The words "neice" and "wierd" are purposely misspelled in the above title. The correct spellings are "niece" and "weird." The misspellings, which are fairly common, beg the question: How do you unlearn an incorrect fact?
Luckily, for me, I don't have to answer the question because the fine folks at Scientific America have already answered the question is this illuminating article entitled "Why is it hard to unlearn an incorrect fact?"
Rather the purpose of this post is to highlight one of the unlearning tactics suggested in the article. According to the author, one strategy is make a new association which highlights — or emphasizes the correct — answer. For example, in the case of "neice" you might use the phrase "my niece is nice," or for "wierd" the phrase "we are weird" could be used to make the new association.
The strategy is important because it is not only our "neices" who must unlearn. Many of us hold within our heads some "wierd" ideas which we would also do well to unlearn. So the next time you encounter one of these incorrect "facts" intruding on your thoughts try making a new — and correct — association.
For readers interested in other unlearning tactics, I recommend "Unlearning Untruths" and "Changing Your Worldview."
