The Outlier Brief
A weekly publication by Derek LaCrone
Vol. 001
August 11, 2026
The groundwork.
“If you completely agree with every belief of a single political party, then you are not a clear thinker.” If that statement offends you, then this brief and blog, newsletter, these writings that you will see, are most likely not for you.
From a young age, I realized I liked to challenge thinking, and it has gotten me in trouble many times in my life. But I continue to be curious despite the challenges that can come along with this trait, in a world where people are often huddled into a corner and told to do certain things, to say certain things, and think a certain way. Because I value the opinions and thoughts of others, I continue to seek The Truth, which is a quest I will maybe never fully realize until the light flashes before my eyes. And because it is simply how I am wired: to discover and create and think and work to understand why, and how, and to provide better solutions through this seeking-to-understand approach and curiosity.
If you challenge a doctor’s authority with questions, it can hurt their feelings and ego (we are all subject to this). If you question a religious doctrine, it can be considered blasphemy. If you don’t fall in line with “toeing the company line,” it can get you labeled as a “challenging person.” But each of these things do serve a purpose, so this is not a battle against any and all beliefs, or senses of order, because we need those things. It is also not an indictment against religious doctrine, because I myself am a believer in God, a source energy, a creative matter that is very evident and operable, because I have lived both with and without faith and they are two very different worlds in my opinion — although that is my personal experience and yours may be different. And this is not an indictment against those that have bad feelings toward another because they simply do not like the way they choose to do things, or the challenging nature they provide. Because Bill Belichick said that Tom Brady was the most challenging person he ever coached, and that is generally the nature of great people. They are prepared, they have questions, and they tend to think in a way that makes everyone level up around them. But not everybody understands that. Most likely there are some people that really did not like working with Tom Brady, and you are welcome to even condemn this comparison, but you’d be missing the point.
§ What this is
This is a brief, or outline of ideas, consistently produced, that are designed to help us evolve, grow, and challenge ourselves to be our best self while we can here on earth with our limited time and human lifespans. This brief will be focused around three main things. Leadership. Longevity. And Technology. Each of which are things we need as fuel and that serve us in today’s world, and that we have needed and desired since man first sharpened a spear to hunt and create food. The man who made a spear first — let’s say for his fellow humans to eat better — was a great leader and innovator, because it helped enhance the time and amount of abundance he and his fellows could have and enjoy. We need people like this. Maybe this is you right now, trying to figure it out.
§ Leadership. And technology.
You see, we need leaders. We need rules. We need guidelines, because order is what helps keep us connected and focused straight on the right things. And we need technology because it is what helps us toward improvement and a sense of our best selves — or even enlightenment, depending on your identity — in a faster and better way, hoping to outpace the inevitable and pending doom of an earth’s core which is cooling and a sun that is set to explode at some point in the future. You can choose to opt out of these things. You can choose to avoid being led, or to lead. You can choose to stay away from technology “completely.” You would need to go live in a cave somewhere. But even if you decided to light a torch at night, you would still be opting into a form of technology, because even fire, at its core, is a form of tech that you would be using to see things at a time (night time) where our human vision was not designed to do so. That is technology. Advancing us in places we were not designed to go solo. Enabling us to do more things, better, faster — that is what tech is supposed to do, and why it is moving so fast now as well, in this age of acceleration. We have gotten better, and technology has gotten better at making more technology. It is also dangerous to worship technology, and that is where leadership comes into play: making sure it has its proper place and is not abused, or used for no-good things, or used excessively to replace things that need to be made or completed by humans — and never replacing the true connection you get from sitting face to face with someone and making eye contact with a real person. True leaders are needed now, as they always have been.
§ Longevity.
Longevity. Your legacy. The ability to “live forever” is a quest some people are on. Physically. Mentally, staying sharp for as long as possible. Spiritually, the eternal afterlife. And some manage to do it with the work they create in this life. People such as Jesus, Buddha, and Marcus Aurelius have all left behind legacies and stories — their life’s purpose and work fulfilled to their greatest desires and achievements — so that they live as long as humans live, through stories and teachings. Written words. Verbal storytelling. Their character and essence locked in alongside humans as we transcend above our base desires and use technology to free up time. If and when we are using it appropriately, of course. Because this is the purpose of these things, in my opinion. To squeeze more juice out of the day. The week. The year, and so on. To live as long as possible in a healthy and vigorous manner. To utilize the tools that we have either created ourselves or learned to use because of the benefit others provide in designing them. And to lead ourselves, our families, our communities, and others toward being our best selves.
§ The point
The absolute basis for civilization is about battling against our primal urges and base biological instincts driven by hormones and animal surges. Fear. Love. Jealousy. Creation. Destruction. These, and many other things, are impulses sometimes that we must fight against or better understand, and guidelines and ways of living are how we overcome the challenges to live a fulfilling and happy life.
Also, not all of my articles will be this deep and long. I hope this helps you understand and see the groundwork for what is to come here at The Outlier Brief, because I am very excited to bring you the best of what I can find and think about each week regarding Longevity, Leadership, and Technology, in a very simple and easy-to-digest format. This, most likely — or better yet, hopefully — will be the most dense of all of the readings. But maybe not. :)
Also, don’t be shy: send this link to someone you know who may enjoy this type of thinking and writing. And be on the lookout for new books being published as I work on these same topics, with an upcoming release titled The Human Current, and other books in the works for releases each year ahead.
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