Author: erickim
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The Key to Happiness?
Quick thoughts:
First, happiness it is a physiological phenomenon. What that means is happiness should not be seen as related to money, external goods and objects, cars homes etc. Rather, climate, sunlight, exposure to the sun, I wonder if a lot of these people who experience seasonal affected this disorder is just this bad Modern day phenomenon in which everyone is just stuck indoors, or at home all day.
The problem with working from home
Observing some of my apartment mates, and other people I witness working from home, or just the modern day office worker, the big problem in issue here is that when you work from home, people become strange.
For example, I know one of my apartment maids, spending too much time at home he becomes strangely weird, suspicious, almost like the typical scared person who lives in the suburbs.
Also, just peering into the apartments of others, they spent too much time sedentary, too much time sitting on the couch, on the laptop, long back on the couch on their phone, watching baseball and hockey and football, essentially, watching other people be active.
The panacea
My intervention and idea is very simple: perhaps everyone should just have an iPhone Pro, an iPad Pro, with some sort of 5G connection, preferably Verizon, and everyone should just work off the grid. This means people could just work in the great outdoors, at the local nature center or park, And also I think people should have the courage to do boring zoom calls while going on a hike.
I was at the Baldwin Hills overlook hike path on the top, and actually saw a girl walking her dog and practicing her lines for some sort of actress script. Very good idea.
SAD?
Essentially seasonal effectiveness disorder is a phenomenon in which one is lacking contact with the direct sun and UV rays. The strange bias in two days world is that somehow, we are all afraid of the sun, afraid of getting sunburnt, skin cancer, all these harmful UV rays etc. But I think these concerns are over warranted; certainly you spend 12 hours in the direct sun, in subsea in Africa, totally naked, that is probably not a good idea. The visual I get is the emperor in the Apple TV series foundation, in which he does his funny pilgrimage, in the desert planet, and his body totally becomes all red and toasted.
My practical thoughts; maybe it is better to live a shorter life, get skin cancer or whatever, and be happy during that duration, rather than living a long and miserable life. 
Natural vs not natural?
I am still a little bit suspicious of sunblock and sunscreen. Maybe it is good when you spent all day at the beach, but for typical every day activities, maybe not a good idea. I wonder if the downside of sunblock and sunscreen is that it actually positively prevent your body from absorbing positive UV radiation from the sun.
I suppose if one is really really concerned you could just buy one of those funny hiking hats from REI, put on a facemask and totally cover up your whole body.
Skin face?
Another bias between men and women; traditionally in a lot of cultures in the world, especially Asia and Korea, whiteness is perceived as superior. Why? It was a status thing; the poor peasants had to work in the fields, while the royalty were able to stay indoors out of the sun.
In fact, many cultures around the world see the same; in India and south Asia, the elite area Indians on top, more light skinned, and seen as more more good. The darker, untouchables… were seen as bad, evil, base.
If you read the book of man who, the way that he talks about the untouchable; pretty bad. The idea is that  they are only permitted to bathe in unclean waters, they could only eat with their left hand, and they are only given rotten food, onions to eat. In ancient Hindu text, and the cast system in India; they are very mercurial about it, no hard feelings.
Aryans are on top, untouchables on bottom.
Back to the sun
Being here in LA, I find that the happiest people are the “beach buns “. What is a beach bomb? Somebody who lives in Malibu, and just spend all day surfing at the beach. Even about a week or two ago, we saw a bunch of students, Undergraduates girls and guys, all at the beach, having a great and jolly time, and all eventually stripping down to their swimwear and running into the water together. It was actually a very beautiful sight. 
LA people can be happier
One thing I love about LA is for the most part, the sun is up all year round. I suppose the upside of LA versus Arizona and Nevada is that while LA has a lot of sun, it never gets too hot. Apparently in Arizona and Nevada during the summer months, it is literally untenable to be out in the sun. Therefore you become the more people, staying indoors with air-conditioning.
Why were the ancient Greeks so productive and happy?
I think the ancient Greeks were so productive and happy because their climate was perfect. With a mild Mediterranean weather, it never gets too hot nor too cold. Apparently in the mountainside it could get pretty cold, but never like Minnesota.
If you think about it, all of the barbarian races from the past, the goths, visigoths etc — there are barbarism comes from the fact that they had to deal with such cruel weather. Also think about the Germans, the dramatic tribe; if you have ever spent a winter in Berlin, you will know how miserable it is. That is why the rent is so cheap.
How to live happy in LA
I think Peter Thiel moved down to LA, and actually one of my great gratitude and life was moving to LA, getting into UCLA as an undergraduate. Why?
First, students are just way happier. I still remember when I was maybe a freshman or a sophomore, walking around and down Bruun walk, in the middle of December, and you see all these girls and booty shorts and tank tops and spaghetti strap tank tops.
As a guy, this is great! And also, typically when the sun is out, people are happy and in a good mood.
Why are college students so happy?
My theory on why college students are so happy is that for the most part, most undergraduates don’t own cars, and their lifestyle is 100% pedestrian. Being in university is like a pseudo Utopia; you meet new friends, you hang out, you feel unhurried and unrushed, and you are also not yet corrupted by the external world, no concerns about making money and paying rent, etc.
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HOW TO BECOME HAPPIER
Simple — mostly via negativa:
- Quit reddit– I actually wonder if reddit is worse for you than porn. Funny thought — don’t quit porn, quit reddit instead.
