S02 E02 – How to live a better life by being more childlike?

Man suffers because he takes seriously what the gods made for fun.

ALAN WATTS

A thought that every adult encounters ever so often is centred around the idea of how life was better when they were a kid, when they were more childlike. I think there are a lot of life lessons in this train of thought, and that is the epicentre of today’s episode of The Unlearning Playground.

Even The Bible reportedly says something to the tune of “No one enters the kingdom of God until he is childlike.” Please note that the call is to be childlike, not childish. There is a world of difference between the two words, and I explore that too in this episode.

I think that the various tips I give out here are central to living a good life as an adult, central to living your life to the fullest as a grown-up. The playfulness, spontaneity and flexibility of childhood is something that has captured the imagination of so many philosophers already – Alan Watts, Osho, Sadhguru, Jordan Peterson, Sandeep Maheshwari to name a few. So, here I am throwing my hat in the ring too on the same.

I hope this episode lands, and leaves you with a better life.
Until next time.
Peace out.

The Bible says that no one enters the kingdom of God until he is childlike. What does this mean? How can you lead a better life by being more childlike. Join Chetan Narang as he dives deep into this question in episode 2 of season 2 of The Unlearning Playground, a self improvement, spirituality & philosophy podcast and youtube channel.

00:00Intro
02:12Was life better as a kid?
10:14Being more spontaneous and expressive
22:36Being more playful
36:19Being more open and flexible
48:51Recap and concluding thoughts

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The Unlearning Playground Podcast, a popular philosophy and spirituality podcast by Chetan Narang, on Apple Podcasts

The Unlearning Playground Podcast, a popular philosophy and spirituality podcast by Chetan Narang on Spotify

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S02 E01 – What is the purpose of Life, and how to find yours?

What you seek, is seeking you.

Rumi

One of the most fundamental questions every person asks at some point in their lives is – “What is the purpose of life?”. Not surprisingly at all, this is also one question that most of us learn to suppress very early on in our lives.

In this episode, the first of season two of the unlearning playground podcast, I dive into this question head on. I think that the modalities discussed here – of being & becoming, of life & Life, of priorities, of sacrifices and of our soul’s calling – are of utmost importance in truly grasping this ever-evasive question.

It is ok to feel lost sometimes, it happens to everyone.
It is ok to feel stuck sometimes, it happens to everyone.
It is ok to not know what to do next sometimes, it happens to everyone.

However, I have come to realise that we should not be ok with not doing anything about such feelings. Most of what needs to be done has more to do with the stance we approach them with.

As you will find it in this episode, this is not a direct invitation to change WHAT you do, in the sense of quitting your job and following your “passion”. Although there is something to be said about that being absolutely necessary at times.

Rather, this is an invitation firstly to change HOW you are going about your life – how you’re looking at your life, how you view your job, your relationships, your career, your purpose, your questions, your conversations and all the rest of Life.

This is an absolutely vital episode in the grand scope of all of my work at the unlearning playground I would say.

What is the purpose of Life? And how can you find your purpose and passion in Life? Join Chetan Narang as he dives deep into this question in the first episode of season 2 of The Unlearning Playground, a self improvement, spirituality & philosophy podcast.

00:00Introduction
02:50Why talk about this at all? The crisis of meaning today’s age
09:52The two modalities – being & becoming
10:51Being – life vs Life 
23:59Becoming
31:28How to find your purpose?
48:38Priorities
56:18Sacrifices & your soul’s calling
01:01:19Concluding thoughts

Check it out on your platform of choice.

The Unlearning Playground Podcast, a popular philosophy and spirituality podcast by Chetan Narang, on Apple Podcasts

The Unlearning Playground Podcast, a popular philosophy and spirituality podcast by Chetan Narang on Spotify

The Unlearning Playground Podcast, a popular philosophy and spirituality podcast by Chetan Narang on Amazon Music

The Unlearning Playground Podcast, a popular philosophy and spirituality podcast by Chetan Narang, on Google Podcasts

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Episode 42 – The end of season 1, and the start of something better

“Enough. These few words are enough.
If not these words, this breath.
If not this breath, this sitting here.
This opening to life we have refused again and again,
until now.
Until now.”

