What is Unlearning ?

	Message From: jaswinder	Total Posts: 33	Join Date: 06/11/2006
Rank: Executive	Post Date: 22/05/2011 02:15:19	Points: 165	Location: United States

Dear professionals,

Can you tell me what is meant by unlearning ?

Thanks in advance.

Regards,

Jaswinder

	Message From: lieu	Total Posts: 28	Join Date: 06/11/2006
Rank: Executive	Post Date: 22/05/2011 02:17:21	Points: 140	Location: United States

Dear Jaswinder,

In order to do well in life, one needs to unlearn negative mindsets and bad habits without which the individual will continue to face the challenges of concrete wall-like attitudes.

In fact vast multitudes of masses who belong to majority of world's population continue to under perform due to the strangle hold of mindsets and habits. This leads to adversely influencing the natural cycle of Thinking, Attitude and Behaviour where each one of them affects the other. In other words to change attitudes one needs to change behaviour and to change behaviour obne needs to change Thinking.

Hence learning new knowledge and skills will take us forward but when one fails to unlearn old habits and mindsets that forms the basis for atttitude, the person stays put or worse still starts losing. Hence the unlearning component is the key to success in whatever one does.

Together let us learn to unlearn!

	Message From: smt	Total Posts: 1	Join Date: 06/11/2006
Rank: Beginner	Post Date: 07/07/2011 07:51:07	Points: 5	Location: United States

From an organization point of view unlearning is very closely associated with change-adaptability. When you are placed in a new team/firm you may have to familiarize yourself with new ways of doing things which can be different from what you had practiced till then.This would even require a change in your basic mindset.

Hence to learn new ways, you will have to do away with the old processes and ways of thinking.This would in turn help the person be compatible with the new processes and/or culture.

	Message From: vk	Total Posts: 2	Join Date: 06/11/2006
Rank: Beginner	Post Date: 01/09/2011 02:58:07	Points: 10	Location: United States

Dear Jaswinder,
   Unlearning is a process which is easier said than achieved. But unlearning is a process which itself has to be LEARNT in order to bring in fresh ideas which may be in conflict with that being un-learned.
    Many a time certain skills and abilities are learnt by trial and error (in the absence of any pre-existing knowledge) and which may not prove to be truly effective. However when better and newer workable ideas are subsequently available there may be a requirement of un-learning the inefficient learnt processes to re-learn the newer processes. However, once a human mind has committed a process or skill to the sub-conscious it requires a tremendous conscious effort to un-learn, which itself depends upon the ability of the individual.
    To understand this consider the example of high quality skills acquired by pilots or the specialist engineers. In case some unsafe practices have been learnt these would have to be consciously un-learnt in order to prevent them from interfering with safe practices during critical and emergent high pressure situations which may have to be acquired by the individuals later. Same is true with undesirable habits - smoking, kleptomania, abusing etc.
   The subject itself requires a detailed study but suffice to say that along with learning to learn it is also important to learn to un-learn in certain situations.
regards,
VK