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4: Notes To Self
Costco, Biology, Originality, Oppenheimer, Advice From Professionals
Luke Clancy
September 08, 2023
Yo!
Here is your weekly dose of 5 things I’m pondering and exploring.
There’s 4 things I’ll forever be loyal to: my family, my friends, Chipotle, and Costco. Naturally, I listened to a 3 hour podcast breaking down the story and playbook behind my beloved retailer. Here’s 5 crazy facts I learned:
The Kirkland brand does more revenue than Nike.
They sell eye glasses, diamond rings, and rotisserie chickens under the same roof. That’s Steph Curry range!
Costco sells 500 million chickens per year. That’s 1 chicken for every person in Canada and The United States.
They are the largest seller in the world of fine wines ($20-$300 bottles).
They sold 2.2 million pumpkin pies in the 3 days leading up to Thanksgiving last year.
“Imagine a flashy spaceship lands in your backyard. The door opens and you are invited to investigate everything to see what you can learn. The technology is clearly millions of years beyond what we can make.
This is biology.
In biology class, biology wasn’t presented as a quest for the secrets of life. The textbooks wrung out the questing. We were nowhere acquainted with real biologists, the real questions they had, the real experiments they did to answer them. We were just given their conclusions.”
I think school cheapens stem subjects by robbing us of the questions. These are subjects that describe everything around us! But instead of exploring how they came to be, we are fed facts.
James helped me realize how many fascinating biology questions I have yet to answer. How do I turn the eggs I eat turn into muscle? Why are my eyes hazel? What’s the deal with tap water? Why do men grow more facial hair than women? Why do some things cause me to feel “in the flow” and others don’t? What even is a “flow state”? What is a scab and why do they help my body heal? Why does stress cause so many physical health issues?
I don’t know! But I want to.
Derek Sivers is back with another podcast episode packed with original insights. Here are 2 nuggets of wisdom that stood out:
If you want to have original thoughts (like Derek), you shouldn’t read what is hot right now. Go for timeless pieces on topics you’re curious about.
If you want to answer old questions, go for old books.
HTTOTW is an all time pod. This one broke down the story and strategies behind Oppenheimer’s success. A few notes:
“Come join the madness.” Oppenheimer said to a student coming into his classroom that was in the midst of an intellectual shouting match. These environments are where innovation happens. I want to join the madness (or make it myself).
Oppy had a T-Shaped skillset. He was very good at theoretical physics (bottom of T) and knew a little about a lot of things (top of T). This is why he succeeded at leading Los Alamos.
The Manhattan Project had an insane intensity of talent. Bohr, Fermi, Oppenheimer, Teller, etc etc. Great people work best while around great people.
Oppy was completely lonely, depressed, and psychotic for a few years during his early 20s. Even tried to kill a few people! If you looked at him then, you’d question if he could be a functioning member of society. Fast forwards a few years and he lead one of the greatest scientific feats of all time. If you are going through some shit, you’ve just got a find a way to hang on, white knuckle it, and stay in the game until the storm passes. The path to greatness and originality is never always linear or positive.
Someone on Reddit asked “What’s your best advice from your profession?” and below is a summary of the most upvoted answers.
HR: Underpromise, overdeliver, and keep your mouth shut to maintain a good reputation at work.
Teacher: Read to your kids from infancy.
Librarian: Ditch Audible and get a library card to listen to free audiobooks. Many libraries offer apps (ex: Libby) where you can download audiobooks straight to your phone.
Thanks for wanting to know more today than you did yesterday.
Cheers,
Luke