“You can get 12 months of work done in 11 months but you can’t get 12 months of work done in 12 months.” Please re-read the above sentence. At first glance, it doesn’t make any sense. Upon reflection, however, you may come to see the wisdom embedded within the statement. If you are constantly working,…

Getting from Point A to Point B is fine but never forget there are also Points C through Z. There may also be points that aren’t letters, perhaps, they are numbers, colors, exotic locations, places or even ideas and people. Life is full of opportunities. It’d be a shame if you missed this “point” because…

Most of us are familiar with the famous classroom dictum: i before e except after c. It is helpful most of the time but not always. For example, do you find it weird that the word “weird” isn’t spelled wierd? If you wish to stay open to unlearning, it’s helpful to remember that every rule…

In the picture to the right, count the bars from the top and then count them from the bottom. Did you count ten the first time and seven the second time? I love optical illusions such as this one because they force us to acknowledge that the world isn’t always so black-or-white. Often, our starting…

As a parent, I want to encourage curiosity and creativity in my children. To signal my interest in their education, I frequently ask the question: “What did you learn in school, today?” It recently dawned on me that this is a most unsatisfactory question. I now ask one or both of these questions: “What questions…

“No matter who you are, most of the smartest people work for someone else.” This quotation is widely attributed to Bill Joy, co-founder of Sun Microsystems. Whenever you begin thinking that unlearning may no longer be necessary just remember this quotation. If nothing else, it should help keep you humble and open to the idea…

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Never underestimate the creative power of the “I”ndividual!

Which square is a darker shade of gray — A or B? If you said A, you’re wrong. They are both the exact same color. (Click here for an explanation). The moral: Unlearning requires recognizing that our perceptions can be easily deceived and that one person’s “shade of gray” might not be different from another’s…

I really like the photo to the right. It depicts the same scene, the only difference is that on the right half of the photo the night sky is being masked by man-made light. A fitting metaphor for the modern world. Often, we are so surrounded by the modern conveniences of light that we fail…