Given what Iâve written about wasteland status games, youâre probably assuming I donât think very highly of competitions. And yeah, thatâs usually true. But thereâs a lot to unpack here because itâs nuanced.
Remember why youâre here: To make money. To gain influence. To build something that *works*. That must always be your guiding principle. If competition moves you in that direction, use it.
But itâs riskyâcompetition is so close to a status game. I donât need to give examples of that, so I wonât.
Daniel LaRusso entered the karate tournament in 1984, not for status, but to build something that *worked*âa deal to get the bullies to leave him alone. They took it as a status game, of course. But thatâs because Cobra Kai is wasteland karateâit wasnât intrinsic in the tournament format itself.
The self-portrait I posted the other dayâthat was the product of competition. A friend of mine had drawn a portrait of me and I wanted to outdo her. I had a reason for that: I wanted to position myself as someone qualified to teach drawing to her. In other words, I was after influence.
And it worked. I leveled up my drawing skills in the process of making that specific drawingâit was significantly better than hers. Status played no part in the equation. It was pure comparison of drawing quality, using a visual artifact to claw my way to greater heights of artistic skill.
I can get away with stuff like that because Iâm of the temple, not the wasteland.
Your job, first and foremost, is to relieve MISERY. It must never be to satisfy curiosity about yourself.
Satisfy curiosity if that leads to a reduction in MISERY, but otherwise do not get sidetracked. Youâre here on temple businessâserving the Latent Leads, not the Spectators. Your job is to relieve MISERY, the kind of MISERY youâre qualified to relieve.
There are 6.12 billion people on the Internet. When you open yourself up for business, youâre gonna expose yourself to a ton of MISERY you are absolutely NOT qualified to relieve. Donât worry about that. Donât make it your problem.
Do your jobâno one elseâs job.
Jerry Seinfeldâs job is to tell jokes, not to dole out hugs. Thatâs the MISERY heâs qualified to relieve. And he knows it. Thatâs why he has the money. Thatâs why he has the influence. Thatâs why his jokes *work*.
When someone accosts him and demands a hug, he doesnât âgo with the flow.â He says âno thanksâ and goes back to the jokes. Thatâs how he maintains the sanctity of the temple.
This is 2026, folks. The priest must train harder than ever.
The time for wasteland shenanigans is over.
This is how you build the Temple of Gravity. You make the thing for the Latent Leadsânot the Spectatorsâand you let them pay for it. Again and again. As long as it takes. until you get the money. Until you get the influence. Until the damn thing *works*.
Donât let them down just cuz âstatusâ.
_The Temple Papers_ Audiobook + Ebook Link in bio.
How can Scott Joplin be underrated? Heâs famousâlike A-list famous.
But more importantly, is that what we do in the temple? Rate pianists? I donât think so.
That sounds more like a wasteland pastime to me. Something theyâd do out there in the land of status games, where everyone must be proven âequally low-valueâ. Except the gods, of course. Joplin included. Theyâre allowed to be at the topâjust so long as the rest of us mortals know our place.
Yawn. Thatâs just not how we roll, in the temple. It makes no money. It amasses no influence. It does not lead to anything that *works*.
Here, we do technical drills. We train. We practice.
Itâs not the priestâs job to put on a reality show. His job is to put on a *temple show*. Let the Spectators go elsewhere for their fix of Internet drama.
The Latent Leadsâthe ones who pay you the moneyâare here to see *themselves* on the silver screen, not the priest.
The priest does not build a temple to escape his life. He builds it so that he can share his life with others. He makes books, courses, films, games, songsâwhatever it takes. He turns his lived experiences into *experiences for others*.
He packages them to share with those who share his taste.
The wasteland pushes back, of course.
âWho do you think you are, presuming your taste is worth sharing?â the demon taunts. âYouâre *out-of-touch!*â
But the priest must only roll his eyes at this status game. For he recognizes that the demon is obsessed with proving everyone âequally low-valueâ.
He keeps working. Keeps packaging. Keeps shipping.
To be honest, I donât have faith in you either. My faith lies in taste. In myth. In misery.
But in the wastelandâthe land of status gamesâIâve just signed my own confession. Thatâs because the wasteland is a place of liesâspells cast by demons.
Fine. Let them cast.
As long as they stay out of the kitchen.
_The Temple Papers_ Ebook + Audiobook Link in bio.
What is your relationship to this work? Are you a member of the temple Discord server? Did you knock on the Gate of Intent?
Are you one of the individuals I coached piano on Instagram? Are you from the RTV group? One of the other marketing groups I was involved with during the pandemic?
Did you do the No Problem course? Did I mail you a certificate? Did you find me through the meditation jingles? The late-night philosophy chats? Piano Time Live? Live at Five?
Who ARE you???
Did we have on a conversation on my podcast? Did you come to one of my writing workshops? My meditation Zoom sessions? Give me some context.
Did you ever give me money? Did I ever give you money?
Michael Korman
Given what Iâve written about wasteland status games, youâre probably assuming I donât think very highly of competitions. And yeah, thatâs usually true. But thereâs a lot to unpack here because itâs nuanced.
Remember why youâre here: To make money. To gain influence. To build something that *works*. That must always be your guiding principle. If competition moves you in that direction, use it.
But itâs riskyâcompetition is so close to a status game. I donât need to give examples of that, so I wonât.
Daniel LaRusso entered the karate tournament in 1984, not for status, but to build something that *worked*âa deal to get the bullies to leave him alone. They took it as a status game, of course. But thatâs because Cobra Kai is wasteland karateâit wasnât intrinsic in the tournament format itself.
The self-portrait I posted the other dayâthat was the product of competition. A friend of mine had drawn a portrait of me and I wanted to outdo her. I had a reason for that: I wanted to position myself as someone qualified to teach drawing to her. In other words, I was after influence.
