Learning & Unlearning

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something”

- Thomas H. Huxley

We begin our childhood by learning various subjects like Mathematics, Science, Social etc. This continues till 10th Grade/Standard. Without understanding the significance of learning those subjects, we work very hard to understand and remember the concepts taught and we always aim for clearing the exams. There are certain subjects which might or might not be essential for our career or future path. We learn those even if we don’t have any interest or enthusiasm to, we try not to fail in the examinations or assessments. Hence, we try to learn them overnight and memorize them for that day.

By the time we reach one level up, our goal is to get admission into graduation. We try learning various subjects (I would rather call it studying) in order to clear the competitive exams. We learn to practice various question papers and expect the same model questions in the final tests. We learn how to spend hours in studying and how to pass the exams. We learn about various sources where the model test papers are available. We learn about shortcuts and tips rather than the concepts and significance of the concepts.

Here comes the graduation phase. This phase is like an ocean wherein there are too many concepts. We unlearn most of our previous concepts (I would rather call them subjects). Being in teenage, we learn several things from our day- to- day lifestyle and observations from surroundings. I would rather say, from people whom we interact with. We come across several experiences wherein we learn and unlearn a few things that might be important for our life. On the academic front, most of us depend on All-in-Ones for answering the questions. Here comes the importance of the last-minute-teacher (our friend) who would save us in the exams. We learn to remember the last moment teachings and for that instance, we learn the importance as well as the value of time. We spend almost 4 years of time in attending the lectures and surprisingly, most of us find the day before learning turned out to be effective.

By the time we finish graduation, we might have learned about choosing our career path (supposedly) from influencers. Most of us would have also learned on compromising on what we get rather than chasing our dreams.

“Not until we are LOST do we begin to understand ourselves”

There might be two to three options what we think in terms of career (either job or higher studies or something else). For choosing a new path (rather than what we thought of), we would again follow the process of unlearning. In case of higher studies like PGDM, the learning entirely depends on the application skills. And this time, our learning will be for a purpose and with a motto. As the time passes, the learning might be continuous (or not), the person might be an enthusiast or turn out to be saturated. We all learn to live with it. We tend to continue by accepting unlearning and face the oncoming challenge as it comes. We all learn (or unlearn) to adapt to different cultures, working styles and processes. We learn to fulfill our responsibilities (on a personal front) and set a direction to our next gen (keeping aside our passions or interest or whatsoever). We learn how to pretend to be happy (even if we are not). We try to leave aside (unlearn) our likes for keeping our loved ones happy.

In this entire process (learning and unlearning),

·      Have we ever thought of what is the real learning for life?

·      Have we learned about ourselves?

·      What might be the importance of the learning process which we have followed to clear our exams or assessments?

·      What might be the significance of those concepts which we have learned during childhood?

·      How well are we utilizing our learning?

·      How are we able to learn about something being good or bad?

Well, there might or might not be any learning (of yours) from this article! ??

But one should learn how to live life in a desirable manner by following their interests. One should learn how to face and tackle any situation. One should learn how to solve any real-life problem. One should learn the real meaning of winning as well as losing. One should learn how to satisfy himself/herself and how to fulfill dreams of self and others. One should learn the applications of their learning in real- life. One should learn something from everything.

One should learn the importance of the process of “Continuous Learning and Unlearning” in Life