Unlearning 101

I'll Drink to a New Approach to Underage Drinking

Like many people, I consumed my fair share of alcohol in college. Now that I'm a parent and my own kids are approaching high school age, I have a decidedly more conservative perspective on the consumption of "adult beverages." The one thing I am convinced won't work is relentless lecturing about the many risks associated with drinking. (Of course, this still won't stop me from emphasizing these risks to my own children.)

What I have more faith in is peer-based advertising. To this end, the University of Minnesota is now running ads that were created by students for students. Rather than approaching the topic of drinking from a moral or health perspective, the ads instead address how drinking can ruin a person's reputation. (See the two ads to the right). One addresses how young women's reputations can be harmed, and the other shows how even nice guys can become "creeps."

Will these ads work? I don't know. But my "unlearning" instincts tell me that they'll be more effective than a bunch of old-timers moralizing about the evils of drinking and lecturing kids about how alcohol will harm their livers.

Remember, often, the way we see the problem is the problem--which is why older people should consider getting reverse mentors. We might just end up finding more innovative solutions to age-old problems.

Unlearning Procrastination

There are five frogs sitting on a log. Four decide to jump off. How many frogs are left sitting on the log? 

The answer is five.   

 Why? Because there is a big difference between deciding to do something and actually doing it. 

This is a particularly important point to recall on the day after Thanksgivings -- the official start of the Holiday Season. Undoubtedly, millions of American's over-indulged on food and drink yesterday and millions more will continue to do so over the next few weeks. (I would add that millions more will also continue to do so over the course of their lifetime ... but America's growing obesity problem is another story altogether.) 

Come January 1st, many people will "resolve" to lose the weight they have gained over the Holidays. Rather than engage in this annual -- and largely ineffective -- ritual, I'd like to suggest an alternative: "No Weight Gain December." Rather than promise to lose excess weight in a month's time, you should simply commit to not gaining any weight in December. 

The plan has three distinct advantages. First, you can begin today; second, not gaining weight is a more realistic goal in the sense that it doesn't require any dramatic change in your current behavior; and, three, if you are successful, it might provide the necessary inspiration and motivation come January should you resolve to begin losing weight.

Unlearning the Doctor-Patient Relationship

I recently wrote an article entitled "Social Networking: The Future of Health Care" for United Advantage-- United Healthcare's quarterly newsletter. As a result, I have been invited by another large health insurer to come in and speak about how social networking will effect their industry.

I have a great deal to say about the topic, but one of the most important things I intend to tell the company's executives is that social networking will profoundly change the nature of the doctor-patient relationship.

It is already well documented that many patients are becoming better informed prior to visiting their providers. Nevertheless, as the amount of medical information continues to proliferate (which will lessen the doctor's status as the "expert" because they will be unable to stay abreast of all of the latest findings and research) and as patient networks -- such as PatientsLikeMe -- become stronger; the relationship between the doctor and the patient is going to become more balanced. To be successful, the provider must recognize the client more as a partner and less as a patient. To be successful in the future, providers must unlearn the old way of doing business which, in many cases, placed the doctor on a pedestal.

To continue to be a valuable resource to the patient, providers must engage their own social networks to query other providers who can help diagnose and offer potential treatments. The net effect is that more diagnoses and treatments and will be "crowd-sourced" in the future. This may be threatening to many doctors and specialists but if they really want to help their patients they have to check their ego at the door.

 

Lastly, providers and patients alike need to understand that social networking will not only open up better and stronger lines of communications, new social networking sites can be used in innovative ways to engage patients in healthier and more enjoyable treatments. For example, think of patients at risk of diabetes engaging other at-risk patients in their neighborhood to form walking or exercise clubs.

The future is evolving fast. As I have said before -- and will say again -- to first survive and then thrive, it will be essential to unlearn.

 

Related Posts

 

Is the Health Care Industry Prepared to Unlearn?

Do We Need to Unlearn the "Nature vs Nuture" Debate?

I understand the appeal of saying something is either black or white (and thus denying all the various shades of grey in between). Numerous debates occur everyday. For example, some people argue that  homosexuality is genetic in nature. Others claim it is a nurtured condition.

In spite of the efforts of supporters on both sides of the debate, the issue is not so clear cut. Neither are the hundreds of other such "nature vs nuture" debates.

In a new study being released today in Child Development Perspectives a team of researchers is calling for society to say "neither" to the debate. In short, they are saying that the world is far more complicated than many of us would like to acknowledge. But rather than gravitate toward "intellectually lazy" answers which tend to support one point of view over the other, or favoring "one-liners over 10-minute explanations," the authors suggest we should remain open to how various pieces of knowledge fit together.

In essense, the article and the study are really just a call for common sense but because common sense is a commodity which is often in short supply today -- even in academic and scientific circles -- it never hurts to stop and ask ourselves whether there is a new approach.

To this end, I'm in favor of unlearning the "nature vs nuture" debate and staying open to the idea that the real answer may be "neither."

Should Some People Unlearn Optimism?

It is likely that Al Franken will be soon be the next U.S. Senator from my home state of Minnesota. Personally, I'm not a fan of Mr. Franken but I did like one of the skits he used to perfom on Saturday Night Live. It was called "Daily Affirmations with Stuart Smalley" and the character's signature tagline was "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me."

There is much to be said for the power of positive thinking and, all things being equal, I believe people should think optimistically.

Unfortunately, all things are not equal. This article from the most recent edition of The Economist suggests that for some people positive self-statements can be counter-productive. Here's the operative paragraph:

"Dr Wood suggests that positive self-statements cause negative moods in people with low self-esteem because they conflict with those people’s views of themselves. When positive self-statements strongly conflict with self-perception, she argues, there is not mere resistance but a reinforcing of self-perception. People who view themselves as unlovable find saying that they are so unbelievable that it strengthens their own negative view rather than reversing it. Given that many readers of self-help books that encourage positive self-statements are likely to suffer from low self-esteem, they may be worse than useless."