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THE UNLEARNING PROCESS An Address by H u g h D. G a l u s h a , Jr. President ral R e s e r v e B a n k of M i n n e a p o l i s at the Commencement U n i v e r s i t y of M i n n e s o t a A u g u s t 19, 1966 THE UNLEARNING PROCESS T h e p r o b l e m of star t i n g a c o m m e n c e m e n t a d d r e s s is as d i f f i c u l t fo r the s p e a k e r as e n d i n g it s o m e t i m e s is for the audience. Unfortunately, there is a t r a d i t i o n that f e w of us e s c a p e -- a t r a d i t i o n that d i c t a t e s a bl e n d of e v a n g e l i s m , e x h o r t a t i o n , and n o s t a l g i a for the h a l l o w e d h a l l s of ivy p r o l onged to a p o i n t of m u t u a l e x h a u s t i o n of the speaker, the faculty, the g r a d u a t e s , a n d that g r o u p of the u n s u n g w h o m a d e the w h o l e e x e r c i s e p o s s i b l e -- the parents. Dr. S h e p h e r d has freed us all today w i t h the r e p e a t e d i n j u n c t i o n -- ,fI don ' t care w h a t y ou say, but t w e n t y m i n u t e s is all you get." M a y I say I a p p r e c i a t e the f o r m e r i n s t r u c t i o n , a nd I am sure you wi l l the latter. H a v i n g just c h a n g e d c a r e e r s r e c e n t l y my s e l f , o u r p o s i t i o n s are not dissimilar. you. It seemed to me it m i g h t be u s e f u l to share some r e a c t i o n s w i t h P e r h a p s p a r a m o u n t is the n e c e s s i t y f o r a c c o m m o d a t i o n to a ne w i n t e l l e c t u a l d i s c i p l i n e w h i c h is i n e v i t a b l y a c c o m p a n i e d by e n v i r o n m e n t a l c hanges. T h e r e are still d i s t i n c t d i f f e r e n c e s in c u l t u r e p a t t e r n s that are m o r e th a n g e o g r a p h i c . O c c u p a t i o n s and e c o n o m i c p o s i t i o n set a d d i t i o n a l d i m e n s i o n s w h i c h m u s t be a d j u s t e d to. The p r o c e s s of a d j u s t m e n t is a dual one -- w i t h l e a r n i n g a nd u n l e a r n i n g g o i n g side by side. Of the two, the u n l e a r n i n g p h a s e I w o u l d be i n c l i n e d to a s s i g n the m o r e i m p o r t a n t role. By ou r m i d d l e years, we ha v e lear n e d an i m p r e s s i v e n u m b e r of t h i n g s that si m p l y are not so. no a s s u r a n c e of escape. proposition. A formal e d u c a t i o n is In fact, a case m i g h t a l m o s t be m a d e fo r the rev erse Supreme C ourt J u s t i c e J a c k s o n said, "It is one of the p a r a d o x e s of o u r times that m o d e r n s o c i e t y ne e d s to fe a r o n l y e d u c a t e d m e n . " A little r e f l e c t i o n wi l l d e m o n s t r a t e w h y this m a y be so. a g o o d c ollege, For the a v e r a g e g r a d u a t e of the e x p o s u r e to m a n ’s a c c u m u l a t i o n of k n o w l e d g e to that po i n t of time now reac h e s a w e s o m e p r o p o r t i o n s , By g r a d u a t i o n , the s t o r a g e a r e a s of the m i n d h a v e b e e n c r a m m e d to the point of b u r s t i n g w i t h facts, figures, hypotheses, theorems, an d c o n c l u s i o n s . Some of these bits and pieces, p e r h a p s m o r e t h a n ha l f in the t e c h n i c a l a r e a s anyway, are c e r t a i n to be d i s c r e d i t e d in the e x p a n s i o n of k n o w l e d g e , but u n l e s s there is a c o m p e l l i n g reas o n u s u a 1 ly p r o f e s s i o n a l l y i n s p i r e d - - the g r a d u a t e of a few y e a r s ago n e v e r has