Journal Entry 28: Great, Old Knowledge

In the story “In Trouble” by Gary Paulsen, Paulsen concludes by saying of the dogs that “they had great, old knowledge; they had something we had lost.” What do you think he means by this? What is “old knowledge”? Why is it “great”? What kinds of knowledge do you think humans may have lost, and why do you think we lost it?

I think the great knowledge that we humans have lost, unlike the animals is the love of nature, and they don't take more than they need. Animals always take what they need, like eating just enough to be full, not like humans who sometimes hunt for fun and that resulted in many animals' instinct. Humans are also a little too competitive and we all want power. Now, everyone wants to be the best, the controller, and in the end we're just hurting others and ourselves (sometimes, too). Sometimes, we even betray our loved ones and back-stab each other, I bet animals don't do that. Animals have a much simpler life and they just plain fight when they have a disagreement, unlike humans who bury their hatred deep within them and plot revenge, or use nuclear weapons to harm not only the ones they hate but also other innocent people. Humans have really contaminated the Earth, and yet, we're still wasting a lot of electricity and all the resources. Animals who have done nothing (at least a lot less than humans) to cause global warming and all kinds of disasters the Earth is "going through" because of the humans, have to sacrifice and share the same fate as us, which is totally unfair.