Author: Richard Barrett

Don’t Get Burned Passing the Torch.

To avoid getting burned when passing the torch, you must do one thing.

When you reach a certain age, you realize there is a lot more behind than ahead. Ouch. How does that affect your behavior? How does that change “What do I wanna do when I grow up?”

Read part 2 and part 3 to this ongoing story.

Continue reading “Don’t Get Burned Passing the Torch.”

What I Wanna Do When I Grow Up.

This question is one of the two big questions in life. It is a difficult post for me because it is very personal. A person’s chosen purpose in life strikes to the essence of what and who they are. Even worse, my life purpose is not even very original or particularly memorable.

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Nature and Nurture

The Agile Gene: How Nature Turns on Nurture, published in 2003 by Matt Ridley

Ten years after its publication, this book has aged extremely well. Its incisive views of nature vs. nurture, free will, and emotions have opened new paths for exploration.

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You Gotta Answer Two Questions

Why should I get out of bed this morning?
What do I wanna do when I grow up?

As you go through life, you have to answer two questions every day. Worse yet, the answers change occasionally, and you never quite get it right. Over time, you can develop an irritating friendship with these troublesome questions:

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“Strike a Spark” Vanessa Barrett Welding Scholarship

We set up this scholarship in 2022 to honor Vanessa Barrett by supporting and encouraging people who might not be strong book learners, but have capability and desire to develop and achieve in demanding physical trades, such as welding.

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A Review of “The End of the World is Just the Beginning,” by Peter Zeihan.

Geography, Demography, Technology, Pax Americana, Free Money, and Cheap Energy. This time really is different. It will not end well.
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Emotions: The Killer App for Humans

Emotions were a killer app for homo sapiens to win the evolutionary strugle against other proto-humans. will they also be a “killer” app in this Age of Intelligence?

Emotions have been a killer app at least twice in human history. The first time, emotions helped us win the evolutionary race for survival. The second time, will emotions help us self-destruct?

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