Is it time to Unlearn

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?