the o p p o r t u n i t y to re p l a c e the old stock. o b s o l e s c e n c e of k n o w l e d g e , A p a r t f r o m this f a c t o r of there is the i n e v i t a b l e d i s a r r a n g e m e n t and d e t e r i o r a t i o n that takes p l a c e in attics, s t o rerooms, a nd s i m i l a r r e p o s i t o r i e s fo r s e l d o m u s e d items, f or c o n c e p t i o n a l k n o w l e d g e a nd fact k n o w l e d g e alike, w h e n s t o red out of context, not o n l y tend to lose relevency, but can get m i x e d u p t o g e t h e r in w a y s n e v e r in t e n d e d by P r o f e s s o r Jon e s in H u m a n i t i e s 104 o r P r o f e s s o r Smith in E c o n o m i c s 33A. To p r o l o n g the analogy, m a n y ideas a lso b e c o m e b r i t t l e a n d rigid in d i s u s e -- a q u a l i t y r e s u l t i n g f r o m lack of ex e r c i s e . To this th e n add the spec i a l fact that m u c h of the w o r l d is b e i n g led by f o r m a l l y e d u c a t e d men, a nd o u r i n q u i r y a s s u m e s a special s i g n ificance. What are the r e s u l t s of this? It seems to me there are at least t hese -T he p a r t i c u l a r b o d y of p r e j u d i c e s i n h e r e n t in the cu l t u r e p a t t e r n we are p l u n g e d into by o u r ch o i c e of g e o g r a p h i c and e c o n o m i c a r e a in w h i c h to live -- and e a c h of these ar e a s comes e q u i p p e d w i t h a f u l l - b l o w n a s s o r t m e n t of t h e m -- m u s t be a c c o m m o d a t e d in part. This is not the s e ll-out it sounds, f or the d e s i r e for a c c e p t a n c e is a u n i v e r s a l one, and b e s i d e s w i t h i n the gr o u p p r e j u d i c e s are o f t e n a t t r a c t i v e support for its m a i n t e n a n c e . 2. The d i s t i n c t i o n b e t w e e n a c o n v i c t i o n a nd a p r e j u d i c e is a fine one, of a c c o m m o d a t i o n , shifts. indeed. In the pr o c e s s ideas a c q u i r e d in c o l l e g e and stored a w a y u n d e r g o subtle T h e y m a y be p u s h e d f a r t h e r back, or r e a l i g n e d in d i f f e r e n t patterns. O r a t h e o r e m a d v a n c e d in a c l a s s r o o m t w e n t y yea r s b e f o r e b e c o m e s an i m m u t a b l e law. In t h i s subtle pr o c e s s , labels b e c o m e s u b s t i t u t e s for ideas. Out of the c o m p l e x and quite s p l e n d i d a r r a y of pie c e s of k n o w l e d g e we c a r r i e d a w a y f r o m colle g e , those d i r e c t l y re l a t e d to o u r p r o f e s s i o n are m a i n t a i n e d r e a s o n a b l y v i a b l e , but the o t h e r s s u f f e r f r o m disuse. T h e r e are few a r e a s of m a n ’s k n o w l e d g e that are s e l f - m a i n t a i n i n g . Generally, these m a y be c h a r a c t e r i z e d as t h ose i m p e r a t i v e s of c o m m o n and c e n t r a l e l e m e n t s of t h o u g h t that are s e l f - e v i d e n t in a T h o m i s t i c sense, a b o u t w h i c h I shall say m o r e later. The rest of our k n o w l e d g e -- r o u g h l y 9 8 % of o u r f o r m a l e d u c a t i o n -- is c o n c e r n e d w i t h facts, or a l l e g e d facts, w h i c h can be l u mped u n d e r the "what" and " h o w 11 catego r i e s . r e m a r k s are addr e s s e d . It is to these m y T h e y are the o b j e c t of the u n l e a r n i n g process. The c u l l i n g p r o c e s s is at least as i m p o r t a n t as time goes by as the a d d i t i v e one. O u r m i n d s are f i n i t e a f t e r all, w i t h just so m u c