Video blog follow up to yesterdays post

Respect dude. It doesn't get more real than sticking yourself out there like that and vblogs are good fun. I dunno, depends how u feel ofc but that 5 min vid took me back to the old prop betting days when you played 50k hands in 24 hours and kept posting on LP. It rocked.

I don't care about the tan posts at all really but I have a few thoughts about it. People are extremely affected by how you look, present and take care of yourself. It's kinda sad but it's the reality of the world and it matters to almost everyone even if they don't want it to. If you look sharp and take care of yourself you have a huge advantage over other people and are more likely to be close to others. That works on guys too (nohomo) as with your friend Asher for example, it made you want to hang out and learn more about his swag, right? Think what other friends/players are looking to you for as well. It probably helps you now on the podcasts + connecting with people and also your demographic is mostly hungry young dudes interested in a bit of banter anyways so it's all fun really. It's good and bad though because it can attract people who only want those more superficial qualities and not the real you. Keep on doing what your doing, it's awesome and lots of ppl appreciate the podcasts.

You are right that success/attractiveness that sort of thing attracts others that are similar. It's also true that looking good makes most if not all feel good about themselves. For one thing being in shape means your body is more healthy which is good for your mind too, but in general people just enjoy looking good and feeling attractive. I'm also pretty sure that Loco and whoever else that posted cares enough about looks to have an opinion about what sort of looks they like in a girl. Everyone prefers to have a girlfriend that looks good over one that is 300lbs. Nobody is completely unaffected by the interests you described and we all participate in it to some extent.

That said I think that you hit a nerve with a lot of people with those comments. The reason for this is that despite all of this being true, it's almost disgusting how important looks are in our world. Everyone to some extent has to be a part of it whether they want it or not. If you want to find a nice girl you need to take care of yourself. If you want to find a good job you need to take care of yourself. It is something that a lot of people often question. A lot of us would prefer to live in a society that resembles more of a meritocracy. Think of kids at primary school who pick on others who don't look the same/popular, despite the person being picked on possibly working harder and doing better at school. The opinion that looks are basically the way to be part of the "cool" peoples group, is something that causes a lot of harm in society.

I definitely understand where you're coming from everyone is different and has different interests, but I also think it should be easy to see why it may bother others. In the end just be yourself and do what makes you happy.

Interesting. I look at this a bit differently than others I've spoken with and maybe more honestly but I haven't talked with LPers about it. I think both sexes are strongly attracted to each other in very similar ways. It's one of the ways we choose both male and female friends as we're naturally (sexually?) attracted to both and if they're good looking it just makes you like them more. It's a positive at the very least and that's just how we work. Nothing wrong with it. I think if you were to have a test subject stand in a booth behind a one way mirror then have a stream of people walk past him and with no other information than how they look he was to rate them based on how likely they would be friends then the more good looking ones will be picked almost always.

When it's with the same sex it's generally the case that you're not willing to act on it as most people aren't gay but it does make them more likeable to you because you're naturally attracted to good looking people and more so because they're also perceived to be more successful or likely to be etc therefore an asset to you. Depends on you how much you're willing to go out of your way for people like that but I notice a huge difference when I'm in shape, dressed well etc.. it is just too easy that it lowers/cheapens my outlook on life. Often I don't care about that though so I just dress less stylish etc because even though it does feel good to look good and be fit I recognise that people are being exploited by my appearance. I think it's very interesting to see how people value you once you dress badly or put on some weight. It's the same when a girl with big breasts wears a tight top, short skirt and fuckme boots and ends up getting way more attention than she would in less sexualised clothing. It's just too powerful of an image and people will give in to you way more which is an asset to be wielded in the real world.

When you put yourself out there you are bound to get mixed reaction. I believe it's worth it - when you're being yourself to a point where it's polarizing it weeds out the people you're incompatible with and strengthens the bound with the ones you truly connect with. That's what I think one should be doing in life and in blogging or any sort of media where you connect with people for that matter.

Obviously looks are important to you. There's nothing wrong with that. Some might say your blog post was vain, truth be told I believe it was a bit vain as well, but so what?

If we assume vanity is a display of lower consciousness then posting in someone's blog that that person is vain and then spending time and energy to make that person submit that he/she indeed is vain to me is even lower consciousness.

You seem really puzzled as to why I clicked on your blog. Of course, these things are unconscious, so I can't tell you with certainty the exact reason, but I'm quite sure it's because I saw the word 'inspiration'. It's just curiosity, really. I like to see what makes people tick. This is something that I have always been interested in. If you want to know exactly why I behave the way that I do in circumstances like these, watch this clip by George Carlin starting at around 3 mins until the end. I couldn't really put it any better. I'm a notebook kind of guy like he says, and this forum sometimes (quite rarely) happens to be my notebook.

