When I was reading the Tao of Pooh, I found myself getting somewhat defensive. Although I never would have guessed that I would identify myself so strongly with such a group, I felt under attack by the criticisms of scholars and scientists and et cetera. What's so wrong with knowledge? I know that the claim is that there are things that human beings will never fully understand, so why try? But still, I can't help feeling that not trying and not questing after new knowledge goes against human nature. And to go against human nature would be to go against the Tao, wouldn't it?
This idea of human nature, or inner nature, and the concept of trying not to go against it is another idea with which I took issue. Just like what I just said about trying to find the answers being a part of human nature, what if it is one's nature to be depressed? Or envious, jealous, greedy or any other negative trait? Piglet is indecisive and panicky, so wouldn't trying to not be so go against what he naturally is? I just don't quite understand how to fully separate what is natural from what is unnatural.
Another seemingly contradictory bit that I couldn't quite understand is the philosophy regarding helping others. There is a brief mention of how caring for others makes you courageous and allows you to, in critical situations, to act without necessarily having to think about acting. However, just a little bit before that section, there's a brief little bit that I found somewhat disturbing. When the narrator is talking to Pooh about getting information about the outside world, he flips on the radio for a second to hear a news report about a calamitous plane crash, and then immediately flips it off again. I can't really fault this action, because I'm sure we've all been in a situation where we just don't want to hear/see/read about something really horrible, but to me, the lesson he was trying to impart in all this is that you shouldn't care, because there's nothing you can do about it and you're just going to get bummed. If you ask me, this is fucked. Sure, maybe there's nothing Pooh and the narrator could have done about the plane crashes, but this attitude seems like a very poor one to have if you're also going to espouse the benefits of caring for others later on. After all, what if all the times that Pooh or Piglet came running to Christopher Robin for help because Roo was adrift in a river or Owl's house had tipped over, Christopher Robbin just thought "Oof, that's a shame, but I don't want to hear it because I don't want it to spoil my day." Good! Let your day be spoiled if it means helping someone else. I may be making too big of a deal over a tiny little section, but I feel like the Taoist philosophy of not meddling with things and allowing things to take their course is flawed for this reason. I say, meddle. Meddle like crazy. Answer questions, cure diseases, land on other planets.
One last thing and then I'll stop complaining. My last issue with this book and with Taoism in general is the idea that I can be happy if I so choose and that there is nothing preventing me from loving life. Easier said than done, my friends.
