Learning- What stops you?

 Let me introduce to a small almond-like feature in our brain called 'the Amygdala'. It's part of the limbic system that deals with emotions and memory. Amygdala is more commonly known to be responsible for fear. It is also known to regulate the storage of information in the brain region.

So basically it's like the administration department responsible for security and file management, except with the technological breakthrough the current security systems are constantly being challenged and hence at some point unless you have better resources, your data is at risk. It needs an overhaul. Well, this was for my understanding, I welcome people to correct me if it's flawed. For now, I will take this as my understanding.

 

So now this particular almond-shaped thing in our brain controls fear, anxiety, and memory storage. Given the present circumstances most of the students and adults alike, find it hard to concentrate, study, and learn. This can be attributed to this very reason. The anxiety and fear around us is making it difficult for us to effectively store memories.

 

But fear is not a deterrent to learning only in pandemic like situation. Amygdala comes in pretty handy for instilling fear of failure, or fear of not knowing, or fear of being left out, or fear of rejection.  Fear often prey upon attention, making it difficult for children to concentrate or learn.

 

Unfortunately, we live in a culture of fear. In one of my previous blogs, I wrote and I quote, "The thing with parenting is the premise of fear. The only way to make a child understand something is to instill fear, the fear of right, fear of a person, or fear of God. Generations after generations we have been instilling fear in our children." As a result, fear, which was supposed to act as a driving force ends up acting as an inhibitor of learning and in some cases throughout their adult lives.  

 

Sometimes this fear lets us question a new concept or doesn’t help us see value in it. At others, it might be a discomfort. A discomfort to step out of the known territory and to learn something new that can in turn influence learning.

 

Like I mentioned in my first blog on the issue, learning is a choice and one may choose not to learn. Having identified the source of resentment towards learning, let us look at possible ways to overcome it. I love theories so I came up with this -RDA theory.  I use RDA theory to help overcome fear.

·         Retract – Retract means to go back on, to withdraw. Withdraw from your existing beliefs or fears. Acknowledge them, understand them, and consciously distant yourself from your fear. I recently was told that I have a lot of courage to put my writings out there, to share it with people. I realized the person was right. It did time for me acknowledge that I cannot get better at writing just refining it on Grammarly, I will need to put it out there.  I withdrew from my fear. 

·         Detract- Detract mean to divert. Divert the thoughts and reasoning which have told you that it is not possible, it is scary, and you will not do it. This is difficult. One doesn’t get it easily. People are not just fighting a thought here; they are fighting the whole belief system, something that has been ingrained in their minds for quite some time now. They need to make conscious attempts. It is also called ‘unlearning’  or rewiring your brain to think outside the control parameters. 

·         Attract- Fear is often a factor of lack of recognition. We yearn for recognition, acceptance, and accolades. Find ways to attract them.  I see so many children today with their youtube channels and pages. They go all out to attract positivity into their lives. They are no longer dependent on their parents or friends for validation. Is there a risk to this? Of course, there is, no denying that. But not doing anything never got you anywhere.

 

Fear is our brain’s way of warning against danger. Use it like that. Realize in your potential to overcome any limitation and you'll find a way to overcome challenges with learning.

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