How to unlearn and relearn: a key to growth

In a few decades the world of information has taken a 180 degree turn, and currently there is an enormous information overload. This, together with the fact that technologies advance exponentially, has caused learning to change substantially: it is now essential to know how to unlearn and relearn.

Much of what is learned is temporary.. More than ever we are experiencing the fragility of truths and also that truth is a process and not a fact. That is why it is so important to continually unlearn and relearn.

Fortunately, he human brain It is an organ capable of learning, unlearning and relearning, as part of its normal functioning. Although it is easier to marry some truth, repeat it and sustain it, the truth is that in a world like today’s, it is no longer possible. How do we adapt to this new reality? Let’s see.

Nowadays, and given the digital and technological pace of society, it is essential to promote the abilities to unlearn and relearn to move forward.

Unlearn and relearn

One of the first to talk about the processes of unlearning and relearning was Alvin Tofflerin his book The shock of the future. There he mentioned that there would come a time when there would be too many changes in very short periods of time, and that this could make previous knowledge useless, in addition to producing great confusion in people. What was science fiction yesterday is reality today.

Today, the way of managing knowledge, heavily supported by technology, is very different from that of centuries ago. It is no longer about acquiring knowledge and strengthening it, but about processing and transforming it continuously.. However, the brain is not like a computer, in the sense that it is capable of following conscious programming line by line. Nor is it possible to decide at will what to “delete” from what is already known.

Speaking of unlearning and relearning, we refer to managing knowledge in another way. Unlearning is not forgetting what you already know, but rather reformulating what you have learned and seeing it from another point of view.. When this process is carried out, relearning occurs, that is, the adjustment of previous knowledge to a new reality.

Keys to unlearning and relearning

Today’s world is much more demanding in terms of mental processes. The brain always seeks to create patterns and repeat them, because it is the way in which it spends less energy. That’s why it’s so easy to settle into a comfort zone, which also encompasses learning, and stay there. However, that is no longer possible.

When unlearning and relearning, brain plasticity comes into play, that attribute that allows us to create new connections between neurons and mark other traces in the brain. How to enhance that capacity? The following are some of the keys to unlearning and relearning:

Assess the error positively. Today’s world is a great trial-error laboratory. This is a source of information.Put more interest in the process than in the result. As we have seen, the result is a temporary element. Instead, the process is continuous. Those who master the method best go further than those who achieve more immediate results.To experience. It is important to test what you think you know. There are usually many surprises.Continuous training. Nowadays, education does not end when you receive a degree, but rather lasts a lifetime.New technologies are a means, not an end. It is essential to know new technologies, not to immerse ourselves and drown in them, but to put them at our service.Know how to observe, know how to inform yourself. Increasing the capacity for observation and knowing how to discern what different sources of information offer is essential for unlearning and relearning.

Brain plasticity is fundamental in the processes of unlearning and relearning.

Understand and reinvent yourself

The 2020 crisis made a word that was rarely used before fashionable: reinvent yourself. Circumstances changed radically, unexpectedly and quickly. Suddenly, everything became unstable and uncertain: the usual rules of the game no longer worked. We all, in one way or another, had to pull ourselves together and adapt to a strange reality.

Maybe not in such a brutal and global way, but something like this is what has been happening for years. It will probably continue to happen, hand in hand with the disruptive advances that science and technology have ready for us just around the corner.

So that all this does not overwhelm us, and although it may seem paradoxical, The most important thing is that each person spends time defining who they are, what they want to be and what resources they have. to deal with unexpected demands or threats. This exercise of introspection and analysis will favor adaptation to sudden changes, and by extension, the processes of unlearning and relearning.

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