David Whyte, Where Many Rivers Meet

Endings are hard indeed. But if we keep ourselves stuck in the same old same old, we hold ourselves back to what might be.

And therefore, like a snake must shed its old skin someday to allow a new layer to flourish, I end season 1 of The Unlearning Playground podcast today with this episode.

I talk about 2 major updates about the content you can expect from The Unlearning Playground in the months to come, with the first major announcement being the launch of my new series of content – Ask a human, not an AI.

Check out the “Ask a human, not an AI” homepage here.

Also, I’m still collecting feedbacks for all my content thus far, so share your opinions with me here.

P.S. You can be anonymous with the form too.

That’s about it.

Super psyched about the new season.
Until next time.
Peace out.

The last episode of season 1 of The Unlearning Playground Podcast, where Chetan Narang talks about what's new and coming in the unlearning playground and introduces his new series of content - Ask a human, not an AI

Check it out on your platform of choice.

The Unlearning Playground Podcast, a popular philosophy and spirituality podcast by Chetan Narang, on Apple Podcasts

The Unlearning Playground Podcast, a popular philosophy and spirituality podcast by Chetan Narang on Spotify

The Unlearning Playground Podcast, a popular philosophy and spirituality podcast by Chetan Narang on Amazon Music

The Unlearning Playground Podcast, a popular philosophy and spirituality podcast by Chetan Narang, on Google Podcasts

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Episode 41 – What should all parents & managers realise? (9 min)

In the end, we’re all walking each other home.

RAM DASS

As we grow up, we take up positions of power or at least aspire to do so at some point. That could mean becoming a parent, taking up a managerial position in your workplace, or any other relationship where you can have a substantial impact on the life of another person.

In all such relationships, I think there is something that is usually missing in the advices, suggestions and trainings all of us seek out and therefore, receive.

In this short episode, I discuss that one missing advice, and try to make a case for it.
I think it’s fundamentally applicable to all our relationships, especially the kind I talked about above.

Check it out, and share with your friends & family to help it reach out to more people.
It’ll be worth their time too, I promise.
Until next time.
Peace out.

Any position of power where you can influence another person's life is one of immense responsibility. In this episode of The Unlearning Playground Podcast, Chetan Narang talks about this topic, discussing what gets missed out usually when parenting tips and managerial advices are sought out and given. He also share 5 must read non fiction book recommendations along the same lines of self improvement.

Check it out on your platform of choice.

The Unlearning Playground Podcast, a popular philosophy and spirituality podcast by Chetan Narang, on Apple Podcasts

The Unlearning Playground Podcast, a popular philosophy and spirituality podcast by Chetan Narang on Spotify

The Unlearning Playground Podcast, a popular philosophy and spirituality podcast by Chetan Narang, on Stitcher

The Unlearning Playground Podcast, a popular philosophy and spirituality podcast by Chetan Narang on Amazon Music

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Episode 40 – Powerful life lessons from the Jason Bourne movies (5 min)

BE HERE NOW.

There are some movies that sometimes, out of the blue, end up teaching you life lessons that stay with you forever. I understand it to be very unlikely that an action thriller movie franchise would make the cut to such a list, but it is what it is I guess.

What is Jason Bourne about? If you had asked me this question some years ago, my answer would have been very different than what I can say about it now.

Having recently revisited these brilliant movies, I can safely say that the perspective with which I watched Jason Bourne this time around really helped me catch the drift of the storyline much better than before. And one powerful life lesson came striking out at me, which is what this short video is all about.

I would really recommend everyone to watch all the movies again, and this time with the perspective I talk about in this episode.

So without further ado, let’s get into it.
Let’s see what Jason Bourne has to teach us.
And was he any good at it.

Until next time.
Peace out.

The Jason Bourne movies are not only some of the best action thriller movies in Hollywood, but also have some powerful life lessons for everyone. In this episode of The Unlearning Playground Podcast, Chetan Narang talks about the Jason Bourne movies and the life lessons therein.

