The Importance of Personal Experience and Realistic Secondhand Knowledge

Paulsen laments that people learn less and less by personal experience and real secondhand knowledge, and more and more from drama-infused secondhand knowledge. This is very dangerous for people, even in situations where survival is not in play.

Paulsen speaks about the romanticized, dramaticized view of nature that prevents common sense and survival. He uses the example of a child feeding a deer while the child’s mother watches on, ignoring a Do Not Feed the Deer sign. This in turn leads to the death of the child when the deer strikes the child with his hooves. It is something that may have been preventable with proper knowledge.

In writing Hatchet and the ensuing Brian novels, Paulsen wanted to make sure that he was conveying accurate and real information to readers. Even Paulsen’s book Guts spares no expense to...