy, which has footprints in the physical realm, because you have to mine it with analog energy, but once it is mined, it exists in cyberspace forever.

    Nothing is forever besides bitcoin. 

    Expanding your time preference

    Even a super annoying thing… Getting the newest iPad Pro M4 chip, it bends? Before going to Mexico, I shoved it in my backpack, over full with a lot of stuff, and it actually structurally bent the iPad Pro, and now, it has this insanely annoying permanent curve and Bend? I guess the upside of this happening is that once again, the realization that nothing is meant to last forever.  Not only that but nothing is engineered to last forever , besides bitcoin. 

  • Perceptions.

    So more recently inspired by Cindy, I’ve been reading more books by Thich Nhat Hanh, these wonderful little Zen meditation books made from parallax press in Berkeley.

    Anyways, two of my favorite books are “how to see” as well as “how to walk.” For me, those two things make up like 80% of my being. My passion of seeing, photography, and the visual arts,  as well as walking, the source and insight of all my intelligence.

    Why?

    The reason why I quit the news, and don’t follow any news is because honestly, it is all based on false perceptions and false reality.

    For example, people seem to lack the ability to have subtlety and nuance. For example, it is much easier to paint somebody as left right or even moderate… Rather than allowing people complexity specialty and nuance.

    For example, things that kind of confuse people; to be a left-wing liberal Democrat, yet be pro Donald Trump? Or, the idea of being a right wing conservative Republican, yet being anti guns. or being pro gay and lesbian and bisexual rights, yet being anti transgender hormonal injections.

    Complexity.

    Humans are complex, and we put them into bubbles. And also, it seems that a lot of our distress and suffering or annoyance is come when we spend too much time thinking about other people. I have an interesting ethical idea;

    Modern day society teaches us that it is virtuous to care about the emotions the feelings and the well-beings of others.  Get this over obsession with other people is actually what causes the seeds of ignorance and mis conception.

    Therefore, my antidote is to instead, become more self-centered, more self focused, and more autistic. 


    Even seeking to understand yourself takes too much time 

    Know yourself, know thyself. 

    In our short lives, it is already almost too much to seek or to strive to understand yourself. Let alone others.

    For example, things which are a waste of time; man seeking to understand woman, and also… Woman seeking to understand man. Because our hormones are like at least 100,000 times different, the one will never understand the other. But instead, the more constructive thing is to understand the reality that we are different, and to strive to work to operate in the same direction.

    Blue angels philosophy

    A random thing that I watched, one of the coolest things I’ve seen, certainly cooler than top gun because it is actually real, is watching the blue Angels. There are great new IMAX 3-D film that just was shown at the California science center which I had the privilege of watching.

    The general idea is that you take the best of the best, the six top elite pilots from the entire Navy Air Force, can you teach them to fly as one.

    There are two remarkable formation; the first is the diamond, in which there are four fighter jets, in a perfect diamond shape, nearly knows to nose, in the front, left and right and the rear.

    Then the final formation, the perfect Delta. When you have two solo fighter jets number five and six, finish up the rear left and the rear right, and it gets so so close like 6 to 12 inches apart, and it is like they are a perfect spade flying together.

    They practice like 12-18 hours a day, 223 flights today, for like six months straight. And they are certainly at a point in which they have like a mind met, they’re 120% faithful of one another. And this is critical because they are flying so close together, even one small movement will mean the death of potentially one or two pilots, or all seven. I think there’s been a total of 26 blue angel deaths in their career.

    Family delta force

    Back in Providence when I was working out at the local park, and I met some military guys, and asking them who the toughest were, he said Delta force. So currently the living situation I have at the crib is me Cindy and Seneca, that is four of us in total.

    I suppose I am at the front, Cindy is at the rear, and Seneca and my mom on the left and right. Later we will figure out how to add number five and six.

    Anyways, the goal is for us to fly together as one unit in the same direction. And misconceptions misperceptions etc.,  could actually lead to death.

    Once again, you’re kind of need to must have the visual of all fighter jets, stacked on top of each other, and literally as a spectator you hold your breath, because even the smallest movement will mean that for the whole formation.

    And once again, you gotta practice like 12-18 hours a day, no interruption, hard-core full, constant drilling and practice. Also, I think this is where the military interest is that technically at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter and it may be seen as a “waste of time”, or resources. Because there’s about like 155 full-time staff who make this all possible as well.

    And this is what I personally find fascinating; the idea is that when you take a bunch of people and have them commit to one singular goal, even though it may seem like a waste of time and resources, amazing things can happen.

    Your own personal training

    Also another thought is that what we tend to be missing from modern day life, especially once you finish high school and college, is that it is difficult to find a tribe, or better yet be a leader. In modern day life, once you hit your 20s mid 20s late 20s, 30s 40s etc.… Social structures fall apart. There is no more union of society because we are all seen as a bunch of individuals.

    But what is the problem? When you have a bunch of people acting at solo individuals, rather than considering the fact that they are in fact, all part of the same Delta formation, people become strange, detached, lack of sense of purpose and direction? Does this insipidus March towards Consumerism, individualism via superficial fashion options, and superficial forms of differentiation.

    But what if instead of trying to strive to become more apart, the goal is actually to become more collective, … kind of like think of King Leonidas in his 300? 

    Why has collectivism fallen apart?

    Good question; it seems natural that to be together makes sense. Why then has it become an ethos that everyone seeks to try to go solo?

    I think in terms of consumerism, it is more profitable this way. If everyone is trying to become their own rockstar on social media, certainly this will feed the algorithm and the monetization of the company. And the way that the news works is that the more division and conflict and clicks you get, the more money is being made.

    Therefore if you think about it from structural level, there is no financial incentive to promote peace reconciliation and mutual understanding, and mutual flourishing. 

    Happier

    For example, even though I don’t go to the gym anymore, looking back… It’s a little bit weird that all these guys are trying to compete with one another, once again… Assuming that we were all alpha males, we were all part of the same Spartan 300, and that we are all training together to fight on the million Persians, against King Xerxes, shouldn’t the general idea be that we are all rooting one another along?

    Winning together?

    Once again, thinking that we are all a unified friend, rather than antagonists?

    And this is a hard thing with diplomacy; easy to paint good guys and bad guys, but doesn’t everyone want mutual peace, cease-fires, and no more killing?