My daughter will be three years old next year when we make the trip to Florence. Her brain will be near peak neuroplasticity, making her a walking, talking information sponge. I can't think of a better time and place to introduce new sounds, sights, smells, and experiences. Even if she can't recall many of the trip's details, its impact will be profound.

I finally watched The Pleasure of Finding Things Out, the simply and appropriately named interview of Richard Feynman from 1981. Feynman's childlike expressions of joy gripped me as he explained the origins of his curiosity, his successes and failures, his views on science, and more. Here are 5 lessons from Richard Feynman:

How can we be happier? It's the age-old question whose answer eludes generation after generation. 

You can read thousands of books about happiness, only to find yourself less satisfied than before. There are professionals, pharmaceuticals, and therapeutic tools that claim to help those who are stuck in a pit of despair. For some people, these methods work, even if for a short period. Others are left feeling more hopeless and less connected than before.

Anytime I think I'm not good at math, I consider the complex calculations that are required of even an average tennis player - that makes me feel a little better about struggling mightily to a C in high school geometry. The complexity of even seemingly simple human tasks was pointed out by W. Timothy Gallwey in his famous tennis book (a self-help book in disguise) when he said: "The truth is that everyone who inhabits a human body possesses a remarkable creation."

The Cobra Effect was coined to describe an incentive that has an unintended and undesirable result that is contrary to the intentions of its designers. Learn where the cobra effect came from, what it means, and what we can do to avoid negative unintended consequences.

Feynman's description of Cold War paranoia gave me goosebumps. Almost 60 years later, the United States is still paranoid. The Cold War may have ended in the early 90s, and perhaps for a bit, the paranoia eased -  but it's returned with a vengeance. Now, partisan lines have replaced the iron curtain. 

How do we become less paranoid and more rational? Can solutions for individual paranoia shine a light on large group resolutions?

One of the best introductions to Hayek is his 1974 noble prize lecture, The Pretense of Knowledge, where he warned against scientism and identified two types of ignorance - concepts that are as relevant today as they were in December 1974. Although Keynes won the economic debate of the day, Hayek's ideas continue to survive thanks to curious economists who appreciate his views and believe their adoption would create a fairer, more stable economic system.

Many philosophical texts and ideas date back thousands of years. These thinkers lived in a very different world than we experience today. Yet, they confronted similar emotions, desires, grievances, fears, victories, and defeats. By looking back, perhaps we can gain some wisdom to get ahead.

Today, when we turn on the "news," there's a high probability that what we'll hear isn't an impartial, objective, truthful impression of the day's events. Instead, we'll likely be presented with emotive-language-filled opining from pundits - like the sophists of antiquity.

Remember the saying, "when one door closes, another one opens?" Technology is a giant stick of dynamite, blowing every door in the neighborhood open. And while there might have been some collateral damage from the blast, opportunities are abundant.

It's hard to imagine, but the person behind the glass at your local sandwich shop, smothering your BLT with extra mayonnaise, could be a genius mathematician. Not only that, they could go on to solve one of the world's most challenging math problems - the twin primes conjecture.

Social media is like a virtual nightclub that never closes - a 24-hour, seven days a week, AMEX-fueled slugfest to achieve status, confirmation, and prestige.

There's little discourse to be had at a nightclub. It's almost impossible to talk over the thumping bass and patrons shouting over one another to order a round of watered-down booze. Social media is much the same. Memes, dance videos, and political hot-takes get more likes and comments than essays or thought-provoking compositions.

For v36, I will provide energy wherever I can. The last several years' events have taken a toll, or maybe I'm noticing it more, but energy leeches are prevalent. Negativity and apathy are in surplus, while energy stockpiles are dwindling (real and figurative). I'll do my part to expand the energy supply, not deplete it.

It's easy to blame technology for our current condition. Rarely does a week pass that I don't hear an anti-technology diatribe that blames the world's problems on the internet, social media, or another modern technology. It's an easy target, but I don't know too many people who would willingly transport to pre-industrial society, at least after thinking, even minimally, about it.  In looking for solutions to technology accelerated problems, we might find the answer (in part) within technology itself.

I've witnessed people change for better and for worse. It's encouraging to watch someone who once struggled with life's course emerge like a butterfly bursting out of its cocoon, totally transformed. It's equally disheartening to watch someone with great potential, positive morals, and a lovely personality become self-centered, condescending, and greedy. In both scenarios, you can trace the behavior changes to model changes.

There's a growing mob of apathetic warriors who confuse theatrics with action. They don't wear uniforms, but their constant outrage identifies them (you'll find them all along the political spectrum, but they tend to cluster on the edges). No matter the hot topic, they have a take and fervently display it - if only for a minute. It'd be commendable if this were genuine concern accompanied by a burning desire to fix injustice. But these cultural soldiers are only passionate about one cause, demonstrating their good character to the world.

While out for a stroll at the park, my daughter Natalie looked up at her mother and me and said, "I'm happy." Those simple words transformed a casual family outing into a micro-moment of pure joy, during which all was perfect in the world. I wondered where she learned the phrase because, unfortunately, those words aren't uttered enough, even when we are happy.

If you would've told me ten years ago that I'd own a candle company, I'd have laughed hysterically at the ridiculousness of the notion. Yet, it wasn't long ago that I had transformed my basement into a candle manufacturing factory. I morphed into a combination of Martha Stewart and Walter White, and I'm almost sure my neighbors suspected I was operating a small drug operation. To their credit, they never called the cops.

We cannot reduce the human experience to a series of mathematical calculations or algorithms. Scientists and mathematicians have been working endlessly to explain our existence with theories, and maybe they’ll be successful one day. Even then, they will have only explained the beginning, and as each day passes, the number of inquiries expands infinitely.

As a child, my afternoons were filled with neighborhood pickup football games on the Baptist church's lawn that only ended when we ran out of light. On weekends, my parents ushered me to rec league soccer games, spending their mornings with other parents in the makeshift stands. And in the cherished summer months, we'd walk to the local park to play tennis or volleyball. Back then, playing multiple sports was the norm, a cherished rite of passage for those of us without the privilege of 'country club' specialization.