Unlearning 101

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. 

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

A Notebook of Things I Don't Know

Expose Yourself to Unlearning

Another Reason to Develop a Little Unconfidence

Developing a healthy dose of unconfidence can be helpful in unlearning. Ironically, one of the things many U.S. students must unlearn is their high level confidence in their math and science scores.

Did you know that although U.S. students have some of the lowest scores in math and science, they consistently rank highest in how confident they are about their math and science skills. (Students in Singapore -- who possess the highest scores -- however have some of the lowest levels of confidence in their math and science ability).

I'm all for self-esteem but high confidence can work as a serious determent to improvement. In other words, the American student (who desperately needs to improve his or her math skills) doesn't think such action is necessary because they are overly confident in their ability, while the Singapore student (who is already doing well) continues to push ahead and improve because she believes she is behind her international peers.

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Replace "No Doubt" with "To Know Doubt"

Have Some Intellectual Humility

Unlearning Intelligence or Why You Shouldn't Tell Your Kid He or She is Smart

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?

 

 

A Curious Connection? Brains, Mind Maps and the Universe

Take a look at the pictures to the right. The symmetry between microscopic neurons and a macroscopic galaxy is rather surprising. Is there a connection between the two?

Honestly, I don’t know but I do believe the human mind is capable of discovering the answer.

To this end, I invite you to watch this six minute video of a fascinating and powerful (and potentially disruptive) new educational tool called Nibipedia. Pay special attention to the configuration of the “Mind Map”—you may be surprised at the similarity to the above images of the brain and the universe.

Is there a connection? Again, I don’t know but, perhaps, with the assistance of Nibipedia, James Burke and the brainpower of millions of other people we can find out.

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Dancing into the Future with Three TED Videos 
Make More Connections to the Future

 

Shopping for the Truth

Last week, it was reported that frequent shopping by men and women increases the life expectancy of people in Taiwan. 

This is undoubtedly great news for shopoholics but before you rush out to the nearest mall in an effort to boost the length of your life know that it is not true.

Although the scientific study was picked up by many media sources, both the scientists making the claim and the reporters who wrote about it made the common mistake of confusing cause and effect.

To understand why the study is untrue all a person needs to do is view the situation from a different perspective. In this case, it should have occurred to the scientists that ill-health prevents shopping. In other words, if you are sick or bed-ridden it's a whole lot more difficult to go shopping frequently.

Interested in a way that shopping really can save you money? Check out this older post by Jack Uldrich:

Shop in Reverse

Underground Unlearning

"Clearly there is a lot going on deep in the Earth that is completely unknown to science." So concludes this fascinating article in The Economist on, of all things, carbon.

Did you know, for example, that although carbon is critical to life on earth the scientific community has no idea of how much of the stuff actually exists on Earth? Ranges estimate anywhere from between 0.07% to 3.2% of the planet. That's a huge discrepancy for such a vital element.

I was also surprised to learn that while I had grown up believing oil and natural gas are formed near the Earth's surface from the fossilized bodies of living organisms, some Russian scientists believe petroleum is "abiogenic" and that the Earth's temperature and pressure convert carbonates and water into hydrocarbons. I don't know enough to render an opinion on this topic but I do believe in remaining intellectually humble and staying open to new possibilities; and, if the Russian scientists are correct, oil and gas could be much more prevelant than we had previously believed.

Lastly, I was surprised to discover still other scientists estimate that up to half of all living matter on Earth may resides at depths of 5KM below the surface. If true, that's a whole lot of life about which most of us are completely unaware. (It is also yet another item that I need to add to my notebook of things I don't know.)

It is also a fitting metaphor for unlearning -- There will always be so much more that we don't know than what we do know. This simple fact should remind us that we must always be open to -- and prepared for -- unlearning.

Interested in a little unlearning quiz about carbon? Check out this old post:

Wooden Wisdom

Perhaps you'd like to see another visual metaphor for unlearning? Try this old post:

A Visual Metaphor for Unlearning

Do Stop Believin'

“Man prefers to believe what he prefers to be true.”

–Francis Bacon

Question: True or false: Hypnosis is useful in helping witnesses accurately recall the details of crimes?

False. Hypnosis helps people recall more information but not more accurate information. Yet, according to a scientific study, sixty-one percent of people still falsely hold this belief about the power of hypnosis.  Sixty-five percent of people also believe that they can they sense when someone is staring at the back of their back and an even higher percentage (76%) believe that subliminal messages in advertisements can cause people to buy things. Like the hypnosis theory, these beliefs have also been scientifically proven to be untrue.