- Quit alcohol and weed: just drink black coffee — EK 100% fine robusta. Also another pro tip — don’t drink arabica, just drink 100% robusta. Why? Less sugar content and sugar molecules and sweetness flavors — robusta also has more caffeine!
- For coffee — only drink it first thing in the morning — a lot; allow yourself unlimited coffee first thing waking up in the morning. But for the rest of the day… strict abstinence.
- Don’t go to the club, the mall, the strip club whatever. Just go on a (free) hike and start your own home gym instead! Titan fitness independent squat rack— I love it. Also rogue fitness 400 pound sandbag. Texas power squat bar.
- Visit the local museum — LACMA, THE GETTY, GETTY VILLA IN MALBU ETC. The Getty in LA is free!
- Read the classics — Plutarch, Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, Diogenes, Epictetus, Heraclitus, the philosophers who came before Socrates.
Happy exercises and activities
- Buy vibram 5 finger shoes, just black. I like the EL-X model. Just make this your everyday shoe. Wear it to the gym, to work, grocery store, go hiking whatever. Theory — there is more intelligence in your (bare) feet than your hands?
- Intermittent fasting: no breakfast no lunch, only one insanely massive dinner a night. I prefer 100% carnivore diet — aim for 5 pounds of beef/lamb a night. Costco Kirkland boneless lamb leg roast only $5.50 USD a pound, the new Costco wagyu American ground beef also very good– only $5USD a pound.
- Get a Costco membership: buy all your meat, clothes there.
- Stop using Google (free service)– also stop using Gmail. Register your own email (like eric@erickim.com) and no more Gmail. Use the Apple Mail client on your phone or laptop. Better yet,,, uninstall email from your phone. Remember once upon a time it was seen as insanely strange to have work email on your personal private phone?
- Get paid premium ChatGPT — only $20 a month– I get at least $10,000 USD a month of metaphorical value from it every month!
Finances
- Stop buying USD DOLLARS, buy Bitcoin instead. Coinbase.com is easy or the Cash app– owned by Square and Jack Dorsey. Block.xyz as parent company.
- For clothes buy lululemon we made too much clothes — maximum quality, minimal price. Men’s shorts. Also this new ten thousand brand seems cool. Surplus sale.
- Quit going to the gym, go on hikes or just workout at home instead.
- Watch the movie FIGHT CLUB— Tyler Durden — “I don’t have a car!”
Thinking
- When in doubt, delay. Obvious decisions are obvious and should habe ZERO ounces of hesitation! For example with life, lifestyle things, finding a place to live and home — or investing speculations etc — you should have .00000 hesitations before doing something.
- Quit social media, medium, reddit whatever — publish all your comments, reviews etc to your own personal blog!
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HOW TO BECOME HAPPIER
Simple — mostly via negativa:
- Quit reddit– I actually wonder if reddit is worse for you than porn. Funny thought — don’t quit porn, quit reddit instead.
- Quit alcohol and weed: just drink black coffee — EK 100% fine robusta. Also another pro tip — don’t drink arabica, just drink 100% robusta. Why? Less sugar content and sugar molecules and sweetness flavors — robusta also has more caffeine!
- For coffee — only drink it first thing in the morning — a lot; allow yourself unlimited coffee first thing waking up in the morning. But for the rest of the day… strict abstinence.
- Don’t go to the club, the mall, the strip club whatever. Just go on a (free) hike and start your own home gym instead! Titan fitness independent squat rack— I love it. Also rogue fitness 400 pound sandbag. Texas power squat bar.
- Visit the local museum — LACMA, THE GETTY, GETTY VILLA IN MALBU ETC. The Getty in LA is free!
- Read the classics — Plutarch, Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, Diogenes, Epictetus, Heraclitus, the philosophers who came before Socrates.
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BITCOIN PARADISE

Why Bitcoin?
- Everyone knows what it is. Thus it is legible.
- It is cool, hip, and sexy.
- Bright orange as the most attractive color
- It is already here — Bitcoin ATM’s, at gas stations, 7 elevens… and the Cash app already has Bitcoin built into it?
- When people talk about “crypto”, they *mean* to talk about bitcoin.

Bitcoin in ancient Sparta




Spartans in Matte black
CRYPTO BY KIM




Brave new world for photographers and crypto:
- BITCOIN THOUGHTS
- Bitcoin is Sexy
- Fuck the Banks!
- Ethereum?
- Why Chainlink?
- BIG AMOUNTS, SMALL AMOUNTS?
- CRYPTO, CRYPTOCURRENCY THOUGHTS.
- The Philosophy of Crypto
- BITCOIN SHALL BE THE LAST CRYPTO STANDING.
- Bitcoin Price Prediction
- Trust chainlink for the most accurate prices for bitcoin or any other crypto
- BITCOIN
- There is No Web 3.0
- 2 cents to 2 dollars?
- Crypto.com?
- Speculation vs Investing
- Building with Bitcoin
- DYNAMICS VS STATICS.
- How Do You Know if the Timing Is Right?
- BITCOIN IN THE NEWS
- BITCOIN & UNCERTAINTY
- Fake Money
- Why I Bought More Bitcoin (Again)
- How I Made Money with Crypto
- Better to buy Dogecoin then buy a Tesla
- NO LIMITS.
- ALL DIGITAL FUTURE.
- Digital over Physical Possessions
- DIGIBYTE.
- CHAINLINK.
- The Excitement of Starting from Zero
- HAPTIC INDUSTRIES NOW ACCEPTING CRYPTO AND BITCOIN
- In Praise of Crypto
- JUST BUY IT.
