Transcriber: yoojae lee Reviewer: Emma Gon
Did you know everything can be unlearned?
You know, it's been said that you can't teach an old dog new tricks,
but I'm not too sure about that thought.
I think it's interesting about old proverbs.
You know, it’s interesting that we often use animals to describe truths
about human behavior, and we compare two seemingly unrelated things.
Let me give you an example.
She’s as busy as a bee, or he is a stubborn as a mule.
They are lazy as lobsters.
Unlearning is the process of replacing outdated,
obsolete versions of what no longer works for us with something that is better.
And that brings me to the squirrel.
I know what you're thinking.
Why are we talking about squirrels?
And unlearning, why does she go or is she going with this?
And for those of you that are wondering, No, I’m not nuts.
But today I’m going to show you how lessons from squirrels can help us
become more adaptable in an uncertain world.
What if what you know, no longer is a value?
I’ll explain.
Now, the squirrel is no exception to life’s rules.
As things become more urbanized,
both squirrels and humans change and adapt to new surroundings continually.
As a researcher, I have been curious about how understanding
of the process of unlearning, which is how we change and adapt.
How can we update what we have already learned?
That’s the question.
As I continue to study the process, I realize something,
unlearning is often misunderstood.
Just like this squirrel misunderstood.
Actually, squirrels can teach us so much about change.
How we adapt by conquering our fears
will be how we successfully learn and unlearn in chaos.
Squirrels actually are intelligent and remarkably adaptable.
Let me show you what I mean.
Now how many of you ever have seen a squirrel do this?
And I’ll bet you that this particular squirrel has done this action
thousands of times, probably well over 10 000.
And that makes that squirrel an expert in not hiding.
A squirrel actually unlearns his previous stash sites to update them to new ones.
Squirrels experiment with new sites to trick others looking for a quick meal.
They successfully unlearn places that no longer are working
for them in order to avoid starving.
And I think that’s a great idea.
I believe, successful change is not about learning more things and more facts,
it’s about unlearning what isn’t working for you.
Now, the unknown and uncertain creates a lot of fear,
especially when we're comfortable with what we already know.
Through the skill of unlearning, we can become more successful,
making changes just like the squirrel.
But while we may not want to acknowledge this,
there's no denying that change is an inherent part of our lives.
You know, humans are actually hardwired
to change for survival just like the squirrel.
Now, when a squirrel is confronted with a predator of some kind,
they zig zag to confuse the predator to where they’re going.
Unfortunately, this habit is also
why so many squirrels get hit by cars.
When a squirrel tries to escape an oncoming car,
they dart back and forth into the traffic and, well, you know the rest.
Now, I have always believed that the road of life
is paved with flattened squirrels that couldn’t unlearn.
Now think about it.
What if what you know no longer helps you?
By unlearning the fears and the abilities that hold us back,
we can begin to relate to change totally differently.
Let’s look at three fears.
Number one, the fear of the unknown.
And since the earliest period in human history,
man is used routine to keep us safe.
Our brains actually like stability.
The unknown challenges our brains that uncertainty creates tension and stress.
The chemical dopamine helps us
by encouraging us to run away from the unknow
thereby saving us for another day and we default to the predictable.
But what happens when we try to unlearn?
Luckily, we're designed to resolve many of those unknowns.
We do need a bit of trial and error,
and that gives us a good formula for making successful changes.
Label what you want is a change, as a question,
so your brain can provide you with the answer.
Now, the squirrel is no exception, just like humans.
They update their behavior to adapt to new situations.
Squirrels actually have backup plans for emergencies.
They try out new hiding places and escape hatches.
I hope you can be more like the squirrel
by being prepared with a backup plan.
Now that leads us to the second fear of change.
The fear of making mistakes.
Fear of change is really interesting
because it works hard to convince you that change is bad for you.
And it is a tough enemy, just like fear.
No one wants to fail, and it’s easy to revert back to the comfortable.
So we actually often never even start or try.
Now, researchers have pinpointed the lower temple region of the brain
that sets off chemical reactions to some mistakes
even before the information gets consciously processed.
However, contrary to popular belief,
making mistakes is an inherent part of unlearning.
Actually, no one is born with a fear of making mistakes, so it’s really OK.
