The Last Word

Have you ever wondered how we ended up with so much... stuff? While many people that have contributed to this, one man arguably had the biggest impact of all on what the world buys - and why...

Have you ever found yourself sitting out under the stars, gazing up and wondering ‘What is life?’? Well, Paul Nurse, a Nobel Prize winner, has thought about it pretty deeply, and has written a book called just that. I thought it might be useful to report back on his conclusions.

A fun aspect of any holiday time is subjecting helpless relatives to one’s personal worldviews. Pick the right family member, drone on long enough about your latest hobby horse... and you just might never see them again! However, this can backfire if you come face-to-face with a conspiracy theorist. One minute you are using the cutlery to demonstrate the Overton Window; the next you are playing ‘spot the lizard’ from a line-up of ‘deep-state actors.’

One of the presentations I saw at a recent cement industry event was on a rare topic: A technological trial that had not succeeded. After the presentation, a delegate mentioned to me that their company had been considering the same approach and would now reconsider. They were grateful to the presenter for saving them considerable time, money and stress.

A while back, a well-off acquaintance of mine suggested that I read a book called ‘Die with zero,’ by an American former energy trader called Bill Perkins. It’s an intriguing title, so I read it and I’m reporting back to you on it, since it has some interesting suggestions. According to Perkins, his advice applies to everyone, rich or poor, so read on!