In this episode we talk about how to unlearn what you think you know in order to make room to really learn what you'd like to know. Topics include: 

• The way in which we stubbornly hold on to all these things we think we know, that, if really examined and challenged them, would prove to be untrue.
• And these traps of ignorance only serve to hurt us int he long run.
• I give a prime example of a classic way this plays out every day using the myths that abound about saturated fat these days.
• I use this example to highlight how the conditioned mind can so strong that it can ignore overwhelming evidence and obvious data in order to keep pre-existing beliefs in tact. 
• The conditioned mind is created through years and years of repetition of what's right and wrong, good and evil, true and false. How we should think, act, dress, look, and the list goes on. Add to that the massive echo chambers that Social media creates and we fall into common traps of confirmation bias.
• So in order to keep learning and growing we need to learn how decondition our minds and learn how to unlearn all that false data we stubbornly hold on to.
• We then go over how the flaws in the human mind allow us to get caught in these traps and it goes like this: we use emotional reasoning to draw a conclusion, we FEEL like it's right, our ego tells us that we're right, and when we search the internet for supporting data we search to validate the conclusion we already made. This leads us to confirmation bias and cherry picking, both of which are logical fallacies that lead us to holding false beliefs.
• The next problem is that because of emotional reasoning we tend to get attached to the outcome. We want it to be what our emotions tell us is right. When we're attached to the outcome we can't actually learn because we're not looking for truth. We're looking for data that validates what we already think.
• All of this causes us to get stuck in our own ignorance. And so many people I hear preaching their gospel are preaching from a place of ignorance and refuse to challenge their own ideas and discover what the actual truth is. This is why we see so many people trying to silence their detractors these days, especially on college campuses. They refuse to debate them because they don't have intellectual arguments. They have emotional ones, which can be utterly dismantled by logic. Easier to silence the opposition than to have your core beliefs be proven untrue.
• This is a symptom of another problem, which is attaching your identity to ideas and beliefs that you haven't fully examined and challenged.
• And this leads to this week's Call-to-Action. This week we're going to take a longer look at the things we hold to be true and challenge them. This exercise involves you acting as the prosecution, the defendant, and the judge for each of your beliefs. As the prosecutor you must do everything possible to prove yourself wrong. As the defendant you must do everything possible to prove yourself right. And once all the arguments and counter-arguments are made, all the evidence is collected and presented then you must become the judge and decide what the truth actually is. 
• This is the essence of critical thinking. We're not after outcomes, we're seekers of truth. Do this exercise for everything you believe, especially if you're preaching this gospel to others. This exercise will catalyze extreme personal growth and development. Try it and see .
• Thanks for listening. Be sure to subscribe and leave a review and share it with someone who could benefit from this information. And be sure to follow me on Instagram @ThinkersApprentice