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…

I recently read Chris Chabris and Daniel Simon's excellent book, The Invisible Gorilla: And Other Ways Our Intuitions Deceive Us, and found myself unlearning a great deal. For a fun test, answer this question: Can you tell when someone is staring at you from behind? Now watch the video below. (For an explanation read the…

Please solve this problem: Tell me if the following statement is true or false: "This statement is false." If the statement is false, then it is true. If the statement is true, then it is false. The above example is a well-known paradox but I believe one of the things society, parents, teachers, bosses and…

Did you know that after childproof lids on medicine bottles were introduced, it led to a significant increase in the number of child poisonings? The reason is because parents became less careful about keeping the bottles away from their children. I am all for taking preventative action — especially to protect kids — but we…

"Clearly there is a lot going on deep in the Earth that is completely unknown to science." So concludes this fascinating article in The Economist on, of all things, carbon. Did you know, for example, that although carbon is critical to life on earth the scientific community has no idea of how much of the…

A while back, I posed the question above. The most common answer is the one posted below. But if you really want to unlearn, I encourage you to keep searching for answers. The problem can actually be solved using only three lines. In fact, there is even a way to do it using only one…

How many kids have been killed on Halloween by eating poisoned candy? The answer is zero. Let me repeat that: zero! If you're like me, you probably grew up on tales of avoiding Pixie Sticks for fear some creepy old neighbor had laced the candy with strychnine. Or, perhaps, you avoided perfectly healthy apples for fear that…

 “You don’t understand something until you understand it more than one way.” –Marvin Minsky   Question: Are there more words which begin with the letter “K” or which have “K” as their third letter? With words such as kangaroo, kitchen and kite readily springing to mind it is easy to assume there are more words…

Take the above quiz. If you can't figure it out, here's a hint: Think outside the box — literally.  (P.S. If you still can't figure it out, feel free to email me at jack@unlearning101.com and I will send you the answer.)

Question: Do more people die jaywalking or in the crosswalk? The answer is the crosswalk. Why? Because people are lulled into a false sense of security. Due to existing rules, painted crosswalks and flashing signs, they don’t feel as compelled to pay attention to the actions of others. When jaywalking they are under no such…