Raging Bull

Becoming a Bull: The Bull Mindset

People want the Lamborghini, the raging bull. But why don’t you just turn yourself into a raging bull instead?


Money and power?

More money is not more power. Money is actually not related to power. I think what is more important in terms of power is courage and valor. Nothing else.


Humans are bad at math? 

I think the problem with math, money is that intuitively, humans are not good at math. For example, Seneca at the age of three years, one month: it is funny because for the most part he knows one, too, or “manh-hee” (a lot, in Korean).

Apparently also in a lot of indigenous cultures, they do a similar distinction. Not individual counting, but simply referring to a lot of things as “many”. 

What is “gambling”?

When you only speculate things in order to make money; not what you really care or believe in?

The reason why I like to call myself speculator, a cryptocurrency speculator, a bitcoin speculator is that in truth, ain’t nobody know the future. All of my predictions, they are seated in intuition, but feelings, and also some conceptual framework I have about the world. It looks like ultimately I was right, but this doesn’t really even matter; tomorrow I could be wrong, the day after I might be “more right.”

It doesn’t matter whether I am right or wrong, but whether I win or lose.

In terms of finances, winning is simple:

Just keep seeing the number go up!

But also this is tricky because on what time scale? On the minute basis, the hourly basis, the day basis, the week basis, the month basis, the year basis, the 10 year basis? 

For example my bitcoin bet; I am glad that I was mostly ignorant to the news and the prices, I intentionally avoided. Apparently last year it was a low around 18,000 a bitcoin, and the other day it hit an all-time new high, I think around $69,000 a bitcoin. It dipped a little bit the other day and I bought more.

So with predictions, price predictions, I think you want to be right in the 10 year, 20 year, 30 year time scale. Why do you think at this time scale? Thinking about your kid, your kids, their kids kids.

***

How many gains, or how much gains is enough gains?

Humans, we are insatiable. We always want more.

For example, I think it was just the other day I remember having only $100 in my savings account, then 300 $500, 1000, and now it is a lot more.

Certain barriers: 20,000, 25,000, 250,000, 500,000, 700,000, 750,000, $800,000 and beyond.

And at this number continues to balloon, there will always be new goals and price targets, $1 million, $1.3 million, $5 million, $10 million, $100 million, 500 million etc.

Why do humans want more?

I think this is a good thing; the human desire for more is what has propelled us this far.

For example, the other day I just got Internet, give it fiber Internet connected to our house, and the guy who was installing it showed me… How micro thin the fiber optic cable was, but given this insanely tiny filament, to provide a download and upload speed of both about 1000 Mb a second. That is amazing.

Ways that this is useful to me: 

Currently, uploading videos and video files is painstakingly slow, and interrupts my workflow. Greater technology better technology will enable me to create quicker, more freely, less friction. 


Becoming a real man

Masculinity, virtue; what is it and what does it all mean?

Well the notion of virtue was initially about virtus, which just means man.  Let us also not forget that the notion of woman comes from the notion man.

wo-man

My best thoughts come to me while walking?

Still… The more think about it, what is the greatest privilege of modern day living? Walking!

Another big intervention:

it is better to rent an extremely desirable area which allows for a magnificent 100% walking pedestrian lifestyle, which you could walk to all of your favorite coffee shops and public spaces, rather than own a very nice home, even in a moderately good location.

For example, all of this is currently written on my iPad Pro, M1 chip, voice dictation via the built-in Apple keyboard. And I love it! It allows for a new mode and channel of communication and thought expression that is not possible before. 


BULL

So in finance, the notion of being a bowl, bullish is the generalized idea that you are positive, optimistic, strong, thinking about upwards growth.

The opposite of a bull is a bear.

In finances, if you are bullish about something, you are optimistic about it, you see it growing.

If you are a bear, do you predict that something will fail, the prices will drop. As a consequence you might short as dog, which means that you make money when you see the company lose shareholder value.

Only be bullish?

There are 1 million different ways you can make money, but it seems that the safest and the best way is to be bullish not bearish. Why?

