Unlearning is as essential as learning, but for many, it is beside the point.
What is deep-rooted needs extra effort to do away with.
The aspect of "unlearning" is a forceful and intentional act, and therefore it misses the attention it deserves.
Of course, the sequence is learning, unlearning (of useless or harmful stuff), and then relearning.
Overall, unlearning is rare in our trajectory of personal growth.
Learning starts when an individual is unaware of what he is learning at home, school, friendship, and society while moving randomly, and above all, what culture is providing.
Many messy things enter our minds in the early stages just as a flow.
Let me add that areas of unlearning will vary from person to person, region to region, situation to situation, and play of many variables.
In this continuous process, people learn what needs to be deleted afterwards from their habits, routines, priorities, traditions, and understanding as they age and assess the matter more closely and intentionally.
Prima facie, unlearning means getting rid of the nasty in our intentions, actions, and practices.
"Half of wisdom is learning what to unlearn." Larry Niven
The aspect of unlearning evolves when you relate to what is required to be physically, mentally, emotionally, socially, and spiritually fit and forwarding in all stages of life.
It is a curiosity to keep learning in focus, while it is truthfulness that gives you strength to throw bad things in the dustbin (uunlearning).
Now come to three salient examples:
■Unconscious eating is a habit that is required to be changed to conscious eating, which takes years to get the results if you persist.
"Courage is the power to let go of the familiar." Raymond Lindquist
People take pride in eating what is not fit to consume, even occasionally. The reason is that they have no courage to abandon this habit of mindless consumption.
■ Many people are complaining that they are short of time, particularly youngsters, while they are on smartphones for hours without a useful purpose. Waste of time without realizing it.
It is now a deep-rooted habit that the majority of youth, adults, and even older groups are unable to correct themselves.
They have no courage to unlearn the senseless tendency of use of facilities and tools in their command.
■ After retirement from overwhelming engagement, many people live in the past, which demands all previous fashions of working and ultimately invites troubles and loss of peace.
Many retirees expect the play of "order and obeying" at the same level as happened before. It becomes the origin of conflicts at home and outside.
It is a clear case of the absence of aptitude for unlearning in broader terms.
"To attain knowledge adds things every day. To attain wisdom, remove things every day." Lao Tzu
This quote is as powerful today as it was when said long, long ago.
For unlearning, the following aspects need probing:
● Routines
Your routines decide what is to be accomplished today in any capacity. The undesirable activities need to be identified and eliminated steadily.
Say I am sophisticated in getting fresh in the morning. I take twice the time that my colleagues take, despite all the similarities. I must check what is wrong with me and rectify it.
● Habits
Say your driver is harsh and rough when driving a car. The driver must come back to smooth driving to be within the rules of driving. It is difficult but "a must" for safety and traffic rules.
It is asking others to unlearn.
● Priorities
Priorities are reflections of choices. I recall a scenario when I gave priority to learning over being affectionate with close ones.
. One day, I was to decide whether to attend a social function or attend a seminar. Keeping that rare opportunity in mind, I decided to participate in that seminar.
Here, the shift (a variant of unlearning) is to keep social demand at a halt for a while, and I gathered the courage to opt for an important learning event.
It was a hard decision because of the risks of annoying a close circle—from family to relatives and special invitees.
● Beliefs
Beliefs command your lives in a particular direction.
You allow your beliefs to stay without questioning their application in practical scenarios added with conflicting points of view.
You spare no time to segregate sound and unsound beliefs, even if you are not comfortable with what is just inherited.
Questioning with an intention for clarity must be encouraged to keep practices aligned with your values. This simple practice helps to know what is not in your realm—living with purpose and values.
● Information
You shape your personality with what you consume every day from the media, opinion makers, authors of books, mentors, and analysts of events.
Gathering information is a process, but eliminating or bypassing unworthy inputs is a function of unlearning.
It is felt that many good and bad things are entering social systems through these routes.
● Other voices
Known voices are likeable, and unknown voices are unlikeable. It is a pattern.
Seeking other ideas, hearing the voices of opponents, and sitting in a circle not aligning with your understanding provide opportunities to unlearn many odds of your lives.
● Solutions
You love to share problems. It is convenient; it is not a compulsion to come up with solutions.
In the end, you intricate matter and return with empty hands.
Remember, your friends, relatives, and even family members will appreciate solutions.
Solutions are visible only when you detect (for unlearning) many disturbing features coming in your path to get remedial measures.
