6 Ways To Avoid Being the 21st Century’s ILLITERATE!
The Art Of Unlearning
We spend our whole lives learning — in school, at work, through lived experiences. Unlearning feels counterintuitive, even sacrilegious.
But stick with me here. By the end of this article, unlearning will seem not just practical, but deeply liberating.
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For skimmers: key points below
Wait, Why Do I Need to Unlearn Anything?
Fair question! Let’s start with a little thought experiment:
By the age of 18, you had already consumed 30,000 hours of media content, seen 500,000 advertisements, and spent 15,000 hours in formal education.
On top of that, you’d listened to thousands of hours of opinions and beliefs from family, friends, teachers, religious leaders, and cultural figures.
That’s a firehose of information and influences shaping your worldview from a very young age. Much of it you absorbed unconsciously and uncritically, like a starving plant greedily soaking up any nourishment it can find.
But: not all that “nourishment” was equally valid or valuable. Some of those early beliefs and learnings were based on faulty assumptions, outdated data, or distorted cultural narratives.
Yet we cling to those inherited thought patterns like stubborn barnacles, long after their sell-by date. Because questioning our most deeply held beliefs feels risky and uncomfortable.
But carrying that excess mental baggage everywhere gets old after a while, wouldn’t you agree? It weighs us down and stops us from growing in the direction we want.
Think of your brain as a storage locker…
You’re trying to make space for exciting new hobbies and interests. But the unit’s already crammed full of outdated junk you lugged here from previous homes and past lives — rusty old toolboxes filled with useless DIY implements, dusty books on fax machine repair, VHS tapes of forgotten sitcoms.
To free up room for anything fresh and meaningful, you have to start purging some of that useless clutter first. Even stuff that meant a lot to you at one point has to go.
That initial pruning process? That’s unlearning.
The 6-Step Process for Unlearning What No Longer Serves You
Here’s a systematic approach to uncluttering your mental spaces:
1. Take Inventory
Grab a pen and paper (or open a fresh document). Section it into two columns: “Still Fits” and “Ready to Ditch”.
Now take a wander through that overstuffed storage unit in your mind. Pick up each item of knowledge, assumption and belief one by one. Really look it over from all angles. Ask yourself:
- Does this idea, belief or assumption still align with my current values and who I aim to become?
- Even if it did serve me well previously, does it risk holding me back from evolving now?
Separate the pieces into their respective columns with ruthless honesty. Ditch any baggage that no longer sparks joy or enables growth, as Marie Kondo would say.
For example, those old beliefs about gender roles or racial stereotypes your grandparents passed down? Maybe it’s time those got garage-saled.
“You’ll go through your closets and see that favorite shirt you wore relentlessly, kept for nostalgic reasons alone. At some point, you’ll ask ‘What was I thinking?’ We have to apply the same honest introspection to our mental wardrobes.”
This is an ongoing, never-finished task. The goal isn’t a blank slate, but a lean, efficiently packed mental suitcase with just the essentials for your present journey.
2. Question Everything
With humility and diligence, question every thought, assumption and belief you currently hold — including those you decided to keep from Step 1.
Ask the hard questions you avoided in polite company. Poke holes. Explore every nook and cranny with curiosity.
Start with open-ended inquiries like:
- “Where did this belief originate and why was it adopted?”
- “How has new information updated or contradicted this assumption?”
Crucially, pose these questions to yourself first, with an open mind and willingness to be wrong. As you get practiced, turn that inquiring eye outward to lovingly scrutinize others’ viewpoints too.
3. Seek to Understand the “Other Side”
When you encounter firmly held beliefs that clash with your own, fight every urge to dismiss them outright as stupid or evil. That’s the easy, lazy way out.
Instead, become a diligent student of the opposing perspective. Read books, listen to talks, even try living by that viewpoint for a time. Seek to understand its underlying logic and emotional resonance as if it were your own cherished philosophy.
You may still conclude that stance is misguided after your good-faith investigation. But you’ll part ways with greater nuance and respect. Who knows, you may even encounter insights that upgrade your original position in subtle but profound ways.
“If your foundation gets rocked by tough questions, perhaps the problem isn’t in the questions themselves. Perhaps the problem lies in the cracks already present in your foundation’s integrity.”