h room. m i n d r e a s o n a b l y tidy is a m a j o r u n d e r t a k i n g , indeed. To k e e p o n e ' s It is this r e e x a m i n a t i o n of the m e n t a l i n ventory, a c c o m p a n i e d h o p e f u l l y by; j u d i c i o u s c u l l i n g and r e p l a c e m e n t of the c o n t e n t s , that I r e f e r to as the u n l e a r n i n g process. In no a r e a is this m o r e c r i t i c a l l y i m p o r t a n t than in the social s c i e n c e s the a r e a s of s t udy of m a n ’s r e l a t i o n s h i p to man. economics. P r e e m i n e n t a m o n g these is To r e c o n c i l e Da v i d Ricardo, J o h n Stuart Mill, W e s l e y Mitc h e l l , W a l t e r H eller, and J o h n K e n n e t h G a l b r a i t h r e q u i r e s c o n s i d e r a b l e m e n t a l agi l i t y . M a n y of the things I b e l i e v e d a l m o s t as a r t i c l e s of f a i t h abo u t the stru c t u r e of o u r e c o n o m y and its care and feeding, I have had to u n l e a r n in these last 3. two years. H a v i n g a c q u i r e d a c e r t a i n c o m p e t e n c e and r e c o g n i t i o n in one career, it h a s b e e n a great s h o c k to find out w h a t great c h a n g e s h a d be e n o c c u r r i n g in the w o r l d o u t s i d e m y o w n field. M u c h of m y fo r m a l t r a i n i n g in e c o n o m i c s h a d b e c o m e o b s o l e t e , a n d the m i s c o n c e p t i o n s i n e v i t a b l e w h e n one is o n l y a p a r t - t i m e observer, r a t h e r than a p a r t i c i p a n t , a d d e d a f u r t h e r d i m e n s i o n to the u n l e a r n ing p r o c ess. T here is scant c o m f o r t f or the p r e s e n t e x p o n e n t s of the n e w e c o n o m i c s in this a d m i s s i o n . L i t t l e r e a s o n e x i s t s to b e l i e v e they have fo u n d the u l t i m a t e truths, an a d m i s s i o n the m o r e sk i l l e d and k n o w l e d g e a b l e p r o p o n e n t s are q u i c k to admit. H u m i l i t y a b o u t o n e ’s o w n i n t e l l e c t u a l p o s i t i o n u s u a l l y v a r i e s in d i r e c t p r o p o r t i o n to a n a b i l i t y to d e s t r o y s omeone e l s e 1s. The last t h i r t y - f i v e y e a r s are strewn w i t h the w r e c k a g e of e c o n o m i c plans, an d the r a t i o of d i s c r e d i t e d e c o n o m i s t s to those of v o g u e is still abo v e 5 to 1. As G a l b r a i t h c o m m e n t e d in his d e l i g h t f u l little boo k c a l l e d '’ Economics and the A r t of C o n t r o v e r s y , 11 -- "Those w h o have l earned to love that mos t n o s t a l g i c of all the sounds of ou r c o u n t r y s i d e , b a y i n g f o r the bl o o d of an e c o n o m i c h e r e t i c , W i t h o u t d w e l l i n g un d u l y , that of o u t r a g e d c o n s e r v a t i v e s should not feel d i s t r e s s e d .M I hope, on m o n e t a r y policy, a f ew o b s e r v a t i o n s a b o u t it m i g h t be a p p r o p r i a t e to m y thesis today. The Federal R e s e r v e S y s t e m is o f f i c i a l l y c h a r g e d w i t h the r e s p o n s i b i l i t y for o ur m o n e t a r y policy. N e i t h e r w h o l l y public, n o r m o r e than s u p e r f i c i a l l y private, its legal i n d e p e n d e n c e is h e r a l d e d by its f r i e n d s and c u r s e d by its foes, a nd m i s u n d e r stood by both. The a n o m a l y of the S y s t e m ’s p o s i t i o n is h e i g h t e n e d w h e n a r g u m e n t s are a nalyzed. T h e y run full circle. The e c o n o m i c a c t i v i s t s v i e w m