The Three Levels of Learning: Learning, Unlearning, and Relearning

As my friend and mentor, Yasuhiko Genku Kimura, often reminded me, true intelligence is not the accumulation of knowledge but the transformation of consciousness.

He believed — and lived — the principle that wisdom emerges through continual clarification, self-honesty, and the courage to evolve beyond one’s previous understanding.

This insight is at the heart of what I call the three levels of learning:

1. Learning

   
   

2. Unlearning

   
   

3. Relearning

Together, they form the developmental arc of any person who wants to think clearly, live authentically, and perceive reality with greater accuracy.

1. Learning: The Foundation of Understanding

Learning is where the journey begins. It’s the process of gathering information, exploring new ideas, and building basic mental models. We learn through:

• reading

• listening

• observing

• studying

• experiencing

Learning gives us structure, tools, and language.

But learning alone is not enough.

Many people stop at this stage and mistake knowledge for wisdom. Knowledge is additive — wisdom is transformative.

This is why the next level matters so deeply.

2. Unlearning: The Courage to Let Go of What No Longer Fits

Unlearning is the most uncomfortable — and the most powerful — form of intelligence.

It requires humility.

It requires self-inquiry.

It requires acknowledging that our previous mental models, no matter how cherished, may no longer reflect reality.

Thomas Kuhn, the academic mentor to Robert Root-Bernstein (one of the trailblazers who helped legitimize the study of polymathy), described this process beautifully in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.

Kuhn showed that science does not progress through steady, linear accumulation of truths — but through revolutions in which old paradigms collapse and new ones emerge.

Anomalies — those frustrating pieces of evidence that don’t fit — are not nuisances to be ignored. They are seeds of transformation.

This is exactly what unlearning is:

allowing anomalies to matter.

Unlearning is the willingness to look at the data — inner or outer — and say: “Maybe my old story is too small for what is true now.”

This echoes Yasuhiko’s teaching that liberation begins the moment we stop defending our outdated self-concepts and begin allowing the authentic self to reveal itself.

3. Relearning: Updating the Model, Expanding the Self

Relearning is where growth becomes integration.

It is the process of:

• rebuilding understanding with improved information

• refining mental models

• integrating new perspectives

• expanding into more accurate perceptions of reality

Relearning is the “reconstruction” phase after unlearning clears the ground.

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Barbara Marx Hubbard, and modern complexity theorists all point toward the same truth:

Human evolution is the evolution of consciousness.

Relearning is how consciousness evolves on an individual level.

This process aligns deeply with what I teach about polymathic leadership: the ability to continually update one’s understanding across domains is not a luxury — it is a necessity in a world of accelerating complexity.

Why These Three Levels Matter — Especially Now

We live in an era of rapid change.

Technology evolves faster than policy.

Information evolves faster than institutions.

Understanding evolves faster than identity.

Rigid thinking becomes dangerous in such an environment.

The people who will thrive in this century are those who can:

• learn easily

• unlearn bravely

• relearn continually

This is the essence of polymathic intelligence.

It is the foundation of flexible, integrative, big-picture thinking — the kind required to navigate a world in transition.

Thomas Kuhn showed us how paradigms evolve.

Yasuhiko showed us how the self evolves.

Root-Bernstein showed us how minds become creative across disciplines.

Their combined influence has shaped my life, my research, and the way I engage with the world.

A Practice for Everyday Life

You can begin applying the three levels of learning immediately:

• When you hear something new — Learn.

• When you feel defensive — Unlearn.

• When new evidence appears — Relearn.

This simple cycle is how you refine your models, reduce your blind spots, and evolve into a truer version of yourself.

Because truth is not static.

Understanding is not fixed.

And your mind is not meant to remain the same.

The more you engage these three levels of learning, the more precise your perception becomes — and the more aligned your life becomes with what is actually real.