More on Unlearning

We are facing uncertain and exhilarating times, a convergence of crises and a blossoming of new possibilities, disintegration and renaissance, a collapse of sense and meaning that clears the ground for a new story to grow.

Illness on every level—physical, social, political—will intensify in coming years, drawing to it unimagined modes and technologies of healing. Such is civilization’s birth process into a new era.

Part of this will likely be a series of revelations, discoveries, and events that shake the foundations of our governing belief systems. Much of what the vast majority of people in the world thought they knew will bear one shattering assault after another, and I doubt any of us, including me, will emerge through the next four years with their existing beliefs intact.

That is why I have in recent weeks taken up the topic of “unlearning.” We can prepare for coming times by releasing legacy beliefs, habits, and patterns of thought, and the ways we act, choose, and relate to others that come from them. My last post, The election may not mean what any of us think, sets the tone for this release in a political context. But the changes at hand far transcend the political. So I am also relaunching an online course, Unlearning for Change Agents, that I created in 2019 before things accelerated starting in 2020. It’s a short course; the main themes are unlearning thought habits, action patterns, and judgments about the world, about other people, and about oneself.

In addition to the recorded material, I will host several live calls throughout the two month program where I will apply the ideas to current events and to questions and situations raised by participants.

This short video describes a little bit about the program, course platform, and the program fee which, as always, is self-determined. Zero is welcome as well. This model of running programs is the result of my own unlearning of assumptions I’d inherited about human nature.

Because ideas of certain limitations and impossibilities are among the things we can unlearn, unlearning removes barriers to a higher level of energy and effectiveness.

On the level of civilization and for many of us on an individual level too, what we already know (and believe we know) allows only a certain kind of achievement. We are very good at doing the things that we are very good at doing. And as social and ecological crises mount, we are becoming painfully aware that we are very bad at doing some of the things that desperately need to be done. Personally as well, many of even the most capable people are becoming aware of severe incapacities, as the fullness of human potential reveals itself.

I don’t want to over-promise, but it is the unlocking of dormant possibilities that I hope to catalyze through this unlearning journey. Registration is here. Material is self-paced. Here are some more videos to give you a flavor for the program.

Unlearning and becoming an elder (video)
Awakening in unlikely places (22 second video)
Unlearning is not just changing the ideas in your head (video)

Looking forward to seeing some of you there!