- Why I’m So Bullish on Bitcoin
- Bitcoin as the Simplest Cryptocurrency
- Why I bought (more) bitcoin
- Once You Become a Crypto Billionaire, Then What?
- Why Crypto is Under-Hyped
- The Joy of Speculation
- BITCOIN AND CRYPTOCURRENCY FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS
- Why I Bought Bitcoin
- Crypto Photography
- Crypto Thoughts
- On Making Money from Nothing
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Becoming Yourself
In today’s fragile uncertain world… what’s real? What’s important?
Think You
The first thought is you are real, you are important. You are the most critical thing in the world.
One of the big issues in today’s world is that nobody is allowed to posit themselves as an end into themselves. What that means is this:
Typically what people believe is that you must sacrifice yourself, all of your resources whatever for the sake of humanity and other people. One is not allowed to invest all your time resources energy and money into advancing and elevating yourself.
For example, venture capitalists. The goal and purpose and telos is to invest money, seed capital or whatever into these foreign, non-human companies. 
However, companies are not real. Even the notion of company companion is somebody you share bread with.
Why not invest in individuals — real life human beings?
Or better yet, why not invest in yourself?
You is the goal
My personal take is that the problem here is religion, ethics, modern-day religious thinking. Most of the planet is governed by a form of Christianity, Catholicism, Judaism, Islam etc.… even a lot of these “atheist“ people are essentially still in line with the Benjamin Franklin, protestant work ethic mode of living and thinking.
For example, if you look a lot of Caucasian Americans, whose family have been here for several generations, even though they’re not religious, they don’t go to church, they don’t believe in “God”, they still have protestant work ethics; they work hard, they save money, they spend a little bit money on themselves here and there, but for the most part they invest towards their kids their families their communities etc.
Even Fernandinho Galliani on his treatsie on money, DELLA MONETA; he talks a lot about God, the creator, the deity whatever. So even we should take the opinion of Galliani with a grain of salt, because anybody who tries to justify their position by invoking God or whatever– it is typically a sign that their opinion is a bit feeble.
But it’s written in the Bible!
And yes, the Bible is just a mishmash of different early Christian father writers, and if you think about critical theology, or philology… You must understand and realize that this was all written by fallible men. 
How to advance
Honestly, I think the number one critical skill in today’s world or in general is critical thinking. Critical comes from Greek KRITIKOS, which essentially means judge, to judge, to weigh. 
So for example, we often get words a little bit confused. We misconstrue different words like “critic”, “criticism” with hate etc.
For example, we talk about criticism, typically we think of criticism like people just saying bad things about us or concepts etc. But, I think you could be a critic, a loving critic. The art of critique is to simply look at something, more objectively, without any hate or vitriol, and to just judge something for what you think it is. 
For example, somebody who is buried in the annals of history; Tacitus on the Jews // Book 5 the histories of Tacitus. Tacitus, one of the early Roman historians, I think reading him is interesting because honestly, he just states his opinion, gives credit where it is due, gives pros and cons, but also speaks his mind. 
For example, when he is talking about the people of Judea, and is trying to outline them, their cultures etc., he says both the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly. He praises Jewish people for their industry their courage and their power, but also obviously is diametrically opposed to their customs, their beliefs, which were weird foreign and anti-Roman.
In fact, I think if we critically think about Judaism, Jewish people, the descendants of Judea, it seems that the only historical thing we could really understand is that these people were the descendants of Moses. So the best way to think about Judaism as a religion, or even thinking about Christianity is to think that it was essentially a religion invented by Moses, to solidify his people, to strengthen them, And for them to persist.
Think Moses. // professor ISRAEL KHNOHL THEORY – WIKIPEDIA
And also, Islam. Yeah yeah yeah we are all politically correct and whatever, but I think the critical thing is to understand Mohammed as a real life human being, the visions that he got from God were probably just some sort of hallucinations he had while in a cave, and think that the religion of Muhammad, Islam, is essentially a religion invented from a single man, Mohammed.
Religion and politics?
I remember the kid, I was bit confused; growing up Roman Catholic, Korean American, in the liberal Bay area… I was a bit confused that if there was one God, how is it that there were other gods in the world?
Also things which were very confusing to me; Jesus was Jewish?
Also something that I’ve been discovering and rediscovering more recently, learning that in fact, the Bible starts off with the Jewish Hebrew Torah Bible, I think the first three chapters of the typical Christian Bible is just Genesis and the ones in the original Jewish Bible?
Critical thinking
So the reason why we have so many thinkers who are Jewish Jewish American Israeli etc. is that the Jewish culture is slated towards critical introspection, thinking. For example if you’re curious, whenever you see a famous author writer influencer or whatever, just open up ChatGPT, the premium one, and ask whether they are Jewish or not, or the history of their last name.
In fact in one of these anti-Semitic texts which was sponsored by Henry Ford, and Henry Ford was overly anti-Semitic, there is this article titled “the subtle art of changing last Jewish names”, and in fact, studying the genealogy of last names is super interesting because in fact, a lot of these “Jewish” sounding last names are changed in order for Jewish people to assimilate into America, American culture, different countries etc.
For example, John Stewart I believe is Jewish American, and changed his last name to sound more “American”. The same thing goes with the actor Kirk Douglas, whose family immigrated from I think Eastern Europe, Eastern Europe Jewish people, and also changed his name to sound more “American”.
Also a weird fellow, Bob Dylan, I think his original name is Andrew Zimmerman, he is Jewish American. 
