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Walden, a la Shmoop. Thoreau... is a bit of a tree-hugger.

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In fact, he loves trees so much that we wouldn't be surprised if they did more than just hug.

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Hey, as long as the tree is of age, who are we to judge?

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In Walden, Thoreau embarks on an experiment to discover more about human nature...

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...by pretty much barricading himself in a remote cabin near Walden Pond.

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No telephone, no television, no Playstation.

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Man, we hope he brought a deck of cards.

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Okay, so there may not have been many electronic gadgets in his day...

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...but even still, "spending quality time with a pond" probably wasn't on most of his

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contemporaries' bucket lists. So... a valiant experiment... but can it work?

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In other words... can you really learn about human nature...

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...by removing yourself from the company of other humans?

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We get what Thoreau was trying to do.

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There were a lot of distractions in the world, even back then...

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...and he was trying to get rid of all the emotional clutter, so he could really get

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in touch with his inner self. So maybe he was onto something.

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Maybe by giving himself time to sit, think and reflect...

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...he had a chance to come to certain conclusions about life that other people didn't.

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At the very least, he didn't have anyone banging down the bathroom door, demanding that he

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spend less time on the toilet. But, although Thoreau retired to his cabin

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to focus on nature, he didn't avoid human contact altogether.

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Occasionally, he would have someone over, and would even go into town once in a while.

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So was he just trying to learn about human nature by... cutting back on humans?

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Almost like he was on a... "people" diet? It's possible he found a way to strike a good

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balance...

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...so that he could commune with Mother Nature without cutting himself off from society completely...

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...or did he just have trouble spending every day, all day talking to his water lilies?

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Then again, does spending time in nature teach us about... human nature?

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Don't we need that daily interaction with other people to teach us about ourselves?

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After all, the way we deal with others shapes the type of person we become.

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If we had a domineering father, did we follow in his footsteps or rebel against him?

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How did our first romantic rejection affect our view of love?

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Did we let that woman who spit at us on the subway ruin our entire day?

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So... we're glad that Thoreau was able to get a little R&R...

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...but we wonder if he actually accomplished what he set out to accomplish.

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Could enveloping himself in nature really help him learn more about the human condition?

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Was the peace and quiet all he needed to arrive at some weighty revelations?

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Was... reducing his daily people intake... and finding a balance... the answer?

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Or was he on a fool's errand... futilely attempting to learn about the soul while surrounding

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himself with shrubbery? Shmoop amongst yourselves.

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