What I Would do to Make this Blog Popular

• I like the name. It's almost cryptic, mysterious; it's one that'll make you want to read into it. The web address, however, does not work. Th3enlightenment.blogspot; first of all, the 3 instead of the E will throw people off. That won't work. Secondly, I'd have to buy a proper domain name, because .blogspot doesn't seem too attractive.
• Put more effort into design of the website. I put about 8 seconds of effort into it, and put one of my favorite Dash Snow photos as the header. I like the color scheme (Black, white, and red, provides a nice contrast, and the red is really eye grabbing). However, it could look better. The header will become bigger (Maybe even part of the background).
• Get the name out there. I would contact other bloggers asking for a shoutout. Every view counts when you're averaging about 50 per day. 
• Make fake accounts and comment on my posts, and +1 them. Not too many comments at this point, but throw a few comments on every article. Have some dissenting opinions, and have them seem unintelligent (Not one of those "I'M RIGHT AND YOU'RE WRONG," but rather someone who seems unlikable and has an obvious fallacy in his (my) argument against myself (Preferably at the beginning of the comment).
• Shorter posts.
• Get rid of a few posts such as this one. It may be nice to have because it makes me seem more honest, but I can attain that perception in less damaging ways.
• Make more posts that can appeal to a wider variety of people. The production post for example, will not appeal to too many people, except for producers, who will probably not be looking here for production advice.
• Give away prizes for sharing. It'd have to be something everyone wants (Money) for something easy (Posting a link to the website on Facebook, making a blog post about it, etc...). Probably say there are more prizes then there are, and make up fake winners (Or give the prizes to friends).
• Share the blog with people I actually know. People I know have seen this blog before, but I've never given out the address. If you're reading this, chances are I don't know you.
• Have a featured posts section with posts that I would deem to be most popular by the masses. Everyone may be an individual, but as a whole we comprise the mass. And I'm sorry if I'm breaking your heart, but you're one of the sheep.
• Try to get people of moderate popularity to endorse my blog.
• Make an email account for this blog (I actually may do that one).
• More stories.
• The fact that clicking the banner doesn't bring you to the home screen bothers me. I won't change it because I just use the address bar, but I know people do, and I would have to fix that.
• More consistent posting. Look over each post so many times to fix every little thing (As it stands now I quickly scan over each post three or four times, and miss a lot of grammar mistakes and sentence structure issues).
• Make a guest post on more popular blogs.
• Twitter account. Make fake followers.
• Social media in general. We need to be social and all that.
• Write an ebook.
• Give the ebook away to visitors of the site for free. Tell these poor souls that the ebook is a $20 value (Actually I would sell the ebook for $20. Probably wouldn't get sales but that's irrelevant. Maybe I could just spam buy my own ebook).
• No better. Make it so you can enter a drawing to win a prize. Just give your email. Plot twist: Everyone wins. Prize is a $20 ebook.
• Create an "us vs. them" mentality. Reference it in a lot of posts. Make "us" seem better and more relatable.
• Would not reveal my age. I realize people don't want to read about an 18 year old. 

Entrepreneurship

Growing up in my life, I've been lucky to have my younger brother. We used to fight a lot and not get along as much, but in all honesty he's a great kid. And while he's awful at traditional "inside the box" classroom thinking, he is incredibly gifted at handling other people, and is also a natural salesman. Two years ago, when he was a High School freshman, he started a mini-business, mass buying candy and selling it to his friends at school. He failed miserably, but this showcases how his mind has always been. In the summer before his sophomore year, he became interested in buying and selling Jordan's. For those who don't know, Jordan's are shoes made of $20 of material by Chinese children and sold in America for $200 because of the logo. Different shoes are released sporadically in incredibly limited quantities, running almost entirely on the principle of supply and demand. Originally, my brother talked me into funding his idea when he needed extra money: he would do the work, and throw me a pair of sneakers every once in a while. The first sneakers we bought were from a random guy we found on Craigslist; he was about 30 years old, and sold us a pair of Military 4s and Blackcat 4s for $180 so that he could buy the soon to be released Fire Red 4s.

Each Jordan release (e.g. 3s, 6s, 11s) relies on the its release's design plan, with slight modifications (military 4s are blue and white, fire red 4s are close to the same but red instead of blue, etc...) So we started out with about $280 worth of shoes that we paid $180 for. We eventually found a Facebook group of kids selling and trading kicks, and became active. Our second purchase was $50 and the Blackcat 4s for a pair of copper foamposites. We then found a kid offer eggplant foams for an Xbox 360. We were really excited at the prospect of trading our spare xbox 360 for a pair of eggplant foams, but when we inspected the foams, we found out they were fake and ended the deal.

