Unlearning to Learn
You can't explore a new information space with eyes clouded by old information
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Learning Liberation Martial Arts (LMA) isn't just about learning new concepts but unlearning old ones. The challenge isn't learning our approach; it's unlearning coloniality. Old assumptions create a barrier to new knowledge and shackle you to beliefs that do not serve you. Much of the curriculum is meant to defeat old oppressive ideas and replace them with new ideas that serve you better.
If you don't unlearn and break free of old oppressive frameworks and beliefs, they will constantly interfere with and override new information. When old information remains unchallenged, it reinforces itself, making it difficult to accept new ideas on their own terms or altogether.
Consider memorizing a map of your old environment and constantly referencing it when you're in a new one. For instance, when you move to a new area, your old drive home can interfere with your new one. Your past assumptions can be not only unhelpful but detrimental.
Unlearning doesn't mean completely forgetting; it means making room for something new and understanding it on its own terms. When you're an American in England, your old mental model for driving can cause car accidents (and it does) because you'll revert to driving on the right side of the road when you're supposed to drive on the left. Unlearning that behavior doesn't mean you forget how to drive in the US; it just means learning to drive in England on its own terms rather than thinking it's old wine in a new bottle.
We call the art of mapping and navigating "wayfinding." It's not about memorizing one map and constantly referring back to it; it's about continuously adapting to new conditions and creating and updating maps.
There's a speed to physical activities, which we call game speed. Removing unnecessary, counterproductive, and irrelevant assumptions improves efficiency and hastens decision-making to game speed. Not only are you faster at finding your Way, you'll have more energy for your destination.
We often use the term "explore" in our literature to describe the process of navigating new information for deeper understanding, which involves delving into its potential and possibilities. You can't explore a new information space with eyes clouded by old information. Instead, old information seeks self-reinforcement.
"Memorizing" something and knowing abstract and surface-level things about it doesn't mean retention. There are lots of things we've "memorized," but very few of them we've retained. Swimming and bicycling; things we've explored deeply, we retain. You won't remember all the numbers you've "memorized" but you will retain how to dial a number.
When older people have problems with new technology, it's not that they can't learn something new; it's that they've been dwelling in old information for so long, it's hard to unlearn. When cell phones first appeared, people too used to landlines had a hard time adapting. Likewise, people used to early cell phones and flip phones had difficulty adjusting to smartphones. Learning is easy, but unlearning is hard.
Understanding the Liberation Martial Arts approach on its own terms equips you to better adapt to new information. LMA and wayfinding aren't about memorizing an idea but learning to navigate new ones. By unlearning old beliefs, you free yourself from their control, opening up a new world of possibilities.
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