47: Notes To Self

Yo, it’s Luke!

Been diving deep into nitty-gritty growth stuff — programmable SEO, referral programs, systematizing intro’s, and organic content. Lots of fun!

That said, here is your weekly dose of 5 noteworthy ideas & things I learned about last week. Click on each link to dive further on that topic.

1. Agriculture Production Per Capita

This chart is just ridiculous to look at. And funny to think about, if you know the backstory…

So basically, nitrogen fertilizer (which is largely responsible for this efficiency increase) was created on accident.

Johann Friedrick Wöhler was trying to synthesize a chemical called ammonium cyanate, and ended up creating urea (a compound rich in Nitrogen which is super helpful for plant growth).

Aaaand it’s also the main compound in human pee.

So, the dude created pee in his lab. After everyone was like “ew”, they were like “oooOoo!!” because that was the first time anyone had made an “organic” material out of “inorganic” materials.

This was the moment people realized that science was more granular and complicated than “living” and “not living” materials.

That led to a cascade of discoveries, which make up our entire understanding of biology today. (crazy to think tiology is only like 250 yrs old!)

So, yea, the reason humanity can support billions of people and edit genes is because some German dude made piss in a lab.

2. This Is The Way

3. A Good Hobby

Very true. All of my longest standing hobbies follow this (basketball, history, writing, fitness, dancing).

It’s also useful for filtering potential hobbies (like drawing, DJ’ing, martial arts, camping, etc)

What are your favorite hobbies??

4. The Most Famous Musician You’ve Never Heard Of

Buckle up for a good story.

So, there was a Bob Dylan-esque American musician in the 1970s who sold very few records in the US, so he quit music and became a demolition worker.

But in South Africa, he was a legend. He was more popular than The Beatles! Platinum artist. Sold hundreds of thousands of records. And played a huge cultural role in the apartheid.

Like a real legend. And he had no freakin’ idea! (the albums were largely bootlegged)

At least until 1988, when his daughter saw a website looking for his roots.

Shortly after, he toured South Africa — selling out every venue.

Then, he went back to being a regular dude in The States.

Wild! Check Rodriguez out, he’s good.

5. Quote I’ve Been Thinking About

“Life is short — Disneyland will close soon and I wanna ride all the rides before we get kicked out.” - Shaan Puri

Hope you’re riding some rides this weekend, my friends!

Love ya!

Thanks for wanting to know more today than you did yesterday! If you liked this edition, send it over to a friend who would like it too 🤝 

Cheers,

Luke

PS: you can find more rabbit holes here & my writing here.