Even things that I didn’t know and understand is that Jerry Seinfeld, the whole Seinfeld show, which I watched a lot as a kid of reruns and stuff like that is essentially a story about Jewish American culture in America?
Unchaining yourself from religious, ethical, or moralistic thinking
Who are the best thinkers? The ancient Greeks, the ones who came before Socrates. But still… we should take the opinion of the ancient Greeks with a grain of salt because even them, were greatly influenced by the “gymnosophists“ – gymnos in ancient Greek means naked, essentially imagine these weird hippie naked Indian people from India, who would share their sophistry or their philosophy and thinking with others.
I think a lot of early Greek thinkers like Heraclitus, Democritus etc. their thinking was hugely inspired by the gymnosophists, from India… that is why a lot of these pre-Socratic thinkers have philosophies which sound very Buddhist in nature.
- You never step into the same river twice – Heraclitus
- Even a hair cast its own shadow – Publius Syrus
- The path up and down is the same – Heraclitus
Why is our thinking still so basic? 
OK, it is 2024– we live in insanely advanced world, how is it and why is it that we still think so basic? 
For example, it’s still befuddles me that people still take religion literally — don’t people understand that religion is all just a metaphor?
Assuming that there are no gods, no afterlife, no “immortal soul”, whatever, then the simple question is how do you wish to live your life? 
And also, what are you doing with your life? How are you using your energy time and metabolic resources, to build something beyond yourself?
Health
Health, wellness. How does it matter and what does it mean? 
The first simple thought is the quality of your thoughts, your ambitions your hopes and your dreams, your entrepreneurial spirit is rooted in your health, your body, the physical. No no no, the “mind“, doesn’t exist, it is just a fiction.
> In mens sano, alma sano.
The “soul“, is simply an offshoot of your body. When your body dies, your soul also dies.
If your body is healthy, your bodily composition your health is healthy, your mind will be healthy. People who have mental disease, whatever, the big issue is that their body is sick.
For example, I think about my father and my dad, and he was a very sick man. I have a low-key suspicion that maybe he caught syphilis somewhere? I actually recall that he had a lot of anal issues, and I still remember when I was pretty young, maybe I was 11 years old or 10 years old or nine years old? Then my mom bought him a douche, to clean out his bowels?
A lot of people who have bodily and physiological disease, end up getting mental disease. I think ultimately, I’m not 100% certain, but ultimately my dad I think either got Syphilis or it might have advanced his schizophrenia? Seeing fake images ghosts and visions, etc?
What is schizophrenia?
Schizophrenia I think in Greek just means split mind. This is an overly simplistic way of thinking about the mind because the mind cannot be “split”, according to these basic notions.
My personal theory is when one catches some sort of disease, syphilis, other ancient diseases whatever, it does weird stuff to your mind. Even Friedrich Nietzsche towards the end of his life descended into madness, he lost his mind his body his soul, was taking care of by his sister until his death.
There are some competing theories on how and why Nietzsche went mad. One theory was he was gay and caught syphilis from another guy, and apparently there is a spurious connection or correlation, not causation, of being gay, syphilis, gay sex and syphilis?
I think this is probably false because apparently Nietzsche was madly in love with this one woman, who did not requite his love, and therefore if you look at his writings, he is very very salty about it… therefore a lot of his anti-women misogyny thoughts maybe is because he couldn’t get the girl of his dreams? 
Philosophers acting badly
The reason why it is important and critical to think about, and consider the personal life of thinkers, their physiology, their muscle mass composition, their body fat composition, their height and stature etc. is that ultimately, the question we must critically think about is this:
The philosopher as a human being… how does his physiology body and mind soul affect his writings? 
For example, Nietzsche apparently had quite poor health his entire life, and I think a lot of his personal writings is for him to personally grapple with his poor health. He apparently traveled around a lot in Italy, Europe, to find an ideal climate for his poor bodily constitution.
Even NASSIM TALEB – the only modern-day thinker philosopher worth following… apparently he always grew up as kind of a fatty boy, and I think a lot of his thoughts on diet health physical exercise etc. should be taken with a grain of salt, because I think he is still addicted to carbs, squid ink pasta? 
Tell me what you eat, how you eat, how frequently or infrequently you eat, and I will tell you who you are
One of the +1s that I give to Jack Dorsey, apparently he is like me! He just eats one meal a day, maybe the difference is that I eat 100% carnivore diet, only beef and lamb, aiming for 4 to 5 pounds of meat every single dinner, and if you look at Jack Dorsey, it doesn’t seem like he lifts weights. 
Look inside their fridge
One of the bad things that I love to do whenever I visit peoples homes is always love to open up the fridges and look inside. Sometimes ask for permission, sometimes I just do it; because… If you see what is inside the fridge or freezer, you get to know a lot about about them.
For example, for the most part, I put zero faith in anybody who shop at Trader Joe’s. Why? Trader Joe’s is just snacks with a good conscience.
Also, I put zero trust in anybody who drinks Coca-Cola, Coke zero, or talks about “calories”. They obviously have no idea about any human physiology. 
Also in terms of how the exercise, how frequently the exercise etc.; I’ve learned to distrust anybody who goes to the gym, or anybody who uses Reddit, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube etc., because… any fitness influencer who uses Instagram, or any social media platform, what they are trying to do is maximize their followers and views, and sooner or later, they’re going to dip into the gummy bears, a.k.a. steroids.
Becoming the ideal version of yourself
I have certain ideas for myself. Essentially I want to look like a Greek demigod, Achilles in the flesh. I think I’m there.
