Above is a composite image of thousands of 29 year old Han Chinese men, resulting in an image of the world’s most typical human. There are 9 million 29yo Han Chinese men. Crazy, right?! 9 million!

Fascinating, right? In a special series, called 7 billion, National Geographic is going to spend a year exploring the demographics and trends in demographics of the human population and what the implications are.

With a rapidly growing population, that seems like pretty important stuff. And maybe a little scary. To me it seems like one of those things I feel like I should think about, but I might rather just remain blissfully ignorant. Like if I dig too deep I’m going to find out that we’re doomed to run out of food by 2030 or something.

But before you go into Malthusian-inspired hyperventilation, did you know that if all 7 billion of us stood shoulder-to-shoulder, we would all fit in Los Angeles? So it’s at least comforting to know that space is not an issue.

That’s according to the video above. Check it out for more intro information on this series and to find out how freaked out you really should (or shouldn’t) be.

Know who else nailed this concept? Abraham Lincoln. When you think Abe, you think beard. Probably height too, maybe hat, but definitely beard.

As it turns out, he owes his famous beard to the advice of a little girl that he received via letter (and responded to). Check out that before pic above! What if he had looked like that all along?

And I’ve gotta say, that little girl was right, the ladies do like whiskers. I love some good scruff, myself.

From Letters of Note.

”When Norman Bedell returned home from a political fair late-1860, poster of clean-shaven Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln in hand, his 11-year-old daughter quickly took it upon herself to assist the future U.S. President with his campaign. Her plan – simply for Lincoln to grow a beard – was quickly set in motion by way of the following letter, in which Grace urged him to “let your whiskers grow”; before long, Lincoln replied. They met in the coming months, as the newly-hirsute President-elect travelled victoriously to Washington, D.C. by train.

“He climbed down and sat down with me on the edge of the station platform,” she recalled. “‘Gracie,’ he said, ‘look at my whiskers. I have been growing them for you.’ Then he kissed me. I never saw him again.”

Here are the transcripts of their letters (actual copy shown above, hers on the left, his on the right):

Aren’t you going to think about that every time you see an image of him now?

And how awesome was that little girl? So opinionated, articulate, and sassy! If the actual letter didn’t still exist I wouldn’t even believe it because she’s such a skillful letter writer! I love her!

And I love that he not only wrote back, but also took her advice!

“I fell in love with her courage, her sincerity, and her flaming self respect. And it’s these things I’d believe in, even if the whole world indulged in wild suspicions that she wasn’t all she should be. I love her and it is the beginning of everything.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald


[Kisssing]

On the refrigerator in the cool Brooklyn apartment of this photographer.

As photographed by Jamie Beck, who has this awesome blog.