Sunday Newsletter — 5/3/2020

An Incredible Archer

I’ve recently become very passionate about archery. Whenever I become passionate about something, I usually do some research on masters in the field. The master archer whom I currently find most fascinating is Lars Anderson. Widely criticized by other archers due to his unconventional style (as are so many innovators) Lars is capable of feats that don’t seem to be humanly possible, such as:

• Catching arrows mid-flight with his bare hands.
• Shooting incoming arrows out of the air.
• Bending arrows around humans and hitting targets behind them.

If you’d like to see him in action, watch the videos below. (If you’re pressed for time, skip to 0:50)

Recommended Reading

The World’s Most Valuable Cash Crops

Note:

• The website on which this and the following link were posted (The Visual Capitalist), is one of the most interesting sites I’ve found in the past couple years. They provide excellent visualizations of fascinating information.

Excerpt:

• “Not surprisingly, the most lucrative cash crops from a value per acre perspective are illegal in many parts of the world. With a higher risk to grow these, there is a higher reward for the farmers. Cannabis has a value of $47.7 million per square kilometre, while coca weighs in at $37.7 million and opium poppies $6 million per sq. km.”

Infographic: The History of Pandemics, by Death Toll

Excerpts:

• Black Death (1347–1351) — 200 million
• Spanish Flu (1918–1919) — 40–50 million
• Hong Kong Flu (1968–1970) — 1 million
• Coronavirus (2019 — ?) — 234,000
• Swine Flu (2009–2010) — 200,000

Lost in Translation: The Path to Organic

Notes:

• This was posted on Medium by Kimbal Musk, Elon Musk’s brother. This lesser-known Musk is also doing some really cool things, such as revolutionizing the world’s food systems. If you’d like to learn more about him, you can check out his website by clicking here.

Excepts:

• “…the organic sector is a 39.1 billion dollar market with an annual growth rate of 10 percent (the fastest-growing sector of the food industry)…”
• “A growing body of research demonstrates that organic agriculture works, both in terms of annual output and long-term productivity as well as a viable, scalable business model.”

Journal Excerpts

Depression often seems to arise when one believes that something, or several things, will never change. In other words, from some type of excessive certainty. Certainty that reality is a specific way. Or works a specific way. Or will remain a specific way forever.

The destination towards which you are headed may be very beautiful, even if the terrain you’re currently moving through is not. In fact, plenty of beautiful places require that you cross rough terrain in order to reach them.

The overconsumption of information can cause almost as many issues as the overconsumption of food.

I generally place more value tangible examples than I do on abstract theories.

As you grow and evolve, your old vices will become ever less appealing. Once you reach a certain place, the temptation to indulge in them will vanish entirely.

In some instances, making your life more chaotic can be just as beneficial as making it more ordered. From time to time, I think we all need a little chaos.

Photo of the Week by @chaseschoberphotography