Check it out on your platform of choice.

The Unlearning Playground Podcast, a popular philosophy and spirituality podcast by Chetan Narang, on Apple Podcasts

The Unlearning Playground Podcast, a popular philosophy and spirituality podcast by Chetan Narang on Spotify

The Unlearning Playground Podcast, a popular philosophy and spirituality podcast by Chetan Narang, on Stitcher

The Unlearning Playground Podcast, a popular philosophy and spirituality podcast by Chetan Narang on Amazon Music

The Unlearning Playground Podcast, a popular philosophy and spirituality podcast by Chetan Narang, on Google Podcasts

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Episode 39 – What is equality & where is it going absolutely wrong in 2023 (19 min)

In terms of outcomes, nobody is equal to anybody.
Even the same man is not equal to himself on different days.

THOMAS SOWELL

Equality is a topic that is central to any relationship, family, community and society.

And that makes it an extremely important subject to discuss, especially in today’s world where like anything else it is subject to a host of interpretations and biases and opinions.

In this episode, I delve into this topic in some detail.

I talk about what is equality, how we are measuring it, how we ought to think about it and (I can’t stress enough how important this is) where we are going wrong with it as of 2023.

I think this is one topic that must be properly understood by everyone, especially in 2023. And what’s more, if misunderstood, it can lead to the divisions we find so prevalent in our society even today.

Let’s see if I can do justice to the claims above.
Only one way to find out. Dig right in.
Until next time.
Peace out.

What is equality and where is it going wrong in 2023? This is one topic that everyone should understand properly, should be included in every education system too, especially the concept of equality vs equity. In this episode of The Unlearning Playground Podcast, Chetan Narang talks about this topic in some detail.

00:00Intro
00:51What is equality?
01:26How do you measure equality?
02:10Equality of opportunity
03:49Equality of outcome
04:52The gender pay gap
08:55Thomas Sowell, equity & equality
12:11Equality in absolutely stupid things
14:19Expecting equality where there can be none
16:22Equality in the Indian context
17:47Closing, with a Thomas Sowell quote

Check it out on your platform of choice.

The Unlearning Playground Podcast, a popular philosophy and spirituality podcast by Chetan Narang, on Apple Podcasts

The Unlearning Playground Podcast, a popular philosophy and spirituality podcast by Chetan Narang on Spotify

The Unlearning Playground Podcast, a popular philosophy and spirituality podcast by Chetan Narang, on Stitcher

The Unlearning Playground Podcast, a popular philosophy and spirituality podcast by Chetan Narang on Amazon Music

The Unlearning Playground Podcast, a popular philosophy and spirituality podcast by Chetan Narang, on Google Podcasts

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Episode 38 – The courage to be disliked book summary : 4 powerful life lessons (14 min)

“Your unhappiness cannot be blamed on your past or your environment. And it isn’t that you lack competence. You just lack courage. One might say you are lacking in the courage to be happy.”

Ichiro Kishimi (The courage to be disliked)

The courage to be disliked is a life changing book, if there ever was one.

I do not say the above statement lightly. As someone who has spent a good few years reading, devouring & digesting multiple non fiction books, of the self help kind, of the philosophy kind, of the psychology kind etc, I have a certain level of discernment now when it comes to recommending books.

This book is, in fact, the most recent addition to my list of favourite books.

In this episode of the unlearning playground podcast, I wanted to get into a brief summary of what the courage to be disliked is all about and why I recommend it (and in fact also gift it) to almost everyone looking for some must read books.

I also share 4 key unlearnings (read life lessons) I think everyone should gather from this book, so even if I am not able to encourage you enough to pick this book for yourself, at least spend 14 minutes with me on this episode so that you get a glimpse of the nectar it has to offer.

If I’m able to encourage you enough, you know what to do with the button below.

The courage to be disliked is one of the best non fiction books you would ever read. In this episode of The Unlearning Playground Podcast, Chetan Narang provides a summary of this book. He talks about 4 key learnings and unlearnings everyone can have via this beautiful book.