o n e t a r y p o l i c y as a p r e c i s e tool of n a t i o n a l p l a n n i n g w h i c h h a s been use d a) a l w a y s late, b) s e l d o m correc t l y , and c) n e v e r enough. O p p o s i n g these is the a l l i a n c e of some c o n s e r v a t i v e s and c e r t a i n of the f i n a n c i a l 4. s ectors w h o r e g a r d it as a) d i s r u p t i v e of normal m a r k e t p r o c e s s e s , b) a d e v i c e to m a k e r i c h b a n k e r s richer, a n d c) an e x p r e s s i o n of an i n t e r n a t i o n a l m o n e y consp i r a c y . B e t w e e n ar e its p o l i t i c a l critics, w h o s e p o s i t i o n s m o r e o f t e n than not d e f y analysis. Well, it is not a p r e c i s e tool. The c o m p u t e r is able to lay bare the n u m b e r s of s e l e c t e d e c o n o m i c series of a past p e r i o d to p rove c o n c l u s i v e l y , if w i t h d o u b t f u l a c c u r a c y , inappropriate. that the stance of m o n e t a r y p o l i c y at that time w a s M i s s i n g f r o m the s t a t i s t i c a l a n a l y s i s is the b e w i l d e r i n g m a t r i x of bits and p i e c e s of o p i n i o n e v i d e n c e and su n d r y f i n a n c i a l and e c o n o m i c d a t a that, f or w a n t of a b e t t e r term, we m i g h t re f e r to as e c o n o m i c c l i m a t o l o g i c a l data, or w h i c h - w a y - t h e - w i n d - i s - b l o w i n g i n formation. Our e c o n o m y is so complex, a n d t he d e c i s i o n m a k i n g p o t e n t i a l of A m e r i c a n i n d u s t r i a l a nd p o l i t i c a l s o c i e t y so i n c r e d i b l y vari e d , a d e f e n d e r nee d not go a b r o a d for the d e f e n s e to be found in the i m p o n d e r a b l e s of n a t i o n a l d e c i s i o n s of o t h e r countr i e s . It is an i m p e r f e c t i n s t r u m e n t b e c a u s e the state of our e c o n o m i c k n o w l e d g e is imperfect. of e c o n o m y expands. T he h o r i z o n s seem to e x t e n d as fast as o u r k n o w l e d g e F o o l i s h indeed is the p e r s o n a p p r o a c h i n g t o d a y ' s m o n e t a r y p o l i c y d e c i s i o n f r o m a d o c t r i n a i r e p o s ition. The e c o n o m i c facts, the t e c h n i q u e s of g a t h e r i n g them, the re l a t i v e w e i g h t s to be a s s i g n e d , ar e s h i f t i n g rapidly. A n d this is just the r e a d i n g of the signals. In d e t e r m i n i n g a c o u r s e of a c t i o n in the d e c i s i o n m a k i n g process, an even g r e a t e r p r e m i u m is p l a c e d u p o n the m i n d that takes n o t h i n g f o r granted. g r o u n d r ules are d i f f e r e n t than th e y w e r e even a y e a r ago. d i f f e r e n t six m o n t h s f r o m now. sooner. F o r the A n d they will be In fact, m a y I e x p r e s s the pi o u s hope -- e v e n Once the m a j o r m o n t h of N o v e m b e r has past, 5. the fiscal in e r t i a of the government may disappear. Personally, I feel r e l i a n c e u p o n m o n e t a r y p o l i c y a l o n e f o r the d e f e n s e of o u r e c o n o m y f r o m the a t t a c k s of i n f l a t i o n has gone a b o u t as far as it can go w i t h o u t s e r ious side effects. But the q u a n d a r y of the m o n e y m a n a g e r s is o n l y s y m p t o m a t i c of the f e r m e n t of o u r times. world" -- change, It is a h a c k n e y e d t r u i s m to say -- nthis is a c h a n g i n g I suspect, w i t h o u t purpose. a p p a r e n t dir e c t i o n . C e r t a i n l y there is little T he fo