For example, I look like Brad Pitt in fight club but on steroids. Much more muscular, with the same lean low body fat percentage. I’m not sure what my body fat percentage is at right now, but I could definitely see my suspect. This is where measuring body fat percentage is inaccurate, just pinch your belly fat and see whether you could see your abs.
The secret of getting a six pack?
Very simple. Intermittent fasting, no breakfast no lunch, only a 100% carnivore dinner. Quit vegetables, starches, carbs, fruit and fiber, fake sugars real sugars milk dairy etc.
No no no, you don’t need a “balanced diet”. This is just a basic line of thinking for mediocre people who don’t have the courage to experiment and try out the extremes.
The faucet of this notion of calories is propagated by the Coca-Cola corporation, who wants you to keep drinking more their diabetes water, even let us reclassify Alzheimer’s as type 3 diabetes, purely something that you get infected with according to what you eat and what you drink.
Real men drink tapwater
Another really big scam that I’ve discovered, especially living here in LA, is this ridiculous notion of “alkaline water“. Anyone who believes in that nonsense is a fool.
Also talking to a truck delivery driver, he told me that apparently, bottled water is actually more expensive than gasoline?
A very simple thought, for this year or the New Year’s or in general… only drink tapwater or filtered water! And don’t get one of those loser Hydro flask things, I think a simpler solution is to just drink out of the water fountain, just drink tapwater at the house, and if you want a portable bottle get the path water bottles, they are very cheap, Think maybe only $3? And you could reuse them! They are very lightweight, I like it in matte black.
Elon Musk drinks tapwater, and so can you!
The reason why I think it is important to read biographies of people you are inspired by, or learning more about their eating living habits is that a lot of who we are is predicated on what we put into our bodies. 
For example, I am very inspired by Elon Musk but I also take him with a grain of salt because he is too addicted to alcohol, and Red Bull. Also it seems like Elon Musk is a fatty boy, he thinks too “scienticism-y”– which means he doesn’t understand hormones, and that drinking Red Bull and drinking alcohol is a bad idea. I think a real entrepreneur, a true innovator should be quite sober. This means no drugs no alcohol no Red Bulls.
I also love Kanye West, and also Jay Z, but both of them are out because both are alcoholics.
Alcohol is the worst drug?
When I was in Providence Rhode Island, I randomly met one of my fans on the street, and he told me that he recently returned from Afghanistan the front lines or something, had some sort of PTSD, and street photography was his therapy. He told me he was also addicted to all the drugs, all the bad ones and I asked him… “Which drug is the worst”? He told me: the worst drug is alcohol.
I think the big problem in today’s world is that now in today’s world, anywhere you go besides maybe the Middle East, drinking alcohol is the standard. To not drink alcohol, for some reason you’re the weirdo?
This is why if next time somebody tries to pressure me to drink alcohol, I’ll just tell them I’m Muslim. And also a lot of people ask me about how I’ve been doing my intermittent fasting so religiously the last seven years; I just joke and say for me it is Ramadan every single day!
Let us consider all the people who die from alcohol, either from alcohol overdose, or drinking while driving. I think the reason why alcohol is still legal is because for the most part, people have a good time with it, there’s a lot of advertising money behind it, think about all these fat guys with beards and tattoos who watch football and basketball, drink beer and get fat, and jerk off to other guys being physical and masculine.
Also, the ancient Greeks. Dionysus, Baccaus was the Greek god of drunkenness, and wine.
It seems that wine was a critical part of ancient Greek society, as it was for the Romans. And in modern day times, wine is considered the peak of luxury and success. But don’t forget, wine will make you fat, wine is just sugary grape juice with alcohol with a good conscience. And no no no, all that fake science about reservatrol and one glass of red wine being a healthy thing for you is fake; it is centered around fake science and statistics which I think, was bankrolled by an individual who was trying to sell reaervatrol supplements? 
Why I am anti-vegan anti-plant-based diet
If people want to be vegetarian or vegan for ethical reasons, I think that is fine. But all this fake nonsense about eating meat or being a carnivore as being “bad for the planet”, or “unethical”, I find as nonsense.
For example, all of these fake virtuous folks go to Trader Joe’s and buy all this vegan candy and microwavable food; that is so much trash and pollution for the environment, and I don’t even care about the environment that much, and also I’m a Boy Scouts eagle scout. So don’t get at me with all this fake virtuosity of saving the planet and whatever.  
Environmentalism is the new moneymaking scheme?
Al Gore, didn’t he make a bunch of money from saying that an inconvenient truth and that the polar caps are going to melt and we were all going to die? 
Also, I believe James Cameron, the guy who produced avatar and the titanic and made a bunch of money is also best friends with Arnold Schwarzenegger, and is peddling all this fake propaganda about eating plants is good for the environment whatever, in order to peddle his billion dollar pea plant protein powder company?
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Own your own opinion
I think a big thing to consider is you must own your own opinion when it comes to diet health fitness etc. How and why?
First, it seems that the big issue here is that nobody has any criticality when it comes to diet health fitness etc. Everyone is just following the same old script, nobody is pioneering, risking, or experimenting for themselves.
For example when I talk to people that I am 100% carnivore, people are more shocked than anything, and I think they’re skepticism is in regards to “sustainability“, and when I tell them I’ve been doing it the last seven years, and also interment fasting no breakfast no lunch, only dinner the last seven years or so… people are shocked. And yet, I am just a mere mortal. 
Think economics
Perhaps one of the most useful things I learned studying sociology was to become more critical of almost everything. Everything that we have in modern-day society, we should consider society like a technology; tekhne in ancient Greek means technique and approach.  
