Unlearning 101

Unlearning Home Construction

One of the things I really enjoy about studying emerging technologies is that the field constantly challenges my thinking and forces me to think differently about the future. To this end, I invite you to read this article on a new “print-a-house” construction technology.

In the near future, it is possible that homes will be built in a few hours using automated fabrication techniques. Among other things, this means that the construction industry will need to “unlearn” its existing construction methods. It also suggests that “affordable” housing could become more than just a political platitude—it could become a political reality.

Unlearning Campaigning

Technology Review has an insightful article on the power of social networking entitled "How Obama Really Did It."  What is interesting about the article is that many top leaders within the Hillary Clinton campaign dismissed the power of the Internet and social networking because Howard Dean's 2004 campaign -- which relied heavily on the Internet  - failed. In short, they assumed that because something didn't work the first time that it would never work.

Unlearning requires that people and organizations be cognizant of growing and changing trends. Just because something didn't work yesterday doesn't mean that it won't work tomorrow.

Unlearning Campaigning

Technology Review has an insightful article on the power of social networking entitled "How Obama Really Did It."  What is interesting about the article is that many top leaders within the Hillary Clinton campaign dismissed the power of the Internet and social networking because Howard Dean's 2004 campaign -- which relied heavily on the Internet  - failed. In short, they assumed that because something didn't work the first time that it would never work.

Unlearning requires that people and organizations be cognizant of growing and changing trends. Just because something didn't work yesterday doesn't mean that it won't work tomorrow.

Unlearning the Nature of War

In 2005, I wrote a book on General George C. Marshall entitled "Soldier, Statesman, Peacemaker: Leadership Lessons from George C. Marshall." One of my favorite quotes of Marshall's is the advice he pounded into the heads of his junior officers: "Study the first six months of the next war."

It was great advice in the 1920s and 1930s (when Marshall trained over 200 officers who would later become generals during World War II), and it is still great advice today. To this end, I'd like to direct you to two news articles from today's papers. The first is from The Guardian and it discusses how the brain will the battlefield of the future. Among other things it discusses how drugs may soon be used as "pharmacological land mines," and how the advances in neuroscience could alter our definition of torture.

The second article reviews how the U.S. may be vulnerable to Internet attacks such as those which Russia is currently employing in its war against Georgia.

Together, the two stories strongly suggest that military planners should be "studying the first six months of the next war" because the next war is likely to be radically different from that which they are currently planning today.

Unlearning in the Courtroom

Intel recently released details of a new generation "multi-core" chip. One implication of these powerful chips is that they will soon help users bridge the physical world with the virtual world. One possible application is that the chips -- in combination with improved voice recognition technology -- will allow small mobile devices to record witness testimony in courtroom proceedings. In other words, we will soon be saying good-bye to the courtroom stenographer -- provided, that is, the legal community can unlearn its long-held reliance on courtroom stenographers.

Unlearning the Cellphone

Nokia is offering a cool vision of the future of the cellphone. (I invite you to watch a short video of the phone here.) If the company is successful in building out its "Morph" phone, a great many manufacturers will need to unlearn their idea of what a cellphone should look like and how it should operate .