We also found a couple of great deals on worn down kicks, paying under $80 for each of them. By the time our collection grew to 6 strong, I told my brother I was taking full ownership of the military 4s. I said he could do whatever he wanted to the other shoes, but the 4s would always stay as my personal pair.. A week or so later, I slept over my friends house for a few days. I came home to find out that my brother sold the military 4s for $100, so he could go to Six Flags (the fact he sold the 4s below market value bothered me in and of itself). I was incensed, and told him I was out of the business and he had to reimburse me, as well as replace the military 4s. We came to a deal where he gave me some money, the copper foams, and a pair of fire red 4s, and from that point on we went our separate ways.

We are now a year and a half since he started his shoe trading business. Since then, I've made a few trades with him for new shoes, and get good deals because we're blood related. However, in the truest sense of a hustler, my brother can be brutal in taking advantage of kids who don't know what they're doing. Since that original investment of $180, my brother now has a collection of about 12 shoes, including much coveted sneakers like Bred 11s, Olympic 7s, Lebron South Beach 9s, and dead stock (never worn) Concords.

His shoe collection, which is probably worth about 3,000 right now, is impressive considering he's invested about 500 of his own (and my) dollars into it. This also isn't including when he sells his kicks when he needs his money for something, and when he's traded sneakers for things other than sneakers (Such as for beats). Is this atypical for someone who trades kicks? In all honesty, it isn't. I know a kid who has about 60 pairs of sneakers, and the connections to get any pair he wants. He used to sell them in my High School, and was the go to guy for any fashion accessories, from belts to sunglasses. These people, the successful entrepreneurs, exploit market inefficiencies.  

Why do I bring this up? Because market inefficiencies are all around us; most of the world we live in can be broken down into financial terms. Want a girl? Go to a place where you have the least demand (Competition both in terms of quantity and quality), and the most supply (Single, or at least willing, girls). People can monetize anything (Although many things aren't worth monetizing). For example, the drug market works in this way. Someone (A supplier), buys massive quantities of a certain drug, and sells it to dealers at an inflated price (Who then sell their product at an inflated price). Collectable items such as baseball cards work in this way as well; certain cards have insane disparities between actual value and what someone is willing to pay for it. Cars operate in this fashion, and if you know how to work on cars, you can make some serious money on them. Living so close to my brother, I can watch a naturally great salesman at work; here is what's necessary to be successful in this type of model. Here are the keys (In descending order of importance)

• Know your market

You have to know the worth of what you're selling (Or trying to get), where the best places to sell or buy it are, and how to tell if something is real or fake. The more information you have on this, the easier it is to take advantage (If it's your cup of tea) of people who don't know what they're doing, and the harder it is for you to be taken advantage of.

• Reputation

I'm counting connections in here, but it's easy to make connections. It's much more difficult to make great connections, but that is what you strive to do, and good connections aren't going to do business with you if you're a scammer, liar, incompetent, lazy, or inconsistent. We all strive to be in a position where we have so much business that we have to turn it away. When I interned at a private investment firm, I learned about the Strattonites, and read the book The Wolf of Wall Street. In all reality, the firm was a complete scam, where they pumped and dumped the market. On the inside, the firm was rotting. But to the outside viewer, this was an investment firm which brought consistent returns no matter what the condition of the market was, with people who seemed like successful rockstars of the investment world (If I remember correctly, it was mandatory to drive a sports car if you wanted to work there). They had so many people wanting to invest with them that they actually turned people away on a fairly regular basis. The air of exclusivity created by this actually made the Strattonites more in demand. The same happens with so many things. Girls will crawl over each other for a shot at someone in the same position that the Strattonites were in. Jordan is marketed so well, that kids will look at who's wearing what, and buy them to be like their idols (Whether it be celebrities, or the popular kids, or whoever it may be).

• Common Sense

Don't put yourself into a position where you put yourself at a disadvantage. Identify the markets best to be exploited, and when to conserve your resources. I remember one night where my friend and I was ran into a group of mutual friends, with three boys and three girls. We flirted with the girls, but it wasn't going anywhere with the other guys lurking. My friend and I talked about it, and decided to bring everyone to a party where we knew everyone. We made it our plan to alienate the guys, and eventually made them leave. With the girls by themselves, we had a nice group of two guys and three girls. My friend took a girl and went his own way, and left me with the two girls. I managed to make out with the girl I wanted, but the other girl was upset she didn't have a guy anymore, and wasn't up for a threesome. When I realized nothing was going to happen, I left in the middle of making out with my girl without saying a word. They called for me to come back, but I just ignored them and trudged onward. What's the moral of this story? If you're the three guys with your girls, and you see two guys trying to assimilate with your group, don't let them into your group. You'll end up having to go jerk off that night. Do not put yourself in a position where you're at a significant disadvantage. On a sidenote, don't ever make yourself desperate for a sale/purchase, you'll end up being screwed over.

