Right from our childhood we start learning – from environment,
from parents and then get subsumed into the enormous world of books and the
world-wide-web. It shapes our intellect and at the same time crystallizes bits
of inhibitions and prejudices to create a contaminated perception of the world.
You might be wondering how “perception” can be
contaminated because perception always includes our own views, prejudices and
myths. I believe the contamination occurs when one’s original views and
thoughts are inundated by external influences to an extent that it loses its
uniqueness and unites with what majority thinks. This is exactly where
unlearning has to intervene.
People are scared of being singled out. They always
want to acquire conventional wisdom and be a part of main stream which supports
and accepts their learning and perception. Unlearning will pull them out of the
“known” and force them to think afresh.
Imagine that three people are asked to describe a moving
ball with a hole on one side. They have their heads held tightly from both
sides. So, they can’t move their head, they can only move their eyes. Out of
the three some will see the side of the ball without hole; some will see the
side with hole while some might see both the sides. These are all
uncontaminated perceptions. Now, given an opportunity to move their heads
freely or discuss with each other, they will all have the same perception of
the ball.
Photo Credit: Henadz Freshphoto.ru
If you want to stay out of the crowd and make
yourself distinctly visible....Unlearn. Initially you might feel insecure and alienated
from the rest of the world but it’s worth it. Unlearning can only happen by
chopping off the fringe information which claws into your eccentric thinking. This
is an internal process of identifying such information, thoughts and myths and then
scrapping it off to let your distinct thoughts emerge.
How is Unlearning different from exploration and
innovation?
I feel innovation is external, like shifting from a
vision through a magnifying glass to a binocular and then a telescope. But
Unlearning is internal, more about knowing our own thoughts, pruning our
beliefs. It is like a doctor examining a fractured knee from outside, then recommends
an x-ray and then a scan. It is like reinventing yourself.
There is a challenge –
to Unlearn you have to learn to Unlearn. So, here learning and unlearning
happens at the same time. Be careful while learning to unlearn and make sure
you keep yourself away from the claws of prejudices which will make your unlearning
incomplete.
So, what have you Unlearned today?