Research has actually shown that experimentation
and making mistakes actually increases your problem solving skills
and improves your overall learning.
Squirrels help their abilities by chattering with others
to get different perspectives.
You know, the old two brains are two minds are better than one theory,
that’s what squirrels do.
They also chew on the incoming information.
They take the time to think it over and changing finally
after evaluating and reflecting on the mistakes
to get a better course of action.
Now, personally, I remember holding onto my old computer
when Windows went to Windows 8, you know 7 went to 8.
You know, it was crazy. I didn’t want to let it go.
I feared change of everything I previous had learned.
But guess what?
It became obsolete anyway.
And that brings me to the third fear of change -
the fear of becoming obsolete.
Now, fear of becoming obsolete may actually increase
the probability that we change,
take some shortcuts when we update our outdated skills
and we end up falling back on the old skills.
In the future, it’s not just computer systems that we will need to unlearn.
What we do, how we do it, we’ll need quick, continual updating,
better known as unlearning.
I remember also when I was in graduate school,
I asked a very wise professor her advice about getting my PhD
and how to succeed at getting through school.
You know what she said?
She said, never get behind.
This is great advice, but this is also mirrored
by an Oxford Economics survey suggesting employers top concerns.
It's that their skills will become obsolete
and their positions will be totally eliminated.
Now it's all about refocusing.
It’s not, what do you know, but how fast you can unlearn.
Here, the truth is, resourceful planning is key.
Like the squirrel who has many homes with escape hatches,
they realize the importance of updating their skills continually
and collaboration rather than competition also helps us with change.
Even squirrels seem to know how to get into any type of bird feeder
designed always while they work together.
It’s a matter of their survival.
And for us, unlearning is the way we can adapt to survival for any chaos.
To be able to make successful changes and avoid being flattened,
I do three things to continue to cultivate my unlearning.
Dream, Dare and Do. Simple three.
Number one, I dream.
I become more aware and construct my changes.
I don't just resort to habitual behaviors like hiding my nuts in the same place.
I use my powers of experimentation to discover something amazing,
because our brains are hardwired to search out the answers.
Change does involve trial and error.
Your brain will provide you with the solutions
when you ask the right questions.
Be curious.
Weigh in your options, test assumptions and innovate.
Even in play, we can develop new ideas and creativity.
This fosters our problem solving.
By the way, prepare to be wrong sometimes
because the life you want to have is there if you dream about it.
The second thing I do is I commit to my change.
You know, whenever the rules of the game are changing fast,
your ability to be flexible and let go of the old is essential.
Unlearning is the key to remaining adaptable and unlocking
the ability to update skills to succeed both personally and professionally.
Nature is change. It’s happening all the time.
Finally, the last thing is, I do, I create an action.
Action changes your brain.
But whenever there's a new challenge,
make sure that your brain doesn’t hijack your new actions.
And again, it's OK to make some mistakes.
Remember, small incremental changes work best
because a change makes it easier on the brain.
Start your unlearning process and update the things that are unproductive.
Actions can create improvements for the updated self,
ready to tackle anything.
The point is simple.
The key is to accept change as part of life,
because we can adapt successfully to massive changes.
Using the hidden super power of unlearning is an integral part of finding
the ease in change and learning to adapt.
If we assess and remove those unproductive habits from our lives,
we won’t end up flat and squirrels at the road of life.
For a minute, just imagine,
imagine the possibilities when we choose to unlearn
those outdated versions of what no longer works.
Imagine the possibilities for our individual lives,
our businesses and our communities,
if we can unlearn what no longer serves us
and navigate periods of change with greater ease.
In this quest to become more confident with new ways of living,
we actually do need change.
But we have choices.
We can continue to fear change and allow it from keeping us
from updating ourselves,
and quite frankly the world will pass us by.
Or we can choose to facilitate change
and we can recognize that change is the greatest part of being human.
We have countless opportunities.
We’re all adaptable and we can be our best selves.
You know, the futurist Alvin Toffler once wrote,
the illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who can read and write,
but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.
I think he was really right.
And I would add that you need to just keep daring and dreaming and doing.
Develop your successful unlearning skills for your best future.
I’m Dr. Julie Hafner, a researcher studying unlearning.
It is been an honor and a privilege to share these ideas with you today.
Thank you so much.