• Plan of Attack

Anything with sales isn't for the light-hearted. If you're selling shoes, you have to know what you want, you cannot defer to the other person for the final price. Decisiveness is important, and if you see a worthwhile business venture, it's important to go for it. Going after dead leads, or things with a limited reward in comparison to what you can get elsewhere, won't necessarily help. But if you see what you think is a great deal, you have to at least go for it. My brother won't bother with most of the people looking to sell him sneakers. However, if he sees a kid selling a pair of sneakers at a price much lower than market value, my brother forges a deal immediately. Decisiveness is so important, you have to know what you want, not kind of know what you want.

There are a number of other factors involved in being a successful salesman, such as topics which address the sale itself (Likability, Contrast Principle, etc...), but the most important thing is to put yourself in a position to succeed (Either by finding something which you will naturally be in a position to succeed in, or making the conditions within the environment). These four points are the most important things to making that happen.

The Nature of Bitches I

As we approach the New Year, I'm going to start blogging more consistently. I recently turned 18, and life should be getting pretty interesting, and I would like a record of how I progress. However, before I start this post, I'd like to throw a shoutout to my boy Trouble Maker. He answered one of my questions and threw a shoutout to my blog, so I should at least return the favor. He's a really intelligent guy, and he has a very interesting view on life, as well as a compelling knack for storytelling. He is part of what is called the "Manosphere," and writes on a a weekly column on a big manosphere site called Return of Kings. I encourage you to look into the manosphere and form your own opinions regarding it. 

The Manosphere is arguably most notorious for its rather pessimistic view on female sexuality. So, as I'm throwing a shoutout to one of the members of the manosphere, I thought I'd focus on female sexuality as the theme of this post.

Female sexuality, in reality, isn't too complex, it's just that most people don't look in the right spots for the answer. What really gets a girl going is a mix of unpredictability and social savviness (As in, if you're unpredictable and socially awkward, or socially savvy and predictable, it won't be enough). There's a lot to go into, and I am really not interested at explaining my views on girls at the moment; they're fun but nothing to take seriously. So instead, I'm just going to show a few conversations I've had with girls, and my thoughts on those conversations.

Unfortunately, I delete most of my texts. I screenshot what I consider the good ones, but I eventually delete those too. I found a couple on my iPhone cloud, so enjoy what I found. 

Background: It was a girl I had already fucked, which makes it unfair. However, this conversation provides great insight on female sexuality. I admittedly don't remember the conversation well, but this is pretty much how girls operate. I'm unyielding; she's on the defensive here. Her excuses to me are irrelevant. She plays into my world, operates secondary to me. I know I have her, and her feeble attempts at brushing me aside plays directly into her insatiable desire for my cock. Being this straightforward with a girl will not work most of the time unless she's a slut or you two have a sexual relationship at this point, but this exchange shows how a girl works once you've caught her interest.

Status: We barely talk. She has a boyfriend. But the option is always there, and both of us know it. Nevertheless, she's a trashy bitch at this point and not worth pursuing. If I fuck her again, it will be out of boredom. I actually just texted her to get an essay her boyfriend wrote me when he found out she was still texting me, but she's acting like a bitch because I actually called her a trashy slut and told her to grow up the last time I talked to her. She's doing that thing where she calls me the same thing I told her (Last text exchange involved her telling me I should grow up). The essay has yet to be ascertained, but I will certainly post it up here if I get it.

Background: The situation basically went down as she found out I hooked up with another girl that night, so she went AWOL on me and tried flirting with every guy she saw in front of me. I had enough by the third guy, and left. She texted me to come back. Inebriated, I did, and saw his arm around her, so I punched him. I told him to fight me, and while I was going at him, my girl got in the way and I violently pushed her aside, thinking she was a guy trying to hold me back. She cried, and it became a whole scene. The next day, she conspired to see me through a mutual friend, and she apologized for me hitting her. I was dumbfounded she could see it as her fault in any way, but I just went with it. Over time, she rationalized it to herself to the point where she considers me abusive and in the wrong, as girls are wont to do. I've never apologized for it, and usually sidestep it when she accuses me of wrongdoing (My favorite line being "Gotta keep that pimp hand strong"). Nevertheless, she offered me this gem a few days after the incident occurred. Let's be straight up here, girls like violent cavemen, and violence/physical dominance turns them on.