On October 06 2014 10:34 tomson wrote: If we assume vanity is a display of lower consciousness then posting in someone's blog that that person is vain and then spending time and energy to make that person submit that he/she indeed is vain to me is even lower consciousness.

Of course you're right that it can be. It depends on the degree of attachment involved. If it's done with humor and detachment it's certainly not the case. It's a therapeutic thing for people like me; if we could no longer laugh at the freak show we'd end up killing ourselves.

doesn't everyone on this site hate loco?

the man who's opinion is never wrong, the righteous!

savior of the poker nerd, loco himself.

also at a risk of appearing to be biased on the situation heres a recent photo of joe ingram1

+ Show Spoiler +

Like I said to Joe in PM, this is an inane reproach. Nobody ever says anything believing that they are wrong. When you say that I think I'm always right, you're trying to be right yourself, it's unavoidable. It's empty criticism. If I'm wrong it's an opportunity to learn, so I would gladly be wrong about anything that I say. Why don't you engage something I said and show me how it's wrong like any real person with integrity would do? It's funny because I could bring up a bunch of character flaws of mine while this is the best you have, that I don't just talk shit about things that I know nothing of and actually believe what I'm saying. Wow, what an insight.

Maybe if you could read between the lines you would see that I'm just saying the way you gallivant around obnoxiously talking to people in the pursuit of being right is very annoying, as highlighted with your most recent reply.

sorry but is this a seinfeld episode because once loco joined the comments it's like a conversation about nothing

As always I've read the whole conversation and I will give my final judgement and final post on this matter (maybe I shouldn't but I will anyway).

I've looked at a bit of the video you posted loco, about the guy describing himself as being the guy sitting on the front row with a notebook of the freakshow and being able to take notes. Well unlike you, I do actually take notes, and I will decipher the whole Loco personality:

- you're not the guy taking notes of a freakshow. you're looking for threads, looking for ways where you can turn everything into a heated discussion, just so everyone can listen to almighty great Loco. Your view of a discussion is proving or rather forcing onto someone, that you're right. You will never change your views after a discussion, everything just has to be you forcing your will upon someone. As a result of this you never get to learn anything out of talking with someone (you're rather the opposite of what Joe was talking about in the OP, aka getting inspired by other people in different aspects)

- Since Joe is actually putting himself out there, and this the only stuff you can talk shit about is pretty sad. I'd like to make the assumption that your posts are only a glimpse of the man behind the monitor. So let me create an image of what your life looks like, and after this you can respond if that's reasonable or not.

- you probably have no friends, because of this obnoxious character treat where you have to be right every time and everything has to be turned into a heated discussion. Therefore you probably let it out online, which we can find in the amount you post (18k postcount). Aside from that you probably have no ambitions in life, and all day you just sit around watching videos of pseudo intellectual talk on youtube.

- now as always I'd like to end with something positive (as I am taking time to actually post this). So my advice to you is to try to get rid of this horrible character treat. If you'll get rid of it you'll probably have a better social life, and might get inspired by other people.

So it's all up to you what you decide to do with what I posted here. You can take parts out my post and quote them and go attack some highly irrelevant pieces of my post. Or..... you can take my advice and actually improve your life.

On October 06 2014 10:34 tomson wrote: Obviously looks are important to you. There's nothing wrong with that.

Looks have a certain degree of importance for everyone, we all agree. But I think it's fair to say that he was making a defense for excessive caring of one's appearance, not some common sense, "I need to look civilized" reasonable attempt to look decent and not scare people away. So I'm wondering, what makes you (or ggplz) say that there's nothing wrong with this and where do you guys draw the line? If someone spends $30,000 on surgery to look like Kim Kardashian or Justin Bieber, as some people did, that's perfectly normal to you guys? I know some real thoughtful people will say "whatever man, live and let live... as long as it makes them happy!" but this is exactly the point of contention: what evidence is there to believe that it makes them happy? Just because they are free to do it and desired to do it and did it means that they are happy? Additionally, do you believe that they are building a healthy self-esteem by doing what it is that they are doing, or are they just filling something with a hole in it while being manipulated by popular culture and marketers?

Here's what I think is common sense. I think that this woman who wants to look like somebody else and keeps having surgeries is going to age like everybody else, and that her attachment to her beauty is going to cause her severe anguish as she'll realize at some point how misguided she was for investing so much on something that would just inevitably be taken away from her. She built a straw house. This same realization will hit everyone who excessively cared about what they look like, and the longer and the stronger they care about it, the more painful it's gonna be. I'm pretty sure you guys agree with me on this too, so I don't know why you're downplaying it here. Is it because Joe looks like a hurt puppy here?

