Unlearn
"The only constant in life is change"
The beginning of a new life, the end of one, new information gets launched, new competitors come in, older ones die out.
Beliefs that were true are now false. They were based on old limitations that are now gone.
The market reflects all these changes. There are systems constantly at play in the modern world. And assuming a change not too drastic, humans learn to evolve over time to live with it.
To progress in life, thats very core of human nature is that constant pace of progress that keeps us going.
The pace of progress has far surpassed what it was in the 1800s.
I have learned a lot in the past that was correct then, but wrong now. All of us did.
Things that used to work, no longer do.
The modern smartphone is exponentially more powerful than the computers used to land the first human on moon in 1969.
Buildings and bridges that were once standing firm, collapsed.
When there’s now a new road that allows me to get to my location faster, but my navigation app doesn’t adapt to it, I get annoyed at it and switch to a different navigation app. It’s not doing its job. I expect it to show me the most optimal path to where I want to go.
When there’s a road that’s now blocked, I can’t get to where I want to go.
When the old map becomes wrong, we need to get a new map.
The same applies to life.
The world could stay the same, but my life situations & priorities could be different now.
“What got me here won’t get me there”
I deliberately learn to unlearn. To doubt the things I thought I knew. To pause before I answer instinctively based on old information.
Ask for current proof that it’s still true today.
Otherwise, let it go.
In my parents times (70’s), they had to get all their information from the library. They had no access to the internet. Information was controlled at the top. You had to go to a university for information. University graduates were scarce, It was a means to stand out.
In my generation, I grew up with the internet. Whatever information I needed was somewhere on the Internet. I just needed to search, go deep into different rabbit holes and piece information together. Information is now abundant. We no longer “need” to go for a university degree for knowledge. Degrees are abundant. You don’t stand out at all having a university degree. Instead, it’s even more interesting if you don’t have one. You stand out without one. You have a story to tell.
Yet, majority of people still take up huge debt and dedicate 4 pivotal years of their lives to get a university degree because they were following advice given from their parent’s generation.
Today’s generation is growing up with AI, LLM’s and the ability to spin up code on their demand, with a world-class expert (ChatGPT) in their pockets helping them with whatever help they needed. They are literally “fed” information without the need to critically think or problem solve for themselves.
When people ask me for advice on things I knew well years ago, it’s tempting for me to tell them what I knew, but more often than not, I should have instead said “Sorry, I don’t know now”.
I may have had the expertise before, I don’t now. Where I had expertise before, I don’t now.
It’s scary to go from feeling like an expert to feeling like a newbie, but this is exactly what I need or I’ll be complacent and I’ll never grow.
Many people learn only in their first third of life.
Schools don’t teach unlearning & relearning.
“I can’t understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I’m frightened of the old ones.” - John Cage
“The illiterates of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” - Alvin Toffler
Once we’re past the first stage of wisdom, the next stage involves adapting to new changes.