r m s life h as t a k e n on this e a r t h have r e p r e s e n t e d a d a p t a t i o n s to the c h a n g e s in the p h y s i c a l e n v i r o n m e n t . But n e w social a n d e c o n o m i c d i m e n s i o n s have b e e n a d d e d by m a n to h is e n v i r o n m e n t in h is a t t e m p t s to f ind the road to survival. We n ow hav e not o n l y the p r o b l e m s of a d j u s t i n g to the p h y s i c a l world, but the e v e n m o r e d i f f i c u l t one we have created. Re l a t i o n s h i p s b e t w e e n all the m a n y social clumps, a n d the m i n d b o g g l e s at the n u m b e r a nd va r i e t y , require constant adaptation. T r a d i t i o n a l c o n c e p t s and m e c h a n i s m s of a d j u s t m e n t w i l l not p r o v i d e the a n s wers, for the time d i m e n s i o n of c h a n g e has been d r a s t i c a l l y altered. conflict, We no l o n g e r t h i n k of irrter-generation but of in t r a - g e n e r a t i o n . Th e m e a t axe has been s u b s t i t u t e d f or the c h a i r m a n ’s gavel. w i t h the rate of a c c o m m o d a t i o n , I mpa t i e n t social and e c o n o m i c g r o u p s show a d i s t r e s s i n g and i n c r e a s i n g u n w i l l i n g n e s s to wa i t f o r the more l e i s u r e l y i n t e r a c t i o n of d i a l o g and the p o l l i n g booth. M o r a l i s t i c j u d g m e n t s a b o u t this b e i n g good or bad t end to o b s c u r e the fact that f u n d a m e n t a l c h a n g e s in social and e c o n o m i c r e l a t i o n s h i p s are in p r o c e s s at a g r e a t l y a c c e l e r a t e d rate. To m e e t this c h a l l e n g e -- and survive, i n t e l l e c t u a l l y an d s p i r i t u a l l y -- r e q u i r e s a q u a l i t y of m e n t a l a g i l i t y and f l e x i b i l i t y . E s s e ntial to this are a n t e n n a s e n s i t i v e to change, a w i l l i n g n e s s to test the n e w a g a i n s t the old, a n d the c o u r a g e to d i s c a r d the o b s o l e t e or reject the invalid. 6. As y ou have p r o b a b l y o b s e r v e d , e i t h e r m i n d or life itself. I do not b e l i e v e in c o m p a r t m e n t i n g The y e a r s of formal e d u c a t i o n at the best of i n s t i t u t i o n s -- and c e r t a i n l y this great u n i v e r s i t y is one of them, is m o s t i m p o r t a n t l y an e x p o s u r e to the l e a r n i n g / u n l e a r n i n g p r o c e s s ; the c o n t e n t of the c o u r s e s f or mo s t of you in n o n - t e c h n i c a l fi e l d s has b e e n the t e a c h i n g material -- the means, r a t h e r than the end. th o u g h t p a t h s g r o w over. A p r o c e s s m u s t be used, or the T h e r e are p e r m a n e n t v a l u e s -- and central to t h e m is the i n t e l l e c t u a l process. To quote A l d o u s H u x l e y in Brave New W orld Revisited -- T h e value, first of all, of i n d i v i d u a l freedom, b a s e d u p o n the facts of h u m a n d i v e r s i t y and g e n e t i c u n i q u e n e s s ; the v a l u e of c h a r i t y and c o m p a s s i o n , b a s e d u p o n the old f a m i l i a r fact, late l y r e d i s c o v e r e d by m o d e r n p s y c h i a t r y -- the fact that, w h a t e v e r t h e i r m e n t a l a nd p h y s i c a l d i v e r s i t y , love is as n e c e s s a r y to h u m a n b e i n g s as food and shelter; and f i n a l l y the v a l u e of i n t e l l i g e n c e , w i t h o u t w h i c h love is i m p o t e n t and f r e e d o m u n a t t a i n a b l e . 7.
@FedFRASER