I don't know about you ggplz, but if I was put in this hypothetical room of yours, I wouldn't want to befriend those people who wear their self-esteem. I'd wait to know if there is something real behind the façade. This whole thing is dumb. Our first impression of someone is huge, and their looks play a significant part in our judgment of them, but if we're not idiots we'll actually be aware of this programming and wait until we have more information in order to constrict our judgment. It's not the clothes, the hairspray and the small talk that will bring us anything meaningful. No glitter and sparkly toys ever built great relationships. If you need those things to catch someone's attention then personally I wouldn't want yours.

On October 06 2014 13:58 aernout wrote: As always I've read the whole conversation and I will give my final judgement and final post on this matter (maybe I shouldn't but I will anyway). - you're not the guy taking notes of a freakshow. you're looking for threads, looking for ways where you can turn everything into a heated discussion, just so everyone can listen to almighty great Loco.

Your judgment means nothing because you have accumulated zero evidence for any of the things you spout here and because you lost all credibility in the previous thread. You sir, great psychic that you are, claimed that I was a microstakes player who is just jealous of joe. That was my motive according to you. Once someone comes up with a lie like that it's easy for any intelligent person to dismiss the things they say after, so you are just wasting your time here.

I'm usually inactive on this site, I don't look for threads at all. To demonstrate just how full of shit you are, how about you find just ONE thread other than what started this where I have been engaging in a heated debate in the past 3 months. Any thread or any blog qualifies, including joe's previous entries. If the picture you are painting of me here is accurate and I'm some desperate guy who really needs to get into heated debates then this is extremely easy to find and post here for everyone to see. Quote me so that I can't cheat my way out of it. Come on now, let's see how great of a note-taker you are and how much integrity you have. I'm even going to help you since you were too stupid to look at my hands previously; you can use this filter to begin your hunt, it's in every section of the site. I hope you realize that this is your last chance to regain credibility here so no excuses are going to fly.

On October 06 2014 14:03 Loco wrote: Show nested quote + On October 06 2014 10:34 tomson wrote: Obviously looks are important to you. There's nothing wrong with that. Looks have a certain degree of importance for everyone, we all agree. But I think it's fair to say that he was making a defense for excessive caring of one's appearance, not some common sense, "I need to look civilized" reasonable attempt to look decent and not scare people away. So I'm wondering, what makes you (or ggplz) say that there's nothing wrong with this and where do you guys draw the line? If someone spends $30,000 on surgery to look like Kim Kardashian or Justin Bieber, as some people did, that's perfectly normal to you guys? I know some real thoughtful people will say "whatever man, live and let live... as long as it makes them happy!" but this is exactly the point of contention: what evidence is there to believe that it makes them happy? Just because they are free to do it and desired to do it and did it means that they are happy? Additionally, do you believe that they are building a healthy self-esteem by doing what it is that they are doing, or are they just filling something with a hole in it while being manipulated by popular culture and marketers?

There's nothing wrong with it because that's just how we're built. We have to accept who we are as humans and it's natural to find other humans more attractive than others. Maybe for you personally it's not so much about looks and instead about intelligence (I think most people are obviously mixed) but when it comes to being more serious you would prefer your partner to look good, right? It's shallow but it's how people are and you can't fault them for it. They are victims of their own biology Most interactions in life are brief and generally your appearance play a huge % of the dialogue.

I think when you start talking about extreme surgeries etc the topic is warping a bit. It's in a whole different league than just working with what you have and trying to look your best. It is pretty vain but it's really a very small part of most peoples lives when they just take 5-10 mins to make themselves look presentable and pick out clothes for that day etc. Working out is healthy, makes you feel good and also makes people more attracted to you so I don't lump it together exactly. For some people the attraction part is why they do it, others just like how it feels and others like to "master their body" through training certain parts / bodybuilding. Tanning at a salon isn't something I do as I go outside but I understand why some people want that look. As a young guy looking to attract women those things are extremely effective so I do respect the strategy. I had a discussion earlier about if it's easier to attract your ideal partner by not caring about your looks and just being yourself or if you take care of your looks and dress sharp and we decided both can work but you aren't disadvantaged by taking care of yourself.

