How to ingest information like a child:

How to ingest information like a child:

Person shares information they believe with passion, experience, hierarchy.

We tell ourselves:

That must be true.

or perhaps if we don’t like them or they contradict something we strongly believe.

That must be false.

Both thoughts mess with us in their own way and have their own negative side effects.

How to consider information like an adult:

I wonder how that belief serves them?

I wonder how it would serve me?

What evidence is there for it?

What evidence is there against it?

The child strategy is based in fear which makes sense. We know little and are trying to understand the world and survive it. We need as much data as we can get and it comes from someone who has at least survive this far.

Rarely do we unlearn this strategy.

We are constantly scanning for information in the same way we scan for sugar. Getting little dopamine rewards all the time.

In books, podcasts, on instagram, facebook, LinkedIn.

None of these mediums are bad.

It’s what happens next or maybe doesn’t.

We have a thousand nuggets of nutrition knowledge…

But no philosophy, principles and practices that create predictable and repeatable success in our lives.

We have all the ideas of what would make us more effective in our day and our business.

But no philosophy, principles and practices that create predictable and repeatable success in our lives.

The same for relationships, mental health, parenting.

We hold learning as being exposed to information. Filtering for an agreement on whether we like the message or the messenger. Then we are done.

True learning can be seen in skill though.

Am I more skilfully navigating the environment as a result?

You cannot learn if you don’t know where you are.

Without inventory of what you believe about say nutrition as demonstrated by a. Your daily actions and b. The corresponding results (your health for better or worse). You cannot approach learning skilfully.

As a result we seek knowledge as affirmation and quickly escape information and informers that don’t provide affirmation.

Which might be fine if we’re experiencing perfection in that area. If not though the very thing we MOST need to learn to get IN FORMATION with where we wish to go is likely to be confronting.

It’s likely to be confronting because it threatens something we believe and we have been trained to think that what we believe is WHO we are.

Which is to say that in order to truly learn, part of us must die.

The desire to fight, flight, or freeze is a more likely hallmark of learning than is a dopamine reward. At least the most valuable lesson you or I might need right now.

Perhaps reading this feels a little like that?

Is at least some part of you resisting, rebelling?

Perhaps the lesson you most need to learn is the one that will allow you to let go of the beliefs that are supporting that’s behaviours that absolutely aren’t working for you?