Who Am I and Why Should You Care?

My Premier Blog Post

Who am I? My name is Rene Sorensen and as far as the world is likely concerned, I’m pretty much a nobody. I don’t have any accolades to my name; I’m not adored on TV or the movies; I’m not a social media icon; I didn’t change the world by providing global satellite internet for planet earth; I haven’t saved any babies from burning buildings; I don’t own or run a multimillion dollar business nor do I drive a Lamborghini. Wow, I’m really selling this huh?

With all that being revealed you better not feel sorry about anything I wrote above because I just described the typical situation of more than 99% of the population of the planet. Here’s a few other, more prominent facts about me: I have a beautiful, conscientious and talented wife and we have a beautiful, intelligent, strong and determined 16 year old daughter. For the last 25 years my career has been involved in the illustrious world of Information Technology (IT). I am recently semi-retired from my VP position and we made a huge move from the United States to Portugal in the year 2021. On top of that I have many hobbies that include photography, music, philosophy, the study of spirituality and a life long love of continued learning.

Ok, who cares right? Why should you care? I can’t answer that for you. Only you know that answer to that question. I CAN tell you why I’m out here spending time putting my thoughts together for anyone to read. I’m simply a guy that feels like I might have something to say that may be of benefit to someone based off my 51 years of life and experience on this rock. I regularly teach my daughter about the things I think she needs to know and understand (just part of the parental job description). I pontificate continuously as she stands there doe eyed pretending to take it all in. Her typical outbursts in the middle of my most awesome life lessons usually take the form of “YES! Preach father!” to which I immediately stop, sternly look her straight in the face and split a gut laughing my butt off. She is pretty damn funny and often has me in stitches with her quips and funny facial expressions.

But the things I find myself speaking to her about are things not just a 16 years old needs to hear. Things like how to discuss a topic, particularly a ‘hot’ topic without getting overly emotional. Using factual data to support and frame your argument. How to research your topics BEFORE engaging in battle with your mighty foes. And maybe the most important; when NOT to engage in a discussion/argument. How about read a book? How about read a good, educational book? Jeez, I heard the groans coming through my cat6 cable as you read that (a little IT humor…and I mean little). And that is the typical response I get from my daughter and her friends when recommendations like this are brought up. So I negotiate: “You can read a book of your choice and then I’d like you to read this book on basic economics.” (Spoiler. I win both times cause she’s reading MULTIPLE books!! HAHAHAHA). I treat my daughter like a young adult and teach the art of negotiation while also providing her vital life skills that she is not learning in school. Don’t misunderstand me, she isn’t happy to read these books but I’m not here to solely make her happy. I’m not her best friend. First and foremost I’m her provider, educator and protector. Our job as parents is to prepare her to be able to take care of herself and others when she reaches the age of adulthood. Once an adult, the hope is that they will continue these habits. I believe you should continuously push yourself to learn something new on a daily basis. A society can’t thrive well if it’s inhabitants are uneducated. And with all the technological advances we have made in the last 30 years or so when the internet really started to go mainstream, we have seen an explosion into what we now call the information age. And as ironic as it may seem I feel like we have become both smarter and dumber at the same time.

So, with all this new found knowledge at our fingertips how can this be a bad thing? Too much of anything is normally a bad idea. Literally anyone can put up a website or blog site and start spewing ‘information’ out to you (the irony of what I just wrote is not lost here). The internet houses between 1.6 and 2.0 BILLION websites with about 400 MILLION active (webtribunal.net) and many thousands created weekly. It’s not hard to imagine ginormous quantities of data put forth on a daily basis. Our job as students of life yearning for knowledge is to seek out quality and factual information. And there lies the rub. How do you know if you’re information is quality and accurate (especially if you don’t have access to TikTok 🤔)? And who has the time and patience to vet the sheer volumes of data? Determining what information is quality AND factual has become a dire necessity today. I can’t underscore this enough. Many decisions are made based on information found on the Web. I think it’s arguable that the lack of discrimination and vetting of information by many people, organizations and special interests is a major reason why there is so much discord found in much of the world today. It makes critical thinking very difficult if you don’t know what you’re actually talking about. In the United States today there is so much dissent in society that it seems like common sense has just vanished…like it never existed. Critical thinking is an endangered commodity today and I recognize that as a neon red flag that spurs me to ensure that my daughter isn’t one of the inevitable casualties left on the battlefield of ignorance when the dust clears. And I do this by taking the time to talk to her about the impact this is having on her, me, society and everyone who breathes. It’s very important that she understands how to do proper research and vetting of the information that she is interested in. Unfortunately, these are skills that are rarely taught in our educational institutions and certainly not in the primary and secondary years of school.

We now live in a world where information is literally at our fingertips. It’s real magic. There is no excuse today to not know something in the western world. More than 60% of the world has access to the wizardry of the internet (itu.int). When my daughter comes to me asking questions that I don’t know the answers to guess what I immediately think of doing? Ya, jumping on the net. WHY DOESN’T SHE THINK OF THAT? Ok, to be fair she does think to do it now but it took her a minute to get in that habit which always baffled me because she was on her phone every nanosecond we allowed her. I grew up in the 70’s and 80’s without the voodoo of the interwebs but I had a strong thirst for knowledge. I would often find myself pouring through our encyclopedia Britannica books (my mom’s never ending words echoing in my head “they are not there for decoration you know!”) or in the library looking up super important information like what physical exercises I needed to learn in order to become the most magnificent quarterback to ever enter the Canadian Football League (that dream didn’t happen and on top of that travesty I got levied a hefty $1.35 late charge on that book). I’m often repeating myself to her saying “If I had the internet when I was your age there would be nothing I couldn’t do!” Ask her how much she loves to hear that phrase…heh.

My point is that the dawn of the information age has changed us. The opportunity to learn almost anything today is unprecedented. And most of this can be done from your laptop without ever leaving the confines of your quaint little home. But there are things you need in your life in order to take advantage of this. Clearly an internet connection and computing device but most of us have that already. But what you really need to take advantage of these opportunities is your drive to learn. You need self motivation, a strong work ethic, a plan and tenacity. Easy right? Well it could be for some and much harder for others. So many factors contribute to the people we are and the people we will become. From our genetics to our upbringing and everything in between. Genetics are things out of our control (but certainly not all limiting or all giving) and our environment are things only out of our control for a limited time in our lives…albeit these are formidable years. At some point we need to take a hard look at ourselves, take full responsibility for who we are and where we are in life and then formulate a plan to achieve what ever it is we desire out of life. There is ZERO room for victimhood, blame, self doubt, self pity, self hatred, and any other negative attribute a person wants to attribute to their current situation. One must take full responsibility of their situation despite how they got there. In the end, no one cares about you more than you should care about yourself. Understand that every decision you make for yourself (or if made for you by others) it’s you, and you alone that has to bear the consequences of those decisions – good and bad. So it’s very important that we learn to make good, solid decisions based on good information from trustworthy sources that we have learned to discern. The most precious piece of advice I have given anyone is that each of us has the innate power to alter our lives by our own thoughts; we are what we think we are. We create our own reality. Always think positively and never let the darkness of negativity take root. First own what you desire in your mind. Nurture it daily and consistently and it will find a way to manifest into reality. Even if you have a difficult time believing that, what would be the downside to the philosophy and practice of positive thinking? Worse yet, consider the alternative.