00:00Why this book
00:32Intro to the courage to be disliked
02:04How this book is different than most others
03:09What I love the most about this book
03:50A summary of the book summary
04:31Life lesson 1 – Trauma does not exist
06:28Life lesson 2 – The separation of tasks
08:00Life lesson 3 – Life lies
09:54Life lesson 4 – A bigger perspective of life
10:55What I don’t like about this book
13:02An invitation, in closing

Check it out on your platform of choice.

The Unlearning Playground Podcast, a popular philosophy and spirituality podcast by Chetan Narang, on Apple Podcasts

The Unlearning Playground Podcast, a popular philosophy and spirituality podcast by Chetan Narang on Spotify

The Unlearning Playground Podcast, a popular philosophy and spirituality podcast by Chetan Narang, on Stitcher

The Unlearning Playground Podcast, a popular philosophy and spirituality podcast by Chetan Narang on Amazon Music

The Unlearning Playground Podcast, a popular philosophy and spirituality podcast by Chetan Narang, on Google Podcasts

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Episode 37 – Apple vision pro launch | The good, the bad and the ugly (12 min)

There’s no wifi in the forest, but I promise you’ll find a better connection.

Just this last week (early-June 2023), Apple released a video introducing The Apple Vision Pro.

It is a first-generation AR/VR headset, and Apple claims that with this device, the era of spatial computing is here. They claim this to be a life-changing technology.

In this episode of The Unlearning Playground podcast, I decided to record my first impressions about this new device, which is a part of a booming field in technology now – Augmented reality and Virtual reality. My thoughts are divided into three broad categories – the good, the bad & the ugly.

I think what you are about to consume in this episode would serve to be a contrarian viewpoint, when compared to most other videos out there on the internet about the apple vision pro.

Also, consider it to be a genuine request from my side, I want you to stay with me till the ugly part of this episode. That is where the real nectar lies. Trust me.

Apple released a launch video for the apple vision pro just last week, and I could see 3 ways of thinking about it that are contrarian to what is the general theme of discussions I see happening around it. So, in this episode of The Unlearning Playground podcast, I, Chetan Narang, talk about this new "life-changing" technology and the good, the bad and the ugly parts of it.

<OUTLINE>
00:00The apple vision pro launch
01:03The “good” stuff
02:11The “bad” stuff
02:24The apple vision pro price considerations
03:32The “ugly” stuff
05:41Photos, videos, memories & technology
08:20Utility & corporate jargons
11:03An invitation, in closing

Check it out on your platform of choice.

The Unlearning Playground Podcast, a popular philosophy and spirituality podcast by Chetan Narang, on Apple Podcasts

The Unlearning Playground Podcast, a popular philosophy and spirituality podcast by Chetan Narang on Spotify

The Unlearning Playground Podcast, a popular philosophy and spirituality podcast by Chetan Narang, on Stitcher

The Unlearning Playground Podcast, a popular philosophy and spirituality podcast by Chetan Narang on Amazon Music

The Unlearning Playground Podcast, a popular philosophy and spirituality podcast by Chetan Narang, on Google Podcasts

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Episode 36 – Sleep tips from a sleep expert | Why we sleep by Matthew Walker book review (15 min)

“The best bridge between despair and hope is a good night’s sleep.”

E. Joseph Cossman

Why we sleep is an internationally bestselling book by Matthew Walker, an English scientist and professor of neuroscience and psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. He is someone who’s widely regarded as one of the foremost sleep experts in the world.

In this episode, I talk about everything I learnt, and unlearnt, via this brilliant book. I can safely say that it is one of the best non fiction book recommendations of 2023 from me.

The amount of information he covers in this book is simply mind blowing. In close to 400 pages, he condenses close to twenty years of cutting-edge research on sleep and what every person should understand about it.

He talks about HOW MUCH one should sleep.
He talks about HOW one should sleep.
And he talks about WHEN one should sleep.

And of course, he touches upon various different aspects of these three massive areas – the role that caffeine plays in our sleep, the adverse effects of alcohol & smoking on a good night’s sleep, the positive effects of watching sunlight directly at sunrise & sunset, etc.