It’s natural to resist making ourselves that vulnerable. But until we unearth and inspect our buried premises, we’ll never really know whether they’re built on solid bedrock or shifting sands.
4. Be Flexible in Updating Your Mental Architecture
Once you’ve honestly questioned your core conclusions and grappled with their antitheses, chances are you’ll need to make serious renovations to your mental models.
Having scrutinized your foundation’s cracks and instabilities, you now face disassembling parts of your worldview. Perhaps even knocking it down to the studs for a complete overhaul.
Don’t fear this necessarily. Starting over with revised blueprints drawn from your latest inquiries gives you a chance to construct far sturdier and future-proof belief systems. Trust that your masterpiece will ultimately make much more sense and serve you better.
This adaptability is a superpower. Your old mental structures were bound to become outdated eventually, just like:
- The smartphone replaced our rotary phones
- Planes superseded horses for cross-country travel
- Math curricula evolve with Common Core standards
Reinventing your mind’s architecture may feel overwhelming initially. But this ability to bend, not break, is what allows you to remain relevant and effective in our shape-shifting world.
5. Share Your Journey with Others
Having purged misconceptions and rebuilt updated mental models, don’t keep your newfound clarity all to yourself!
Share the revelations, stumbles and triumphs of your unlearning journey.
When you vulnerably put your process on display, others feel emboldened to examine their own blind spots too.
“Your education is both a privilege and a responsibility. It’s your privilege to learn, and your responsibility to share that learning with the world.”
This isn’t about arrogantly evangelizing or polarizing. It’s about spurring others to scrutinize long-held assumptions as you did — gently, humbly, without ego or aggression.
Stimulate rich dialogue and open-minded discourse with those around you. Model the courage of evolving perspectives when faced with compelling new information or arguments.
“I used to believe X but then realized… What helped shift my view was…”
These conversations cross-pollinate ideas and accelerate collective understanding. They plant seeds that blossom into breakthroughs, by exposing our ignorance holes and cognitive biases.
6. Be a Lifelong Student of Unlearning
Ultimately, unlearning has to become a mindset and habit, not a one-off event.
As new information and contexts keep streaming into your life, you’ll perpetually need to update and iterate on your mental models to retain relevance.
This endless cycle of unlearning then re-learning can feel daunting if you’re not prepared for it. But don’t fight the churn — lean into it with curiosity and optimism!
Each revolution around this loop hones your ability to:
- Discern truth from fiction more reliably
- Remain intellectually humble while steering away from dogma
- Absorb wildly different perspectives without reflexively rejecting them
- Bake consistent self-reflection and skepticism into your thinking
Over time, maintaining this beginner’s mindset gets easier. What once felt like wrestling an octopus starts flowing like breath.
The art of unlearning is the closest thing we have to a superpower in an exponentially changing world. It keeps us supple, resilient and adaptive rather than rigid or obsolete.
Having read this far, you’re now faced with a choice…
You could slip back into reassuring Old Way habits and comforting delusions, fearing the work of unlearning.
Or you could choose to liberate yourself. Free up vast tracts of mental real estate for growth, potential, clarity and forward momentum. Future-proof your mind by unshackling it from the past.
As that famous 1990 quote proclaimed:
“The illiterate of the 21st century won’t be those who can’t read or write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.”
Key Highlights
- By age 18, you had absorbed a firehose of influences shaping your worldview, some based on faulty assumptions
- Clinging to these inherited beliefs weighs you down and prevents growth
The 6-Step Unlearning Process
- Take Inventory:
- Examine beliefs/assumptions one by one.
- Ditch anything not aligned with your current values and growth.
2. Question Everything:
- Ask hard, open-ended questions about your beliefs.
- Be willing to be wrong.
3. Understand the “Other Side”:
- Diligently study opposing viewpoints.
- Gain nuanced insight instead of dismissing them.
4. Update Mental Architecture:
- Renovate or rebuild worldviews based on new inquiry.
- Adaptability is a superpower in our changing world.
5. Share Your Journey:
- Spur others by modeling the courage to evolve beliefs.
- Foster open discourse and collective understanding.
6. Be a Lifelong Student:
- Accept the perpetual cycle of unlearning and re-learning.
- Hone abilities like intellectual humility and truth discernment.
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