He hath need of his wits who wanders wide,
aught simple will serve at home;
but a gazing-stock is the fool who sits
mid the wise, and nothing knows.
Håvamål 5
Wisdom for Wanderers and Counsel to Guests
"Cattle die and kinsmen die,
thyself too soon must die,
but one thing never, I ween, will die,
fair fame of one who has earned."
Håvamål 75
Wisdom for Wanderers and Counsel to Guests
About the Digital Norseman
Hello, my name is Preben Ormen aka the Digital Norseman. I am an expatriate Norwegian currently living with my family in Canada where I work as a business consultant with an international consulting company.
About the concepts behind this site
I started out creating the Digital Norseman web site to provide a forum for thinking and learning by blending commentary and reflections on business, technology, history and culture. All this with a particular emphasis on analogies to the old Norse, who we also know as the Vikings. Although languishing for long as a somewhat neglected hobby, the original concepts for the site resonate with me. I'm going to simplify the site a little, though and not try to do so many things in one place.
The site was sorely in need of a make-over and I've finally found some time to finish the next incarnation. It's been an on-again off-again process for quite some time which isn't very productive as I invariably forgot what I was trying to do and how to do it between each false start. Oh well.
About the importance of history
I believe history matters—always did and always will. Why? Because every one starts out in life with zero knowledge and has to acquire his or her own personal and unique collection of excerpts from the collective memory of the human race. Unless we can learn from the experience of others, we are forever doomed to endlessly perpetuate the mistakes of the past. Doesn't sound very efficient to me.
I agree that history is not usually the most riveting school subject for most people, but that is more a failure of the educational system than of the history's relevance. Now that I have overcome my own aversion to history courtesy of my Norwegian school experience, I keep running across absolutely fascinating books on all kinds of historical subjects.
If only history could have been presented like that in class in stead of having to memorize all the kings of Norway and their reigning periods. Or all the rivers in Belgium. Or all the wars fought in Europe in the last 1000 years. We were never thought anything about the people or the cultural and economic foundations of their times. Which, in my opinion, is why the official history lessons continue to appear irrelevant to most students.
About my metaphor
The Digital Norseman is a metaphor for thinking about and relating to the world around us. The Norsemen—that is, the Vikings—traveled wide and far in their analog world using a revolutionary technology of their time: the clinker built Viking Ship. We can still travel in an analog world, but we also have other options. The revolutionary technology of our time is a digital one and it allows us to gain and share experiences in totally new ways using digital media. I like to travel both ways.
Think of this site as a virtual long ship for voyaging across time and place. A voyage is about sharing thoughts and experiences—in our case, some business, some pleasure and a little of both all mixed up.
I continue to learn from the old Norse who voyaged before me. They wrote to share their thoughts and experiences as I write now. Their medium was analog: a rock, the hide of a deer, a pole in a lodge. Mine is digital and thus the Digital Norseman was borne.
About "Vidfarne"
The name of my virtual long ship is "Vidfarne" which means "he who has fared wide and far". And that is what this site is all about—to reach wide and far across time and space.
About my motto
Any self respecting voyager—real or virtual—must have a motto, a rallying cry to inspire and motivate. Mine is: "Chase Your Dream". I believe the old Norsemen did exactly that. I know I do, and I am always looking for new dreams and better chases.
I think the analogies between our times and those of the old Norse are more numerous than we might think at first. And that is what I want to explore with you: The past making itself felt in mysterious ways, so to speak. Besides, what are literary devices for, if not to spice up otherwise dry subjects?
Change is a permanent condition
We may think we experience a higher rate of change than people before us. I am not so sure. I am struck by how many generations down through history have experienced major social, technological or climatic changes. Changes which must have presented profound challenges to the people of those times. Their lives were not static.
When I come across a letter or personal account which has survived the a considerable passage of time, I am always impressed how close the narrator seems. There may be a thousand years between us in time. But we are closer, much closer than that in spirit. I can learn from their struggles. And I think many of their thoughts and experiences are relevant right to this day.
To sum it up: to change is to grow.
About the importance of living
More than 20 years ago now in a used bookstore in downtown Vancouver, I came across a delightful little book titled "The Importance of Living" by Lin Yutang. The title was really too irresistible to pass up, and lucky for me, so was also the content. It is remarkable that we seem to spend such lot of time focused on such a lot of things, but really, hardly any time at all on how to LIVE. Go figure.
In our younger years we tend to take our health for granted and bury ourselves in what we think is expected of us. Then we wake up in mid-life with a sense of loss and confusion. "Hey, what happened to me?", we ask. Nobody answers, and we're off to our mid-life crisis, full tilt boogie all the way. Can't we do better? Can't we learn how to get enough exercise, eat properly and find time to nurture those deep seated yearnings we had as a little boy or girl so we don't seem to go nuts the minute we turn 40 or whatever your particular trip-line is set for? I think we can, but we're on our own here. We have to assume personal responsibility for our own lives.
Come aboard
I am hooked on learning and am very much a practitioner rather than a scholar, an artisan rather than an artist. I pretend nothing but that I am a curious animal with an inquisitive mind. This site—the Digital Norseman and the virtual long ship Vidfarne—is about reflecting upon what I have learnt and what I care about personally as well as professionally. By sharing my thoughts and impressions, I extend my invitation to join in an exchange of ideas on a voyage towards mutual growth and enlightenment.
So, come aboard then, pilgrim, into my virtual long ship and join me in a quest for new dreams worth chasing.
Your Host
The Digital Norseman
"Chase Your Dream"