Status: Same girl as before. Still no essay. That slut.



Background: This girl wrongfully believed that I wanted to date her, and was naturally offended when I told her it was strictly physical. She never quite lived it down, and always seemed to try bringing it up trying to procure commitment. This was pre-fuck, so I assume it counts as a full point. First of all, I want to say that it is wrong to play with a girls emotions; if you're willing to genuinely give them to her, go for it, but if you're only looking for a pump-and-dump, don't tell her you love her and want to be with her and all that crap. That's the cheap way of getting it, it's going to end with her hating you at some point, and it's just going to create damaged, distrustful sluts. I never once told her or even hinted to her I wanted to date her or anything of that nature, I have never said I love you back to her, and yet she still turned it into this. Anyway, I just simply sidestepped her accusation. Getting defensive, or being boring, or anything of that nature gets you nowhere with a girl. This doesn't mean don't be serious at all, but she doesn't care about how you feel about her, she just cares about how she feel about you. She may look for validation from you, but women, and people in general, tend to be incredibly narcissistic, and only really care about themselves. I thought my reaction was appropriate; it's like I treated her as nothing more than a blabbering sex toy. What girls want to be treated like.

Status: I'm supposed to see her next week. We're not dating. At some point she even rationalized it to herself, about a week or two later telling me she "really likes me but only wants it to be physical," and "doesn't see me as boyfriend material." I'm heartbroken </3

Background: There isn't much here. I only put it here because it's hilarious. But nevertheless, if you want analysis, I turn to the great philosopher, 16 year old version of myself. I recently found an old journal I used to write in from my Junior year in High School, and found a section of rules I made to live my life by. Some highlights include "Perception is Everything," "The best way to change the perception of yourself is through genuine self-improvement," and "Insecurity arises from lack of control." However, the quote which is most fitting here is "People want what they cannot have, provided that it is within reach." This holds true every time, and is the reason playing hard to get is so effective when done right. When someone is chasing you, and you dangle the prize (Yourself) right in front of their faces, but don't allow them to have you, they go crazy. After I finally answered her, she went into full on defense mode. And for the record, I never gave her an I love you either


Status: Never fucked her. Basically ended up being a 7 month flirtationship with many gaps in between, where we saw each other at most once a week. Girl is a virgin still, will likely be one for the rest of her life. Although, I think that there's a slut deep down in there. Funny lesson learned from her; at one point towards the end, she friendzoned me. When I told her I'm not dealing with that, she told me in a shocked sense that she never knew when to take me seriously and thought I didn't want her like that anymore, so she gave up and moved on. It's important to note that while it's ok not to take things seriously, at some point you will run the risk of being nothing more than a clown. I don't take things seriously because I'm very insecure in myself, and laughing it off is the best way for me to deny reality. I classify humor as one of two things; something very witty, or something that contrasts with reality so much that it is utterly absurd, and our brain cannot process it rationally as a result.* I tend to favor the second form of humor, and it's ultimately built up a fantasyland that I live in. It's a ton of fun, but I always come out realizing nothing is as good as I want it to be, and have trouble maintaining a relationship of any type beyond 3 months because of this.

*I am not a Scientist. There is no scientific backing here. It's just the best way I can classify our tendency as rational (Term loosely applied) animals to find pleasure in the irrational.

Background: That slut. She never sent it. As punishment, if we ever fuck again, I will "accidentally" stick my unlubed cock up her ass and ravage it. Here is a screenshot from when it happened. It was ironically sent to me on my birthday, which is why I was up at 4:51 A.M. And I believe I was intoxicated. I actually never read the entire thing (it was much too long), but I did read some of the first paragraph, and found it hilarious. I responded in what is undeniably the greatest way possible, typing "Penis," spelled wrong. You would think autocorrect would've picked up on that. If I ever get the essay again, I will dedicate an entire post on the wording of the essay alone, because it's worth it. I will then post another entire post on breaking down the essay part by part in a witty way. Then, I will dedicate a third post to the wording of the essay again, with a loaf of poop** in the background. You've all been forewarned

**It is Scientifically proven that loaf*** is, in fact, the funniest word in the English language. Poop comes in a photofinish second place. If you combine the words, you get what is the funniest phrase in the English language in terms of syntax. Obviously context matters as well, but try inserting a loaf of poop into any sentence and it undeniably becomes funnier.
***I know exactly what you're thinking, and yes, I have field tested "Hey baby, want a loaf of this cock" as a pickup line. Needless to say, it worked every time. It is 100% effective. The phrase is currently in the process of being patented. However, if you use it, you must, as a royalty, either pay me money, or videotape yourself using it and put it on youtube.