And what’s more – he also gives a bunch of real-life tips that you can directly apply to your everyday life as we speak. For instance, he talks in great detail about how to fix your sleep cycle in case it is messed up.

I think overall this is a brilliant book, and if you are one of those people who think they’ll never really get to reading it, you should check out this summary episode of mine where I cover 9 key tips that I learnt, or unlearnt, via it.

Why we sleep is an internally bestselling book by sleep expert Matthew Walker. In this episode of The Unlearning Playground podcast, Chetan Narang talks about 9 keys tips on how to sleep better.


00:00Intro
00:503 main learnings from this book
01:25It matters HOW MUCH you sleep. More than 5 hours daily?
03:09How much should you sleep?
04:09REM & Non-REM sleep – which is more important?
05:43It matters HOW we sleep
05:59Sleep only on weekends bio hack
07:11Alcohol and sleep. Does alcohol help in sleeping better?
08:20Exercise and sleep
08:44It matters WHEN we sleep
08:55Working late at night and cancer!
10:05Circadian rhythm explained
11:08Why your sleep cycle is messed up?
12:00How to fix your sleep cycle?
13:16Caffeine and sleep. How coffee disrupts sleep?
15:22Recap

Check it out on your platform of choice.

The Unlearning Playground Podcast, a popular philosophy and spirituality podcast by Chetan Narang, on Apple Podcasts

The Unlearning Playground Podcast, a popular philosophy and spirituality podcast by Chetan Narang on Spotify

The Unlearning Playground Podcast, a popular philosophy and spirituality podcast by Chetan Narang, on Stitcher

The Unlearning Playground Podcast, a popular philosophy and spirituality podcast by Chetan Narang on Amazon Music

The Unlearning Playground Podcast, a popular philosophy and spirituality podcast by Chetan Narang, on Google Podcasts

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Episode 35 – The fundamental attribution error & how to avoid it (4 min)

“He who blames others has a long way to go on his journey.
He who blames himself is halfway there.
He who blames no one has arrived.”

ZEN PROVERB

Most people wish to become better at handling and resolving conflicts, but out of the dozen or so things that get in the way, one of the main blockers is the fundamental attribution error.

It sounds like a bit of a mouthful, but it is actually one of the easiest cognitive biases to understand. Of course the precursor being that you actually want to understand better rather than seek validation for what you think is already right.

In this episode of The Unlearning Playground Podcast, I delve into this topic in an easy-to-understand and simple manner. I talk about what this cognitive bias, the fundamental attribution error, really is, how to spot it in your everyday life and I also suggest 3 ways to help overcome it in situations where we most need to.

I think, once you get to seeing things from the perspective I try to build in this video, you would be well on your way to managing conflicts in a much more responsible and mature manner. This should enable you to be better at people skills which, as any adult in the room would tell you, is eventually what most of life is about.

I’ll see you in the playground.
Hope you bring an open mind and an honest heart.
Until next time.
Peace out.

The fundamental attribution error gets in the way of proper conflict management and resolution for everyone who isn't aware of it. In episode 35 of The Unlearning Playground podcast, Chetan Narang talks about 3 advices on how to identify and tackle it in our everyday lives to ensure healthy relationships, both personal and professional

00:00Intro
00:22The fundamental attribution error
01:17An everyday life example
01:47The importance of understanding this
02:19Advice 1
02:55Advice 2
03:31Advice 3
04:02Recap

Check it out on your platform of choice.

The Unlearning Playground Podcast, a popular philosophy and spirituality podcast by Chetan Narang, on Apple Podcasts

The Unlearning Playground Podcast, a popular philosophy and spirituality podcast by Chetan Narang on Spotify

The Unlearning Playground Podcast, a popular philosophy and spirituality podcast by Chetan Narang, on Stitcher

The Unlearning Playground Podcast, a popular philosophy and spirituality podcast by Chetan Narang on Amazon Music

The Unlearning Playground Podcast, a popular philosophy and spirituality podcast by Chetan Narang, on Google Podcasts

Or listen on the custom player below