First, the danger of shortselling is that if the price goes the other way, you don’t just lose 100% of your money, you could lose 200% of your money. Which means if you make the wrong that, you go into massive debt.

Whereas with going long, or being bullish, if you’re prediction is wrong, at worst your money goes to zero, never negative.  


BULL THINKING

So perhaps in life, the goal is to become a bull, to become more bullish, the raging bull.

  1. Yoke, yoke walk?
  2. Atlas lift, atlas walk?

Just carry an immense amount of weight on your shoulders, on your traps, upper shoulders and your back and just walk?

Don’t think about it too much. 


To become mentally bullish, your body must also become bullish?

One of the most nonsensical things is this notion “mind over matter”; the idea that you could be a skinny fat loser, tied to a computer screen and be courageous, devoid of any physical strength?

To me, true courage and valor is rooted in the physical. For example, until you have successfully lifted up 1000 pounds on your shoulder, you don’t know nothing.

True courage is rooted in physical courage. This is why ultimately, humans will be most amazed by physical strength and might, height and muscles, and size… not money possessions cars etc. 

Also, even though powerlifting is not perfect, the general idea of “one rep max”– one repetition maximum is a good one.  

Even on the playground, kids… the most impressive thing for a kid is to be strong.

***

Better to be over warm than over cold?

 I have a theory: I wonder if a lot of modern day misery from people is the fact that they are simply too cold, literally and physiologically. For example, their homes. Too much time spent indoors, at the house or in the home, not enough time turning on the heater, in order to “save money”.

I think people make a foolish optimization and decision; in order to “save money”, they lack the critical insight that actually in fact… isn’t the point and purpose of money to improve our physiology health and well-being, not to save money for the sake of saving money? 


Money Mentalities?

OK this is a funny thing about money; a lot of people often criticize and critique Jewish people for their habits regarding money, even Galiani criticized and critiqued Jewish people, the people of Judea for being the most cruel money-lenders and usurers.

However, my personal thought and insight is that actually, the greater thing to consider is money culture.

For example, the only reason why I think Jewish people have built a culture around money, saving money, building capital etc. is because of the long history of oppression, everything taken from them etc.

For example, if you are a race of people who literally have nothing, you gotta do everything in your power to build a capital, and power. I think for Jewish people that meant becoming educated, becoming money conscious, etc.

In fact, I think the reason why people hate Jewish people so much, is actually in fact… Jewish people are very wise and sparing with their money. The superficial criticism of Jewish people is that they are so rich, and therefore I hate them. But don’t hate Jewish people because they don’t blow their money on stupid things like you do.


The refugee mindset and mentality with money?

Another thing; I find that Vietnamese people, especially Vietnamese refugee people are actually really good with money, whereas immigrant Korean people are really poor with money.

Another thing with Vietnamese people, when Vietnamese, Vietnamese people fled the communists, especially the Saigonese boat people, the logic was simple: 

We already have experienced having everything taken and stolen from us, therefore as a result, we will become exceedingly sparing with our money, because who knows… at any other given moment it could all be taken from us again.

Koreans on the other hand, we are very poor with money. Why? Ever since the bailout from the IMF international monetary fund to South Korea, essentially we could consider Korea as a neo colony of America. Just look at the facts; the American military intervention in South Korea, the border, protection against North Korea.

Therefore the interesting insight is that in terms of money culture, spending, the family structure etc.… Korea, South Koreans are becoming exceedingly like Americans. In fact the last time I went to Korea, the thought:

Koreans, South Koreans are just like Americans, except everyone speaks Korean.

In fact, did you know that Korea has Costco, a lot of Costco‘s!

One of my funniest modern day memories is driving to Daegu South Korea and having to park a car inside the insane parking structure in the Daegu South Korea Costco!


Humans are naturally bad with money and math?

Apparently there’s a pretty good book that came out recently, by the psychology of money. I read a little bit about it, but I found it a bit boring, I find my own personal insights to be more interesting.

Now that bitcoin is booming, and I’m stupid rich, funny enough my attitudes about money hasn’t changed much. Why or why not? I think our culture and attitude about money is deeply ingrained within ourselves from a young age. Therefore as a consequence, the thought:

Money, having money getting money doesn’t change us.