Society is like a well oiled machine which gains from the adherence of its constituents. That means, a big modern day society with a large population can only exist and function if everybody plays by the same rules.
For example, society would probably be very dysfunctional if everyone acted like ERIC KIM, and just disdained everybody else. That is why living different and being different is the privilege of the fuse; 99.99% of people cannot do what I do, nor would they actually desire to do so.
You are your own privilege
The most privileged person to be is yourself. To ignore others, and to just follow your own path.
Why don’t more people do this?
My theory is that it comes down to ethics. To just do yourself, in your own weird way, seems unethical.
For example, to be ignorant is seen as bad and evil, and to ignore “experts“, is also seen as foolish.
Maybe becoming more foolish is a good idea?
One man’s foolishness is another man’s wisdom. We should take this idea to heart. 
For example, the insanity of an Elon Musk starting a SpaceX, or transforming Tesla into what it is today. Or, the insanely radical idea bitcoin, from Satoshi, also, an insanely radical idea.
Or Steve Jobs; then saying audacity of him to create a device with no keyboard, no stylus? 
Become more audacious
My new current life goal and path is to become more audacious, more unconventional, more unexpected.
Life is too short for the basic. Go advanced.
ERIC
START HERE
What I’m reading
Never run out of inspiration
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Becoming Yourself
In today’s fragile uncertain world… What’s real? What’s important?
The first thought is you are real, you are important. You are the most critical thing in the world.
One of the big issues in today’s world is that nobody is allowed to posit themselves as an end into themselves. What that means is this:
typically what people believe is that you must sacrifice yourself, all of your resources whatever for the sake of humanity and other people. One is not allowed to invest all your time resources energy and money into advancing and elevating yourself.
For example, venture capitalists. The goal and purpose and telos is to invest money, seed capital or whatever into these foreign, non-human companies. 
However, companies are not real. Even the notion of company companion is somebody you share bread with.
Why not invest in individuals — real life human beings?
Or better yet, why not invest in yourself?
You is the goal
My personal take is that the problem here is religion, ethics, modern-day religious thinking. Most of the planet is governed by a form of Christianity, Catholicism, Judaism, Islam etc.… Even a lot of these “atheist“ people are essentially still in line with the Benjamin Franklin, protestant work ethic mode of living and thinking.
For example, if you look a lot of Caucasian Americans, whose family have been here for several generations, even though they’re not religious, they don’t go to church, they don’t believe in “God”, they still have protestant work ethics; they work hard, they save money, they spend a little bit money on themselves here and there, but for the most part they invest towards their kids their families their communities etc.
Even Fernandinho Galliani on his treatsie on money, DELLA MONEYA; he talks a lot about God, the creator, the deity whatever. So even we should take the opinion of Galliani with a grain of salt, because anybody who tries to justify their position by invoking God or whatever– it is typically a sign that their opinion is a bit feeble.
But it’s written in the Bible!
And yes, the Bible is just a mishmash of different early Christian father writers, and if you think about critical theology, or philology… You must understand and realize that this was all written by fallible men. 
How to advance
Honestly, I think the number one critical skill in today’s world or in general is critical thinking. Critical comes from Greek KRITIKOS, which essentially means judge, to judge, to weigh. 
So for example, we often get words a little bit confused. We misconstrue different words like “critic”, “criticism” with hate etc.
For example, we talk about criticism, typically we think of criticism like people just saying bad things about us or concepts etc. But, I think you could be a critic, a loving critic. The art of critique is to simply look at something, more objectively, without any hate or vitriol, and to just judge something for what you think it is. 
For example, somebody who is buried in the annals of history; Tacitus on the Jews. Tacitus, one of the early Roman historians, I think reading him is interesting because honestly, he just states his opinion, gives credit where it is due, gives pros and cons, but also speaks his mind. 
For example, when he is talking about the people of Judea, and is trying to outline them their cultures etc., he says both the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly. He praises Jewish people for their industry their courage their power, but also Obviously is diametrically opposed to their customs, their beliefs, which were weird foreign and anti-Roman.
In fact, I think if we critically think about Judaism, Jewish people, the descendants of Judea, it seems that the only historical thing we could really understand is that these people were the descendants of Moses. So the best way to think about Judaism as a religion, or even thinking about Christianity is to think that it was essentially a religion invented by Moses, to solidify his people, to strengthen them, And for them to persist.
Think Moses.
And also, Islam. Yeah yeah yeah we are all politically correct and whatever, but I think the critical thing is to understand Mohammed as a real life human being, the visions that he got from God were probably just some sort of hallucinations he had while in a cave, and think that the religion of Muhammad, Islam, is essentially a religion invented from a single man, Mohammed.
Religion and politics?
I remember the kid, I was bit confused; growing up Roman Catholic, Korean American, in the Liberal Bay area… I was a bit confused that if there was one God, how is it that there were other gods in the world?
Also things which were very confusing to me; Jesus was Jewish?
Also something that I’ve been discovering and rediscovering more recently, learning that in fact, the Bible starts off with the Jewish Hebrew tour Bible, I think the first three chapters of the typical Christian Bible is just Genesis and the ones in the original Jewish Bible?
Critical thinking
 so the reason why we have so many thinkers who are Jewish Jewish American Israeli etc. is that the Jewish culture is slated towards critical introspection, thinking. For example if you’re curious, whenever you see a famous author writer influencer or whatever, just open up ChatGPT, the premium one, and ask whether they are Jewish or not, or the history of their last name.
