"Unlearn"

Today, when I was watching TV at lunch, an announcement made me remember something I would like to share with you. The specific ad was this:

(the video in English: "In the life, as important is unlearning as learning")

A few years ago when I started studying at university, a teacher called my attention about a very routine fact which I had not noticed carefully, and it was the "unlearn". Until then, this word had nothing strange to me, and I guess for readers who are reading this text now is not strange. However, if we remember what "learning" is, in descriptive terms, then we will see what is special about it.

According to Dojman´s definition, "Learning is a lasting change in the behavior mechanisms that involves incentives and/or specific answers and that is the result of the previous experience with these stimuli and responses or with others similar". This is the basis of learning (although I personally would replace the word "behavior" with "cognitive", because we not always talk about behaviors themselves, but keep us in mind that is a behavioral definition). Well, let think about "unlearning".  Is this something like an imaginary eraser that removes all the associations we have made when we learn anything?  If you allow me another metaphor, would it look like when we sew something and, suddenly, we decided to undo what we had made ​​by cutting and removing it from its place? But when it is erased, there are remains, sometimes the paper is damaged or the pencil is marked, and when we unpick, the holes are made. Therefore, this process would always leave marks on us, one way or another. The thing that we lived cannot be eliminated by magic, our experiences will always leave remains in our history, we can only change our future, so, we should say we can only create it. The good thing is that our past will always make us grow if we let it.

Contrasting this little thought to the idea of unlearning, we can begin to glimpse a little inconsistency, right? Although "unlearn" is a commonly used word, it is not actually like in the simile of the rubber or the thread, but what really happens is re-learning, we re-create another behavioral sequence which we modify the components, this is the definition of RElearn. For example, if I learn that 2 +2 is 5, and I go to do an exam and I fail the question: how much is 2 +2?, then it will not be unlearn (delete, erase). Instead, I RElearn that 2 +2 is 4, so even in the future I could laugh remembering my mistake. I mean, I still have not forgotten that I used to think in that way.

As I said, you can not eliminate what we live, so I invite you to think about how important can be the things we say or do, and how it can hurt others, either because we had a bad day or we thought the things twice before doing or saying them. How many injuries have we done to others without realizing the impact of our actions or words? Put yourself in the shoes of others is a good resource, and also look at ourselves can help us. How many of you still have marks left by the nails of those who harmed us, even when they apologized, pulling out the needle object, but leaving the scar? We relearn from our mistakes. We should try not to damage, instead of apologize, do not you think?

That is all for today. Thank you for your time and I hope you like my first post. I send greetings to all.  Have a good week!