Then what changes? Only thing that changes is that the number that we frame and imprint in our minds, in terms of our net worth or the money value associated with us, keeps going up. This is a very good feeling, but… For the sake of what?


Ignore media

What messes us up? Media. TV, cinema films, it all gives us a distorted view of reality.

In fact, my proudest thing is that Seneca, ever since he was born has never been exposed to external media. No stupid YouTube, no Disney, no Disney+, no kid shows, etc. I found that actually even from an early age, strange morals, moralizing ethics comes from these kids shows, or they are just stupid distractions.

So with money, stuff like that… Even from a young age the reason why I hate YouTube, YouTube kids etc.… The really insidious thing is that lobby sneaky YouTube kid producers are just doing product placement for their mediocre toys in their videos. So the thought:

Ever since you were born, ever since you were a young child, you were already marketed to.

Even as a kid growing up in the 90s, growing up, born in 1988, the thing that I personally learned was thinking about how many dumb advertisements I saw on TV for all these stupid toys.

Advertising works

Advertising works, it works on nerds, it works on you.

Something that PETER THIEL said .,,, in his Zero to One book — he hit the bull’s-eye target exactly;

Advertising works.

The danger happens when we don’t think that it works on us, that somehow we are above it, we are lofty above it.

No. We are all influenced by marketing advertising etc. Advertising marketing and imagery works in sneaky ways. Without wanting to, we naturally get influenced by our environments, the sociology of the place we live in.

 of course if you live in a modern de Society, you cannot escape it. But there are certain things you could do:

Never consume any sort of media which is supported by advertising.

This is almost 100% of websites and blogs on the Internet which have advertisements, display ads, Google Adsense. Practically 100% of podcast, radio TV shows, essentially anything that you don’t have to pay money for.

Also magazines, a lot of books, newspapers etc.

Even now, a lot of these streaming services, like Netflix etc.… I think the new strategy isn’t to create insanely great media, but instead to create these addictive shows, which have you continue to invoke your own curiosity, to keep having you watch it and subscribe for the rest of your life. The curiosity gap here is strong.

Stick to the Classics

Trying to do some mental math inside my mind today, in terms of my crypto and bitcoin gains, I realize that I am very bad at math, very poor at mental math, very poor at analyzing and thinking it all myself.

One suggestion that I got from NASSIM TALEB, in regards to studies — is trying to think about the majors or the disciplines or the things to study which do the least amount of harm to us. It seems that he suggests studying classics, the classics, and math. Being really good at math, certainly doesn’t hurt. And also the classics are great because our modern day society is so different in terms of thinking and deseridatum (things to be desired), compared to modern day times. Also, I find a certain precision in Latin and ancient Greek, even studying Proto Info European which escapes modern day English and modern day thinking. 


YOUR BODY AS A TANK

Another funny trend I see in modern day society, everyone is trying to purchase cars that make them look like an armored vehicle, maybe it might be more effective to just transform your own body into a tank, an armored vehicle instead?

 For example, these stupid Range Rover cars, Range Rover defenders, SUVs etc.; everyone wants to feel like their king of the hill, or king of the roads.

For example look at these lifted cars trucks, etc.

Am I the only person that I know who is proud to drive a Prius?


where to find or seek innovation?

This is my current preoccupation. I think the innovation lies somewhere in walking, being off the grid, weightlifting, etc. 

Everyone’s the same?

 Another funny bias in society is that we are all trying so hard to differentiate ourselves from one other, but in fact, we are far more similar than dissimilar.

What is the true differentiating factor? Not our things are possessions or bank account, but instead, our courage and valor.

I was reading the sayings of this Partins from Plutarch, and one of the interesting thoughts was an ancient Sparta, they did not allow the boys to have wrestling trainers, so that wrestling, was more about courage and valor not skill.

 You?

It is only ever my ambition to help empower motivate and uplift others.

Trying to change the world is a complicated task, but changing yourself seems more interesting.