In fact in one of these anti-Semitic texts which was sponsored by Henry Ford, and Henry Ford was overly anti-Semitic, there is this article titled “the subtle art of changing last Jewish names”, and in fact, studying the genealogy of last names is super interesting because in fact, a lot of these “Jewish” sounding last names are changed in order for Jewish people to assimilate into America, American culture, different countries etc.
For example, John Stewart I believe is Jewish American, and change his last name to sound more “American”. The same thing goes with Dr. Kirk Douglas, whose family immigrated from I think Eastern Europe, Eastern Europe Jewish people, and also changed his name to sound more “American”.
Also a weird fellow, Bob Dylan, I think his original name is Andrew Zimmerman, he is Jewish American. 
Even things that I didn’t know and understand is that Jerry Seinfeld, the whole Seinfeld show, which I watched a lot as a kid of reruns and stuff like that is essentially a story about Jewish American culture in America?
Unchaining yourself from religious, ethical, or moralistic thinking
Who are the best thinkers? The ancient Greeks, the ones who came before Socrates. But still… we should take the opinion of the ancient Greeks with a grain of salt because even them, were greatly influenced by the “gymnosophists“ – gymnos in ancient Greek means naked, essentially imagine these weird hippie naked Indian people from India, who would share their sophistry or their philosophy and thinking with others.
I think a lot of early Greek thinkers like Heraclitus, Democritus etc. their thinking was hugely inspired by the gymnosophists, from India… that is why a lot of these pre-Socratic thinkers have philosophies which sound very Buddhist in nature.
- You never step into the same river twice – Heraclitus
- Even a hair cast its own shadow – Publius Syrus
- The path up and down is the same – Heraclitus
Why is our thinking still so basic? 
OK, it is 2024– we live in insanely advanced world, how is it and why is it that we still think so basic? 
For example, it’s still befuddles me that people still take religion literally — don’t people understand that religion is all just a metaphor?
Assuming that there are no gods, no afterlife, no “immortal soul”, whatever, then the simple question is how do you wish to live your life? 
And also, what are you doing with your life? How are you using your energy time and metabolic resources, to build something beyond yourself?
Health
Health, wellness. How does it matter and what does it mean? 
The first simple thought is the quality of your thoughts, your ambitions your hopes and your dreams, your entrepreneurial spirit is rooted in your health, your body, the physical. No no no, the “mind “, doesn’t exist, it is just a fiction.
> In mens sano, alma sano.
The “saw “, is simply an offshoot of your body. When your body dies, your soul also dies.
If your body is healthy, your bodily composition your health is healthy, your mind will be healthy. People who have mental disease, whatever, the big issue is that their body is sick.
For example, I think about my father and my dad, and he was a very sick man. I have a low-key suspicion that maybe he caught syphilis somewhere? I actually recall that he had a lot of anal issues, and I still remember when I was pretty young, maybe I was 11 years old or 10 years old or nine years old? Then my mom bought him a douche, to clean out his bowels?
A lot of people who have bodily and physiological disease, end up getting mental disease. I think ultimately, I’m not 100% certain, but ultimately my dad I think either God or advanced his schizophrenia? Seeing fake images ghosts and visions, etc?
What is schizophrenia?
Schizophrenia I think in Greek just means split mind. This is an overly simplistic way of thinking about the mind because the mind cannot be “split”, according to these basic notions.
My personal theory is when one catches some sort of disease, syphilis, other ancient diseases whatever, it does weird stuff to your mind. Even Friedrich Nietzsche towards the end of his life descended into madness, he lost his mind his body his soul, was taking care of by his sister until his death.
There are some competing theories on how and why Nietzsche went mad.  One theory was he was gay and caught syphilis from another guy, and apparently there is a spurious connection or correlation, not causation, of being gay, syphilis, gay sex and syphilis?
I think this is probably false because apparently Nietzsche was madly in love with this one woman, who did not requite his love, and therefore if you look at his writings, he is very very salty about it… therefore a lot of his anti-women misogyny thoughts maybe is because he couldn’t get the girl of his dreams? 
Philosophers acting badly
The reason why it is important and critical to think about, and consider the personal life of thinkers, their physiology, their muscle mass composition, their body fat composition, their height and stature etc. is that ultimately, the question we must critically think about is this:
The philosopher as a human being… how does his physiology body and mind soul affect his writings? 
For example, Nietzsche apparently had quite poor health his entire life, and I think a lot of his personal writings is for him to personally grapple with his poor health. He apparently traveled around a lot in Italy, Europe, to find an ideal climate for his poor bodily constitution.
Even NASSIM TALEB – the only modern-day thinker philosopher worth following… apparently he always grew up as kind of a fatty boy, and I think a lot of his thoughts on diet health physical exercise etc. should be taken with a grain of salt, because I think he is still addicted to carbs, squid ink pasta? 
Tell me what you eat, how you eat, how frequently or infrequently you eat, and I will tell you who you are
One of the +1s that I give to Jack Dorsey, apparently he is like me! He just eats one meal a day, maybe the difference is that I eat 100% carnivore diet, only beef and lamb, aiming for 4 to 5 pounds of meat every single dinner, and if you look at Jack Dorsey, it doesn’t seem like he lifts weights. 
Look inside their fridge
Bad thing that I love to do whenever I visit peoples homes is always love to open up the fridges and look inside. Sometimes ask for permission, sometimes I just do it; because… If you see what is inside the fridge or freezer, you get to know a lot about about them.
