Why do most people rarely learn anything new?

The human brain has an enormous capacity to learn. The paradox is that it is full of blind spots that limit the ability to learn. For the most part, you just think the way you were taught to think. In effect, the way you do things is the way you do everything. The way you do things is determined by the way you see things. The way you see things is determined by the way you think or your thought process. Your thought process is an amalgamation of your brain’s syntax. Its environment shapes its syntax. And your environment gives you the facts of life. Unlearning learned facts is one of the biggest obstacles people face. And that interferes with personal and professional growth.

People make sense of new information using existing knowledge and experience. If the new information invalidates the existing information, the person will defend what he already knows, unless there is incontrovertible proof. In other words, people think the way they think because of the way they already think. Asking people to look at any situation from a new perspective is asking them to alter the syntax of their brain. If that syntax is broken, they will most likely resist. Hence, the incessant desire to disagree. That slows down the learning of revolutionary information. It is easier for people to add improvements to existing knowledge.

The subject of what we learn is inconsequential. Jean Paul Sartre talks about how people process information or incidents that occur in their lives. If, for example, a five-year-old is punished for speaking, he will either be afraid to speak or resent not being able to speak. Therefore, as a five year old, he will make a decision based on that incident to keep his thoughts to himself or to be a rebel and speak out regardless of the consequences.

Regardless of the choice made at age five, her life will be determined by her throughout her life. In fact, they will believe that it is inappropriate to speak, if they go that route. Sartre says that once a person believes something to be true, he will always look for evidence that his view is correct. Being right is more important than learning something new. If he tries to convince them otherwise, they will remember the countless times they paid a price to speak up.

In some cases, because they have been silent so often, they may not have developed effective communication skills. As a result, when they do speak, they will speak awkwardly and will not be accepted by others. It will be almost impossible for them to see that they are creating adverse situations by not being able to communicate effectively. If you try to teach them to communicate effectively, you will be teaching them in addition to the mindset that talking has consequences. That’s like putting icing on a mud cake.

This example highlights how everyone learns. We make decisions to avoid consequences. While it seems like the decision kept us safe, we are stuck with it for the rest of our lives, unless we go through a significant transformation. And sometimes the catalyst for transformation can be temporary.

For example, the Meyer Briggs Personality Assessment was administered to many companies in the twin towers of the World Trade Center. The assessment was administered prior to the events of 9/11. Shortly after the 9/11 incident, the Meyer Briggs assessment was again administered to many of the same people.

In almost every case, their results changed. The catastrophic event had changed individual personalities and perspectives on life. Therefore, it seemed as if they learned to be different people. To see if those changes were sustainable, the companies administered the assessments five years after the 9/11 incident. And the results were amazing. Almost all people returned to the same personality that they had before September 11, 2001. That means that their mentality remained the same. The severity of the event temporarily interrupted people’s thought processes. However, when things returned to normal, so did his mentality.

So you know what you know because what you know has helped you survive and avoid consequences. Other times what you know gives you access to pleasure. Once you know that what you know works, you stick with it. Anything that challenges what you know is hard to accept because you already have proof that what you know works, even if it’s not giving you what you really want. If you want to teach people something new, you must first disrupt their existing thought processes and help them see themselves and the world from a whole new perspective. That is where coaching plays an important role. Staying with the person to help them make a smooth transition to living in a new paradigm is critical.