Sidebar: I can't believe this is only my first post focusing solely on girls.

Music Production Notes

Music Production Notes

Nutrition

Today I downloaded a new app, myfitnesspal, to start tracking my nutrition. Nutrition is the most important aspect of shaping your body, even more so than working out, although you will not build muscle if you don't work out. If you work out without taking in enough calories, you won't gain any weight. You can also lose weight without ever going to the gym if you manage your diet properly. I would call today, by my standards, an average day in terms of eating while bulking. I took in just under 4,000 calories today. A few notes on my diet:

• I really need to take in more potassium and fiber, and I suspect most Americans do as well. I had more fiber rich foods today than I usually do and still didn't have enough.

• On the flip side, I don't take in enough cholesterol. The most accessible source of cholesterol is an egg, but a single egg contains about 80% of your daily recommended cholesterol. I will start eating an egg every other day.

• For someone who doesn't drink soda, eat candy, and avoids sweets, I still take in way too much sugar. Sugar is poisonous to the body when taken in excessive amounts, and I always figured my sugar intake was average at most. This is mildly concerning, and something to keep an eye on in the future.

• My protein intake is more or less on target considering I had pasta with olive oil for dinner instead of meat, and had 1/4 cup less of tuna today with lunch than normal. However, I could still bump it up a little. I work out four times a week, and only drink protein on days I work out (such as today). I may start working out with greater frequency for shorter periods of time (I usually average 1.5-2 hours) and drink protein shakes every day.

• Too much sodium, and not much of a surprise considering how prevelent it is in our foods. I will nevertheless make a concerted effort to have less sodium.

• The vitamin C is explained by my munching on vitamin C drops all day. Vitamin C is water-soluble so it doesn't matter how much I take in as long as I take in enough.

• Not listed: I drank about 90oz of water today. That's six water bottles for whoever's counting. 

• I doubt I've ever taken in 100% of my recommended calcium intake, and ideally I would like to be at slightly more than 100% for calcium per day. More milk for me.

Philosophy 101 Notes

Philosophy 101 Notes

The Social Animal Notes

The Social Animal Notes

Utilitarianism Notes

Utilitarianism Notes

Psychology: The Influence of Persuasion Notes

Psychology: The Influence of Persuasion Notes

What is Freedom

Free Will is the ability of someone to make decisions without restraint. Restraint exists in many forms, physical, mental, legal, economical, etc. Free Will means the Will is Free. All will is free however.  But what is Will? Will is a voluntary act made with full intentions. Aristotle said that virtue and vice are self-defined, and Self-Mastery is the difference between what people decide to do and what they actually do. It is both restraint and discipline. Someone in control of themselves. Someone who is in control of themselves is free, by condition of not being enslaved to desires.
Thomas Aquinas made the following observation on will. The will desires something, but it does not desire all. It is not greater than the intellect, but it does influence the intellect. Can free will exist in the first place? Free actions, argued by Spinoza, cannot actually be free. The concept of freedom is based on internal beliefs caused by external events. There is no objective freedom according to him. We are free by just being alive. We can do whatever we want, unless oppressed physically or mentally. We have boundaries assigned to us by nature.
However, within our limitations, we are free. Things exist because as we decipher through our own bodies. I definitely exist. I must create my reality based upon the one true fact, that I exist. Cogito Ergo Sum. The single greatest phrase ever coined. It is the only thing that can be objectively true. Descartes must have ravaged his brain to come up with that simple phrase. The simple meaning is that doubting one’s existence, in and of itself, proves that an "l" exists to do the thinking. I know I exist. Everything else could be a deception. But if I am being deceived, I must exist in order to be deceived. Physical manifestations can be false. But the simple fact remains that I do exist. I cannot build off of this, but I can use it as a foundation in the case of doubt. When we become conscious of ourselves, we realize that our essential qualities are endless urging, craving, striving, wanting, and desiring. That is will. It is what we desire. We are subject to our will however. Freedom is freedom from the will, a.k.a. freedom from desire, from need. Something not possible in the physical world, but possible in the mental, or dare I say, spiritual world.
What is the intrinsic motivator of the will? The will is motivated by the human desire to place itself in what it perceives is the best possible position. The best possible position is ultimately determined within each of us. I lean more towards a will-to-power psychology, although all major theories are essentially valid. By this logic, freedom from any power/sexuality/physical desires whatsoever leads to true freedom. So all this time, all we had to do was die to be free.