I can say with great gratitude and pride, that I learn something new everyday.

Some days it takes more effort and there are times when the new knowledge isn’t always pleasant, but it’s knowledge nonetheless, and it’s nice to go home smarter than you were when you woke up.

I can also say, without a doubt, that, thanks to the computer, the Internet, the smartphone, and social media, learning new things is easier than ever before. I can also report that the ease of access to the vast information glut can cause more confusion than before the aforementioned technologies were introduced.

I am sure we could all start a list of positive and negative aspects of communication and learning technologies and issue to ourselves appropriate warnings and cautions, but the aspect I want to focus on, especially in this issue of The Observer where we focus on colleges and vocations, is the aspect of responsibility.

To illustrate my point, I will give you a little homework: go to your computer, tablet or smart phone. Pick your favorite search engine, like Google, Bing or Yahoo. Type in a word or phrase of your choice. There are bound to be hundreds of responses to your click. Which one are you going to click on? Which will yield the most reliable information and the accurate answer to your need or inquiry?

For the sake of this little exercise I Googled the word “wisdom.” The Google counter displayed that there were about 51 million responses out there for me to peruse. The first page yielded the most popular responses (according to Google of course) with the top pick being Wikipedia. There were also sites listed from Wisdom Magazine, Wisdom publications, Psychology Today Magazine, Stanford University, Dictionary.reference.com and a publishing house that specializes in Buddist wisdom and information. Which site should I have used? Which one was the most reliable? Which one would help me find some wisdom for the day? Which one would help me learn something about wisdom and help me to understand it?

Obviously it all depends what you are looking for and in what context your newly gleaned information will be used, but the idea is that, as the searcher, I have the responsibility to find and choose the most accurate info from the most credible sources.

Part of the problem with searching for information, is that we tend to choose the sites that reinforce our predetermined opinions or thesis about whatever it is we are looking for. And sadly, we think if we can provide enough reference points for our opinion, it is the truth. However, we must all look for both sides of information, especially in our society today. As lifelong learners, we have the responsibility to find the real truth and not just our conception of it. And what is popular, especially in the cyber world where everyone has an opinion for all to see, isn’t necessarily rooted in fact. Unfortunately, in this pre-election season, we see illustrations of one-sided truths with growing prevalance. The politicos use statistics and polls to prove points and provide truth to people built on personal agendas and flawed samples.

So help yourself to some credible wisdom today and remind your college-bound student to find knowledge well-armed with prudence, prayer and responsibility.

“But where can wisdom be found? And where is the source of understanding? No man knows the way to it; it is not found in the land of living men.” Job 28:12-13. (This did NOT appear in my Google search. I had to look in a real book.)

One more piece of information: The Observer’s slogan this year for our subscription renewal is “We Cover Catholics From River to River.” Some people have asked what this means. I would like to explain it, since it won’t show up on an Internet search. The idea of “River to River” came from the fact that the Rockford Diocese on the west and east, is bounded by the Mississippi and the Fox rivers. The people, parishes, events and news in between those rivers are the focus of all the information you find here in The Observer. Too many times it has been supposed that our focus was Rockford and we wanted to say in a very clear, very visible way, that we are all-inclusive and that our “local” news comes from all 11 counties of the diocese fortunate enough to lie between two great rivers.

Now you learned something too!