Unlearning 101

A Man Unlearns

The following poem was written by an unknown monk living in the 11th century. It's relevance to today is, however, undiminished.

When I was a young man, I wanted to change the world.

I found it was difficult to change the world, so I tried to change my nation.

When I found I couldn't change the nation, I began to focus on my town. I couldn't change the town and as an older man, I tried to change my family.

Now, as an old man, I realize the only thing I can change is myself, and suddenly I realize that if long ago I had changed myself, I could have made an impact on my family. My family and I could have made an impact on our town. Their impact could have changed the nation and I could indeed have changed the world.

It reminds me of this wonderful quote by an 8th century monk, Meister Eckhart, "Only the hand that erases can write the true thing." 

(Note: Unlearning101.com will be transitioning to www.schoolofunlearning.com soon.)

Question: Can You Unlearn Without Any New Words? Answer: Yes.

Want to get started unlearning? A while back, I suggested it could be done in seven words. It's still solid advice but I have continued to unlearn myself and how believe it can be done without any new words.

Rather than explain, let me show you. Review the two examples below and notice how much powerful the second questions are than the first--even though no new words have been added or subtracted only rearranged).

Example 1 (Appropriate for teachers, parents and educators):

How intelligent are you?

How are you intelligent?

Example 2 (Appropriate for everyone):

Will I make a difference?

I will make a difference!

Related Post

A Powerful Question: What Don't I Know?

To Grow: Unlearn

If you can unlearn your ideas about what is possible, you can grow almost anywhere.

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The Tree of Unlearning

A Plant Whose Virtue Has Yet to Be Discovered

Don't Assume You More Than You Do

"... he has persuaded me that we can solve many of our problems as long as we don't assume that we know more than we do."

So concludes John Horgan in his insightful review of David Deutsch's new book, The Beginning of Infinity: Explanations That Will Transform the World.

I not only agree with the thinking behind quote, more importantly, I like that Mr. Horgan is willing to admit the author's book (and ideas) had changed his mind. (Apparently, Deutsch even criticized some of Horgan's own ideas in the book.)

As I've said before, I wish more people would expose themselves to unlearning and admit when they have been persuaded to see the world differently. Ironically, it would make the world a better place. 

Related Posts

Ignorance Isn't Bliss But It May Hold the Key to Wisdom

A Notebook of Things I Don't Know

Expose Yourself to Unlearning

Permission to Become Your Own Authority Figure

Does no one in a position of authority like your business proposal, your manuscript or your idea?

Stop listening to others "no" and say "yes" to yourself. Give yourself permission to become your own authority figure.

A Plant Whose Virtue Has Yet to Be Discovered

One day a child came upon the traveler sitting in a field. He was studying a weed.

"Why are you staring at that ugly weed when so many other beautiful flowers are nearby?"

Without looking up, the traveler replied, "Everything has virtue. The real challenge is to find it where it isn't immediately obvious."

Other short parables by Jack Uldrich 

The Answer

The Circle of Truth

A Sip of Reality

A Glimmer of Truth

The Tree of Unlearning

The Steep Unlearning Curve

The Benefit of Sticking with Questions

A while back I wrote this short post entitled The Secret to Unlearning in Seven Words. The seven words are "Give up on answers. Stay with questions."

I just finished reading a wonderful article from Clayton Christensen, How Will You Measure Your Life? In it, he writes this: 

"When people ask what I think they should do, I rarely answer their question directly. Instead, I run the question aloud through one of my models. I’ll describe how the process in the model worked its way through an industry quite different from their own. And then, more often than not, they’ll say, “OK, I get it.” And they’ll answer their own question more insightfully than I could have."

My take-a-way is this: Instead of trying to supply people the answers, people (and this is especially true of business consultants) would be better-off sticking with questions.

Why?

Because the right questions can -- and will -- help people come up with the best answer(s) themselves.

Stay with questions!

Related Posts

What Haven't I Heard Before?

Questions, Questions ... Always with the Questions

A Turn-a-Round Question

What Questions Aren't You Asking?

 

Keep an Open-Mind to Unlearning

Are you open-minded?

If so, when was the last time you changed your mind about a long-held belief?

When was the last time you publicly admitted you were wrong?

When was the last time you acknowledged that another person could look at the exact same thing and come to an equally valid -- but opposite -- conclusion?

When was the last time you asked yourself this question: What if I'm wrong?

Keeping an open-mind isn't just about staying open to new ideas and learning new things; the other (and harder) half of keeping an open mind is a relentless willingness to discard and unlearn those things that you think you already know.

An Antidisciplinary Approach to Learning -- and Unlearning

“One of the most important disciplines in the twenty-first will be no discipline at all,” writes Frank Moss in his new book, The Sorcerers and Their Apprentices—a new book about MIT’s Media Lab.

So does this mean the hard disciplines of physics, mathematics, chemistry, and engineering can be abandoned?

Absolutely not.

Instead, the school—whose stated mission is “to invent the future”—takes an “anti-disciplinary” approach to problem-solving by putting its ideas into the public domain for anyone to take and run with.

What I like about this approach is that it recognizes that every discipline has approaches, methods or boundaries which constrain its thinking. The only way to overcome these artificial barriers is to push your ideas out to other disciplines (and peoples) who view the world from a perspective different than your own.

Interested in other "anti"-approaches to unlearning? Check out these older posts:

Unlearning Requires an Anti-Library

What's on Your Anti-Resume?

 

 

Step Up to The Counter of Unlearning

I enjoyed Malcolm Gladwell's book, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, which discusses the value of heeding your intuition. It's a powerful idea.

Unfortunately, it is incomplete. Often our intuition is wrong.

The problem with Gladwell's book is that it never provides a counter narrative. That is he never tells those stories of people who trusted their intuition -- and then got burned.

To stay open to the possibility that you might need to unlearn, it's wise to make it a habit to always search for counter-evidence.

Phrased another way, always ask this question: What could prove the idea (or me) wrong?

Looking for other questions you might ask yourself? Check out this old post:

What Questions Aren't You Asking?

A Turn-a-Round Question