Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Learning With Pulp (Unfiltered)

I really like orange juice. My family likes orange juice too, but they like it without pulp. Me, I like the pulp. I like my orange juice unfiltered. For me, there’s something not quite right with orange juice that’s filtered. It’s the same for learning. Many of us filter our learning without realizing it. True…we simply don’t have the time or the need to expose ourselves to all topics, lessons and sorts of growth opportunities. But when and where we choose to participate in learning and growth, we can be our own worst enemy.Each one of us has a belief structure, a mindset, or to use a popular buzz word, our own “paradigm” of reality. This belief structure is the filter through which everything we read or hear is run—and sometimes it keeps us from learning anything.

This filter is strong and fools us. Rather than serving as a useful tool, we use this filter to validate ourselves–that the things we observe, read and hear corroborate what we already know or believe. It makes us feel that the co-worker, partner, author or presenter is speaking directly to us, aligned and deeply connected to what we believe when that might not be the case.

The filter’s downside is that it keeps us from expanding our world view, hindering our ability to learn and grow. It’s like surrounding ourselves with “yes-men.”

I first noticed this issue after a few friends and I decided to compare notes on several books. As we talked about each book, I was amazed to notice three, four, sometimes five completely different perceptions of the author’s work. I didn’t realize how much I was filtering the content based on my belief structure until I attended a lecture by one of the authors. Here I saw how I had missed this author’s point and filled in the gaps using my filtered perspective.

We do it to our friends and colleagues as well. Have you ever had a discussion with someone who doesn’t really hear you or filters what you say to their belief structure? Have you ever caught yourself doing this to someone else?

A certain amount of filtering is useful and necessary. Some people just don’t like pulp—so the orange juice company’s pulp filter is a good thing. The key is calibrating the openings in our filters. In a learning mode, widest possible is a good setting. We need to develop an ability to suspend our beliefs long enough to let a new idea or concept permeate our mind. With practice, this gets easier.

If you are able to suspend your beliefs, to create a mental “staging area” you will notice some important changes within and around you:

# You’ll open up to new ideas and consider things you have not thought about before.

# Your conversations with others will be more engaging.

# Most important! People will begin to open up to you with their thoughts.

I’d like to hear from you.

# What filters are running in your world?

# What filters are most productive? And which ones could use a bit of recalibration?

Until next week,

Craig

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