For example, for the most part, I put zero faith in anybody who shop at Trader Joe’s. Why? Trader Joe’s is just snacks with a good conscience.
Also, I put zero trust in anybody who drinks Coca-Cola, Coke zero, or talks about “calories”. They obviously have no idea about any human physiology. 
Also in terms of how the exercise, how frequently the exercise etc.; I’ve learned to distrust anybody who goes to the gym, or anybody who uses Reddit, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube etc., because… Any fitness influencer who uses Instagram, or any social media platform, what they are trying to do is maximize their followers and views, and sooner or later, they’re going to dip into the gummy bears, a.k.a. steroids.
Becoming the ideal version of yourself
I have certain ideas for myself. Essentially I want to look like a Greek demigod, Achilles in the flesh. I think I’m there.
For example, I look like Brad Pitt in fight club but on steroids. Much more muscular, with the same lean low body fat percentage. I’m not sure what my body fat percentage is at right now, but I could definitely see my suspect. This is where measuring body fat percentage is Inaccurate, just pinch your belly fat and see whether you could see your abs.
The secret of getting a six pack?
Very simple. Intermittent fasting, no breakfast no lunch, only a 100% carnivore dinner. Quit vegetables, starches, carbs, fruit and fiber, fake sugars real sugars milk dairy etc.
No no no, you don’t need a “balanced diet”. This is just a basic line of thinking for mediocre people who don’t have the courage to experiment and try out the extremes.
The faucet of this notion of calories is propagated by the Coca-Cola corporation, who wants you to keep drinking more their diabetes water, even let us reclassify all timers as type three diabetes, purely something that you get infected with according to what you eat and what you drink.
Real men drink tapwater
Another really big scam that I’ve discovered, especially living here in LA, is this ridiculous notion of “alkaline water“. Anyone who believes in that nonsense is a fool.
Also talking to a truck delivery driver, he told me that apparently, bottled water is actually more expensive than gasoline?
A very simple thought, for this year or the New Year’s or in general… Only drink tapwater or filtered water! And don’t get one of those loser Hydro flask things, I think a simpler solution is to just drink out of the water fountain, just drink tapwater at the house, and if you want a portable bottle get the path water bottles, they are very cheap, Think maybe only $2.50? And you could reuse them! They are very lightweight, I like it in matte black.
Elon Musk drinks tapwater, and so can you!
The reason why I think it is important to read biographies of people you are inspired by, or learning more about their eating living habits is that a lot of who we are is predicated on what we put into our bodies. 
For example, I am very inspired by Elon musk but I also take him with a green assault because he is too addicted to alcohol, and Red Bull. Also it seems like he is a fatty boy, he thinks too “scienticism-y”– which means he doesn’t understand hormones, and that drinking Red Bull and drinking alcohol is a bad idea. I think a real entrepreneur, a true innovator should be quite sober. This means no drugs no alcohol no Red Bulls.
I also love Kanye West, and also Jay Z, but both of them are out because both are alcoholics.
Alcohol is the worst drug?
When I was in Providence Rhode Island, I randomly met one of my fans on the street, and he told me that he recently returned from Afghanistan the front lines or something, had some sort of PTSD, and street photography was his therapy. He told me he was also addicted to all the drugs, all the bad ones and I asked him… “Which drug is the worst”? He told me: the worst drug is alcohol.
I think the big problem in today’s world is that now in today’s world, anywhere you go besides maybe the Middle East, drinking alcohol is the standard. To not drink alcohol, for some reason you’re the weirdo?
This is why if next time somebody tries to pressure me to drink alcohol, I’ll just tell them I’m Muslim. And also a lot of people ask me about how I’ve been doing my intermittent fasting so religiously the last seven years; I just joke and say for me it is Ramadan every single day!
Let us consider all the people who die from alcohol, either from alcohol overdose, or drinking while driving. I think the reason why alcohol is still legal is because for the most part, people have a good time with it, there’s a lot of advertising money behind it, think about all these fat guys with beards and tattoos who watch Football and basketball, drink beer and get fat, and jerk off to other guys being physical and masculine.
Also, the ancient Greeks. Dionysus, Baccaus was the Greek god of drunkenness, and wine.
It seems that wine was a critical part of ancient Greek society, as it was for the Romans. And in modern day times, wine is considered the peak of luxury and success. But don’t forget, wine will make you fat, wine is just sugary grape juice with alcohol with a good conscience. And no no no, all that fake science about reservatrol and one glass of red wine being a healthy thing for you is fake; it is centered around fake science and statistics which I think, was bankrolled by an individual who was trying to sell reaervatrol supplements? 
Why I am anti-vegan anti-plant-based diet
If people want to be vegetarian or vegan for ethical reasons, I think that is fine. But all this fake nonsense about eating meat or being a carnivore as being “bad for the planet”, or “unethical”, I find as nonsense.
 For example, all of these fake virtuous begins to go to Trader Joe’s and buy all this vegan candy and microwavable food; that is so much trash and pollution for the environment, and I don’t even care about the environment that much, and also I’m a Boy Scouts eagle scout. So don’t get at me with all this fake virtuosity of saving the planet and whatever.  
Environmentalism is the new moneymaking scheme?
Al Gore, didn’t he make a bunch of money from saying that an inconvenient truth and that the polar cats are going to melt and we were all going to die? 
also, I believe James Cameron, the guy who produced avatar and the titanic and made a bunch of money is also best friends with Arnold Schwarzenegger, and is peddling all this fake propaganda about eating plants is good for the environment whatever, in order to pedal his billion dollar P plant protein powder company?