chasing answers newsletter #5
A new format, tree planting, toilet paper that does more than clean your ass, and Elon's big buy.
“There is no such thing as ‘away’. When we throw anything away it must go somewhere.” - Annie Leonard
Hello, hello! Welcome to the fifth edition of the chasing answers newsletter.
Fun fact - I’ve always considered 5 my lucky number. I really don’t have a good reason for this. But since I was a kid, any time I have to choose something number-related, I go with 5.
So, for the fifth edition, I'm going to switch up the format of the newsletter just a bit. So far, my newsletters have included a link to my latest essay and have revolved around the topic of that essay.
Moving forward (for now), I will begin the weekly newsletter with more of a roundup of ideas and topics. There may or may not be an essay as well and when there is I will include it in its entirety instead of providing a link. There may also be times when you receive a 'bonus' edition that is just an essay.
There are a couple of reasons for this. I am in the middle of several projects right now, so over the next few months, I don't think I will be able to write a full essay every single week. Also, I want to be able to touch on a broader range of topics than just what I am covering in those essays.
One other tweak - I will be sending the weekly newsletter on different days. So, it will not always be exactly a week between editions. It may be nine days; it may be five.
As always, please give me feedback on the changes. I'd love to know what sucks and what doesn't. I'm learning as I go, so unfortunately for you all, you get to learn along with me.
Now that we've got that out of the way let's dive into this week's topics.
Last Friday was Earth Day, and to celebrate, my daughter and I planted ten small Norway Spruce trees. Our family loves being outside, and in nature, so we are always doing these types of things anyhow, but it was cool to do it in observation of Earth Day.
Last year we planted eight small evergreens, but only three or four survived the winter, so this year we planted them in large pots so we can move them under our patio for the winter. After a few years, we will transplant them to the yard when they are a little hardier.
As we gathered up the tools we needed for the project, my daughter asked, "Dad, why do we plant trees?" I delivered a long-winded explanation about cleaning the air, taking care of the planet, and providing homes to birds and other animals that I wasn't sure an almost 5-year-old would grasp, but when I finished, she looked at me with a smile and replied: "Oh, ok, I got it." The cool thing is, I think she actually did.
Speaking of Earth Day, this week I want to highlight a company that is not only focused on sustainability but also on giving back.
Who gives a crap is a toilet paper company that makes two types of environmentally friendly toilet paper. They have a bamboo version, which is unsurprisingly made from 100% bamboo, and a recycled version made from 100% recycled materials. They are a Certified B Corporation that not only makes sustainable products but donates 50% of all profits towards the goal of everyone having access to clean water and a toilet. According to them, approximately 2 billion people do not have access to a toilet, and simple sanitation can save millions of lives by preventing water sources from becoming contaminated with waste.
If you've had the urge to try something new in your bathroom and also want to give back, try them out.
He actually did it.
Elon purchased Twitter for $44 billion, giving a whole new meaning to 'Fuck you money.' Everyone is divided over what this means for Twitter. Some think it's the greatest thing to happen in American business history, period. And some think it's the beginning of the end for the social media platform. One thing is for sure: Twitter's comedic quality just went up.
As a long-time shareholder, I wasn't thrilled with the acquisition at a price of $54.20 per share. Twitter stock has been as high as $77 within the last fourteen months and as high as $66 just last October. Personally, I thought it could get back there. So much so that I purchased more shares when the stock was around $60. So, Elon just locked in a $5.80 loss for me on those shares.
Thanks, Elon.
That’s all for this week.
As always, I want to hear from you.
If you read something here that resonates with you, leave a comment.
If you would like to discuss something further, shoot me an email.
If there was something you absolutely hated, @ me on Twitter.
And if there is something you think I should be writing about, please let me know.
If you want to see more of my work, visit chasinganswers.co.
Thank you for reading, and if you liked what you read, please share.
randy
The number five resonates in other places. Ever explored the Myst game series? Five pops up a lot.
Number resonance seems to be important. Threes in bears, pigs, and mice, for example. In the opening pages of "The Origin of Life" by Paul Davies, things get downright strange when he says, "Meanwhile some circumstantial evidence that the cell might resemble aspects of a quantum computer come from the work of Apoorva Patel at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore. Patel points out the at the numbers, 3, 4 and 20 which characterize the genetic code, drop up automatically in a well-known quantum computational problem - searching a database o unsorted objects for a target. this is a hint, albeit a small one, that DNA might employ quantum superpositions to improve its functional efficiency.