With apologies to the band, Journey and their 1981 hit “Don’t Stop Believing’,” to effectively engage in unlearning it is, in fact, healthy to stop believin’. Please note that I’m not saying, nor am I advocating, that you rashly drop all of your beliefs—only that you temporarily stop believing.

Specifically, there are three things you should do to become more open to unlearning. First, you must learn to suspend your beliefs. To do this you need only admit the possibility—however remote or unlikely—that your belief may be misguided or wrong.

Second, once you have engaged in this thought exercise and allowed a thin crack of light to pierce your belief, actively seek out the opinions of those who believe differently than you. It has been said that the mark of an educated mind is the ability to entertain an idea without accepting it so, at this stage, simply seek out “unbelievers” and listen to their arguments. Do this without judging their beliefs.

Next, if they raise legitimate points, use those to further explore your own beliefs. Better yet, if they make observations which surprise to you—such as scientific studies highlighting how hypnosis doesn’t improve accurate recall; how people can’t tell if someone is staring at their head, or proof that the person (James Vicary) who originally claimed that subliminal ads in movies increased sales of Coca-Cola admitted his study was a fraud—turn those surprises into question marks and use those questions to further investigate why you believe what you do.

In the Paris riots of 1968 students spray painted signs on walls saying, “We demand the right to contradict ourselves.” It is easy to laugh at the statement and dismiss it as the epitome of sophomoric indiscretion. It is much harder to view it as a wise statement. Alas, it has been said that the “wiser one becomes, the more one is able to contradict one’s own ideas.”

The problem is that modern society has made self-contradiction a shameful act. It isn’t. What is shameful is inability to change one’s mind when presented with new and contradictory information. The ability to change one’s mind—even on long-held beliefs—is not a weakness, it is a strength.

Ironically, by submitting your beliefs to continuous and rigorous examination those beliefs you do choose to hold will likely come to rest on a more stable and solid foundation.

Homework assignment: Do you believe that humans only utilize 10 percent of their brain capacity or do you believe that listening to classical music will improve a young child’s intelligence? If so, suspend your belief and seek out people who believe differently than you. What were the results of your research?

 

When Will We See What Isn't There?

Seeing what isn't there isn't easy but I'm convinced it is an essential component of unlearning -- which I believe will be of the most critical skills of the future. It will only become more important as the pace of technological change increases and knowledge spreads ever faster. 

I have long felt the health care industry in particular would benefit from the ability to see what isn't there (as I explained in this post) and the recent TED talk by Aditi Shankardass explaining how scientists and researchers are now uncovering new connections between the human brain and learning disorders such as autism, mental retardation, epilepsy and dyslexia further emphasizes this point.

As Shankardass so eloquently says, "Looking at behavior alone cannot only be misleading, it can be deceiving." So true ... and not just in her field but in virtually every aspect of our lives. For your enjoyment I posted the video of Shankasdass' 7-minute TED talk below:

A Notebook of Things I Don't Know About

"We know that we do not know all the laws yet ... therefore things must be learned only to be unlearned again." Richard Feynman

I am currently reading Iconoclast: A Neuroscientist Reveals How to Think Differently by Gregory Berns and, although I have written about Feynman in previous posts and even mentioned him prominently in a book I wrote in 2003 on nanotechnology (The Next Big Thing is Really Small: How Nanotechnology Will Change the Future of Your Business), I never knew until I read it in Bern's book last evening, that Feyman kept what he called "a notebook of things I don't know about."

It is a habit -- along with starting an anti-library -- that anyone serious about unlearning should adopt. I suspect that by keeping such a notebook not only will it serve to keep you intellectually humble, it may also force you into reconsidering -- and possibly even unlearning -- many of the things that you think you already think you know to be true.

Related Post

Have Some Intellectual Humility

What Isn't in the News

It was the biggest story of the year and perhaps the biggest story of the decade or maybe even this century. Surprisingly, it has quickly faded from the view of most people.

What story am I referring to? It's not the BP oil spill. It was the announcement in mid-May that man had created artificial life. (For a quicker primer on the topic I encourage you to read this excellent article in the Economist -- which to its credit is the only major publication I am aware of that accorded the story front cover status).

I mention this because unlearning requires you to see what isn't there. In the case of artificial life just because the main stream media isn't covering the field that doesn't mean it isn't going to have a huge impact on you or your business. It is. And if you are in the health care, agriculture, chemical or energy industries, I believe it is going to require a massive amount of unlearning much sooner than most people realize. 

As The Economist wrote, the creation of artificial life could "prove mankind's mastery over nature in a way more profound than even the detonation of the first atomic bomb."