And it worked. I leveled up my drawing skills in the process of making that specific drawingâit was significantly better than hers. Status played no part in the equation. It was pure comparison of drawing quality, using a visual artifact to claw my way to greater heights of artistic skill.
I can get away with stuff like that because Iâm of the temple, not the wasteland.
Can you say the same?
1 day ago (edited) | [YT] | 6
View 1 reply
Michael Korman
Your job, first and foremost, is to relieve MISERY. It must never be to satisfy curiosity about yourself.
Satisfy curiosity if that leads to a reduction in MISERY, but otherwise do not get sidetracked. Youâre here on temple businessâserving the Latent Leads, not the Spectators. Your job is to relieve MISERY, the kind of MISERY youâre qualified to relieve.
There are 6.12 billion people on the Internet. When you open yourself up for business, youâre gonna expose yourself to a ton of MISERY you are absolutely NOT qualified to relieve. Donât worry about that. Donât make it your problem.
Do your jobâno one elseâs job.
Jerry Seinfeldâs job is to tell jokes, not to dole out hugs. Thatâs the MISERY heâs qualified to relieve. And he knows it. Thatâs why he has the money. Thatâs why he has the influence. Thatâs why his jokes *work*.
When someone accosts him and demands a hug, he doesnât âgo with the flow.â He says âno thanksâ and goes back to the jokes. Thatâs how he maintains the sanctity of the temple.
He fixates on his *single node*.
1 day ago | [YT] | 5
View 1 reply
Michael Korman
This is 2026, folks. The priest must train harder than ever.
The time for wasteland shenanigans is over.
This is how you build the Temple of Gravity. You make the thing for the Latent Leadsânot the Spectatorsâand you let them pay for it. Again and again. As long as it takes. until you get the money. Until you get the influence. Until the damn thing *works*.
Donât let them down just cuz âstatusâ.
_The Temple Papers_
Audiobook + Ebook
Link in bio.
1 day ago | [YT] | 6
View 1 reply
Michael Korman
How can Scott Joplin be underrated? Heâs famousâlike A-list famous.
But more importantly, is that what we do in the temple? Rate pianists? I donât think so.
That sounds more like a wasteland pastime to me. Something theyâd do out there in the land of status games, where everyone must be proven âequally low-valueâ. Except the gods, of course. Joplin included. Theyâre allowed to be at the topâjust so long as the rest of us mortals know our place.
Yawn. Thatâs just not how we roll, in the temple. It makes no money. It amasses no influence. It does not lead to anything that *works*.
Here, we do technical drills. We train. We practice.
Weâre priests, not dilettantes.
We aim for *envy* and *jealousy* instead.
1 day ago | [YT] | 12
View 3 replies
Michael Korman
Itâs not the priestâs job to put on a reality show. His job is to put on a *temple show*. Let the Spectators go elsewhere for their fix of Internet drama.
The Latent Leadsâthe ones who pay you the moneyâare here to see *themselves* on the silver screen, not the priest.
Theyâre hungry.
Their patience is running thin.
1 day ago | [YT] | 2
View 0 replies
Michael Korman
The priest does not build a temple to escape his life. He builds it so that he can share his life with others. He makes books, courses, films, games, songsâwhatever it takes. He turns his lived experiences into *experiences for others*.
He packages them to share with those who share his taste.
The wasteland pushes back, of course.
âWho do you think you are, presuming your taste is worth sharing?â the demon taunts. âYouâre *out-of-touch!*â
But the priest must only roll his eyes at this status game. For he recognizes that the demon is obsessed with proving everyone âequally low-valueâ.
He keeps working. Keeps packaging. Keeps shipping.
1 day ago | [YT] | 4
View 1 reply
Michael Korman
To be honest, I donât have faith in you either. My faith lies in taste. In myth. In misery.
But in the wastelandâthe land of status gamesâIâve just signed my own confession. Thatâs because the wasteland is a place of liesâspells cast by demons.
Fine. Let them cast.
As long as they stay out of the kitchen.
_The Temple Papers_
Ebook + Audiobook
Link in bio.
1 day ago (edited) | [YT] | 6
View 1 reply
Michael Korman
Who ARE you???
What is your relationship to this work? Are you a member of the temple Discord server? Did you knock on the Gate of Intent?
Are you one of the individuals I coached piano on Instagram? Are you from the RTV group? One of the other marketing groups I was involved with during the pandemic?
Did you do the No Problem course? Did I mail you a certificate? Did you find me through the meditation jingles? The late-night philosophy chats? Piano Time Live? Live at Five?
Who ARE you???
Did we have on a conversation on my podcast? Did you come to one of my writing workshops? My meditation Zoom sessions? Give me some context.
Did you ever give me money? Did I ever give you money?
Thereâs a lot of Noise out there.
Letâs cut through it.
2 days ago | [YT] | 10
View 7 replies
Michael Korman
The wasteland has endless tactics for de-legitimizing sovereign creators. Just plow forwardâthe Latent Leads will thank you for it.
Well, they might not thank youâŚbut theyâll imitate you. Sincerest form of flattery and all.
Remember: theyâre in MISERY. It hurts. They have no time for status games. Thatâs why they payâitâs the fast ticket *out*.
Trust the misery.
2 days ago | [YT] | 6
View 1 reply
Michael Korman
This little fella has been rendered speechless.
âOh shit,â it seems to be saying. âItâs like the temple is a mirror I canât bear to look in while Iâm here.â
Itâs OKâyou went to school. But this is no time for amateur hour. The Signal must pierce.
Congrats, bro. Youâre why I recorded the audiobook. Itâs the definitive way to experience the text.
shop.michaelkorman.com/b/the-temple-papers
2 days ago | [YT] | 3
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