Learning

Written by Eugene Morgan

During a hypnosis session, Milton Erickson often assists  subjects in developing a learning set.   He does this by redirecting the subjects to childhood events when everything was new and fresh.  Childhood was a time of learning countless new things and new situations.   As children we didn’t have preconceived ideas yet.  During that time, our brains were developing, we began learning to first identify every part of our body like our hands, face, eyes, nose, and toes.  These were our initial experiences.

“Experience is the Only Teacher”

The above heading is a quote from Erickson.  It reminds me of a story that Milton Erickson told to a group of students on how therapy should be done.

Here is the paraphrase version of the story.   One day Erickson and his classmates, who were walking home from school, saw a lost horse along the side of the road grazing on grass.  Erickson jumped on the horse’s back and guided it back on the road.  While on the road, the horse got sidetracked and ran off the road and started grazing again. Erickson again stirred the horse back on the road.

For more than two miles, Erickson rode the horse until he reached a farmer’s lawn.  While the farmer approached to ask him how he knew the horse belonged here, Erickson said he didn’t know- the horse led him here. All he did was to keep the horse on the road.

Erickson told this story to make a point about how therapy should be done.   One of his goals is to guide his patients and his subjects to participate in experiencing something.  He also often tells this story to point out that his subjects already has the answers within, they just need to stay on the road and keep moving.

“Experience can be very informative”

As children we test and re-test new things and new situations for a certain period of time.  With the testing and re-testing we began to accumulate experiences in our unconscious mind.  Our brains automatically categorizes these experiences.

For example, as children we learned how to make distinctions with color. The sun is yellow, the sky is blue, the grass is green, the fire trucks are red, etc.  Then as children we began to make associations, for instance, not only do we see that the sun is yellow but also we see that the school bus is yellow, not only do we see that the grass is green but also we see that the house is panted green, not only do we see that the fire trucks is red but also we see that an apple is red, etc.

Learning through trial and error

To master a skill like walking requires trial and error.  As children it was a struggle  for us to put one foot in front of the other while we leaned against something to keep us from falling.  I don’t remember this experience but I know I had this experience because if I didn’t I wouldn’t be walking.   But I do remember watching my baby sister learning first how to walk and how it was a struggle for her.  She would make a couple of steps and she would fall down.   But falling didn’t stop her, she would get back up and try repeatedly until her brain and her muscles were developed enough to walk smoothly.

As adults we develop frames of reference or (shortcuts) to get to where we want to go in life.  We have countless experiences sitting in a chair.   Therefore,  as adults we no longer need to test and re-test; because everything we learned as children has gone into our unconscious minds.

However, not every shortcut is useful in every situation.   This is why Erickson redirects his subjects or bypasses the shortcuts to get the subject into learning mode again to unlearn and relearn other ways in dealing with difficult situations.

Learning From Experiences

The heading sounds like an old cliché.  Whether it’s a cliché or not, it’s a truism.  We all learn from our experience.  Everything we do is an experience.   If I sit here idle, it’s an experience.  Yes doing nothing is an experience.   Depending on the context,  being idle can be a useful experience.  But if my goal is to write a blog post, but all I do is experience idleness for two hours, the result would be a white background and a feeling of disappointment and  self-doubt.   And I know learning from my experiences that being productive creates a feeling of accomplishment and pride in my work.  So as long as we’re alive we’re going to experience something.  Just as I’m writing this sentence, I’m experiencing something.  My mind is focused.  Everything around me is fuzzy except this sentence I am writing now.