Here's what I think is common sense. I think that this woman who wants to look like somebody else and keeps having surgeries is going to age like everybody else, and that her attachment to her beauty is going to cause her severe anguish as she'll realize at some point how misguided she was for investing so much on something that would just inevitably be taken away from her. She built a straw house. This same realization will hit everyone who excessively cared about what they look like, and the longer and the stronger they care about it, the more painful it's gonna be. I'm pretty sure you guys agree with me on this too, so I don't know why you're downplaying it here. Is it because Joe looks like a hurt puppy here? I don't know about you ggplz, but if I was put in this hypothetical room of yours, I wouldn't want to befriend those people who wear their self-esteem. I'd wait to know if there is something real behind the façade. This whole thing is dumb. Our first impression of someone is huge, and their looks play a significant part in our judgment of them, but if we're not idiots we'll actually be aware of this programming and wait until we have more information in order to constrict our judgment. It's not the clothes, the hairspray and the small talk that will bring us anything meaningful. No glitter and sparky toys ever built great relationships. If you need those things to catch someone's attention then personally I wouldn't want yours.

No, I wouldn't either. Not only for that reason.. I'm just trying to show that by taking care of yourself you are advantaging yourself in society.

You can be advantaging yourself in society while disadvantaging yourself on a personal level. That's often the case, it becomes a trade-off. I think it's something to step back from and reflect upon as much as possible rather than be assimilated by. As Schopenhauer said, "We forfeit three-fourths of ourselves in order to be like other people."

On October 06 2014 14:03 Loco wrote: Show nested quote + On October 06 2014 10:34 tomson wrote: Obviously looks are important to you. There's nothing wrong with that. Looks have a certain degree of importance for everyone, we all agree. But I think it's fair to say that he was making a defense for excessive caring of one's appearance, not some common sense, "I need to look civilized" reasonable attempt to look decent and not scare people away. So I'm wondering, what makes you (or ggplz) say that there's nothing wrong with this and where do you guys draw the line? If someone spends $30,000 on surgery to look like Kim Kardashian or Justin Bieber, as some people did, that's perfectly normal to you guys? I know some real thoughtful people will say "whatever man, live and let live... as long as it makes them happy!" but this is exactly the point of contention: what evidence is there to believe that it makes them happy? Just because they are free to do it and desired to do it and did it means that they are happy? Additionally, do you believe that they are building a healthy self-esteem by doing what it is that they are doing, or are they just filling something with a hole in it while being manipulated by popular culture and marketers? Here's what I think is common sense. I think that this woman who wants to look like somebody else and keeps having surgeries is going to age like everybody else, and that her attachment to her beauty is going to cause her severe anguish as she'll realize at some point how misguided she was for investing so much on something that would just inevitably be taken away from her. She built a straw house. This same realization will hit everyone who excessively cared about what they look like, and the longer and the stronger they care about it, the more painful it's gonna be. I'm pretty sure you guys agree with me on this too, so I don't know why you're downplaying it here. Is it because Joe looks like a hurt puppy here? I don't know about you ggplz, but if I was put in this hypothetical room of yours, I wouldn't want to befriend those people who wear their self-esteem. I'd wait to know if there is something real behind the façade. This whole thing is dumb. Our first impression of someone is huge, and their looks play a significant part in our judgment of them, but if we're not idiots we'll actually be aware of this programming and wait until we have more information in order to constrict our judgment. It's not the clothes, the hairspray and the small talk that will bring us anything meaningful. No glitter and sparky toys ever built great relationships. If you need those things to catch someone's attention then personally I wouldn't want yours.

Does that mean your exchange of words with Joey was out of concern that he's going down a misguided, futile path of vanity that will lead him to suffering later in life?

To me this is not an intellectual debate on the importance that society places on physical appearance. This is a story where a guy shared his views, deep or not, mature or not, positive in his intentions. And he got shit on by you in the comments. You mention humor - I saw cynical ridicule. You say detachment - I saw a man dead set to prove his point. You posted Carlin, but people laughed with Carlin. His comedy was harsh, but you could sense the intentions behind it were compassionate. I'm sorry, but I don't get that feeling with you.

Baiting us in with motivation and then telling us to go back in time and not click on it doesn't really work. I don't know you, Joe, my opinion of you is based on the things you write. What you wrote and the wording you used appeared negative to some of the readers. Taking a few moments to put your thoughts into words can avoid confusion. You are putting yourself, your ideas, emotions and feelings out there for scrutinization. Some people reading will already be dialled in at 9 when they start looking for an excuse to go off and explode. Surely this doesn't come as a surprise.

From the vlog it is apparent that it somehow got to you. Learn to take some banter, usually there's a little bit of truth in the best ones. You are an upbeat guy who is in shape and plowing through whatever you decide to take on. Ease up a little, everything isn't a personal vendetta against you. You put out content that people appreciate and it matters. Perhaps you have something to share with your target audience that will encourage their personal growth like how to get in shape and stay healthy, balancing poker with life, importance of being presentable, etc.