Tobin & If started this interesting convcersation (bits snipped off):
>>> I believe we can also focus
>>> on our own unlearning and can try to understand what it is makes that
>>> process so difficult, as individuals or in larger groupings.
[snip]
>>Thanks for the eloquent addition, If. Unlearning is probably much more
>>difficult than "learning", since it means changing ourselves, not just
>>adding to our accumulation of "knowledge". Chris Argyris's work comes to
>>mind as a testimony to the challenge you have laid before us.
[snip]
>However in the spirit of your last sentence Tobin I am moved to ask the
>list a different question. How do we create individual and organisational
>'Unlearning'?. How do we even approach personal 'unlearning'?. Takers?
I think I understand what you mean by 'unlearning'. However, I also think
that it might be an 'unnecessary' term... (still trying to get this clear
for myself):
When we 'unlearn' something, we don't leave a vacuum. (In fact, I don't
think it's even possible to leave a 'meaning vacuum' where there was
meaning before.) We replace the 'something' by something else, e.g. a new
angle, new way of thinking new interpretation, new pattern etc. ('new' not
as absolute but as in 'different', 'that wasn't in our mind before').
Therefore, 'unlearning' one thing would always imply 'learning' something
else, i.e. replacing rather than removing. And in that sense, the notion of
'unlearning' could lead to misunderstandings, i.e. the assumption of a
vacuum (or even 'tabula rasa') where there is none.
That's why I would rather talk about learning than unlearning...
Does this make sense?
(BTW, apologies for the 'wrong' sender. I am not in my office, but in
Magnus's, and he has generously allowed me to use his e-mail. Given that
he's a subscriber to learning-org, too, I think it shouldn't be a problem.)
Fides
Fides Matzdorf
Research Assistant
Sheffield Hallam University
f.matzdorf@shu.ac.uk
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations
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