_______________________ THE WORLD OF LEARNING Dylan Holmes _______________________ 28/Nov/2021 Pokemon carries such a unique atmosphere. Isn't it strange how it blends mystical nature spirits and superadvanced solarpunk technology? And the experience of the story conjures up such gentle sunny feelings---nostalgia, exploration, independence, security, sportsmanship, wonder. What makes it work so well? I think the secret to Pokemon is that it is, simply put, an allegory about how wonderful it is to grow up. 1 The child's quest to understand ================================= See, a child's main activity is to learn about the world. You can view the whole quest of Pokemon as an allegory for a child's quest to understand everything there is. The technological tools---the pokedex, pokeballs, PC, and so on---represent the powers of the intellect. When you learn something new, or have a new experience, you get a version of it to carry with you in your mind. That, I think, is what happens when you capture something in a pokeball. You are gathering concepts in pokeballs. You are filling out a digital journal to remember what you've seen. You are being judicious about what you carry with you. You are trying to uncover everything there is in the world, and who can say how much there is? This is the reason why everyone you meet in that world has their own pokemon and often their own established theme (all water types, or all baby pokemon, for example). Of course they do---that's the nature of real life, where everyone you meet has their own knowledge and way of seeing the world. (And, by the way, adults often have strongly established identities, while children might still be piecing theirs together.) It's only natural for curious and intellectual children to test their ideas against everyone they meet. This perspective, by the way, helps explain why some common criticisms of Pokemon don't stick---why capturing pokemon is not animal abuse, why Pokemon battles are /not/ just dogfighting, and why befriending pokemon is not consorting with demons: Your experiences aren't "imprisoned" in your mind; they're alive and growing. As for battles, a healthy meeting of the minds causes no bloodshed and leaves everyone better off even when---or especially when---some ideas lose out. And although seeking out new ideas /can/ be dangerous, especially to close-minded doctrines, the risk is generally just a manageable occupational hazard of being curious. It's the tall grass of the unfamiliar. 2 Living wonders are everywhere =============================== The adventure in Pokemon exquisitely evokes the feeling of a kid exploring, becoming aquainted with all the small mysteries of how things live: what made these footprints, when this chrysalis will emerge, how the plant symbiote grows, where this animal is going. You feel the landscape, the coursing water, the white stones. You see the surprising color of the crayfish. The weird slime things on the rock. You sense that you will grow in so many ways. You will learn so much of the world around you. I'm reminded that a person's curiosity and wonder can give a soul to anything. The world of Pokemon is animistic---every aspect, including its plants and rocks and insects, has a little spirit to embody it, like an oddish or a geodude or a beedrill. Just as a child learns some concrete idea in our world, a pokemon trainer captures one of these little spirits. These captured spirits---little understandings---can evolve, but only when challenged. Only with the spirit of life and growth. Evolution comes from battle experience, or trading with others, or from stones (a kind of living principle). Isn't that just right? Incidentally, I think it's important these spirits can be found everywhere---even a computer has a nature spirit, the porygon. Pokemon consistently presents a harmony of the ancient and futuristic, nature and civilization. The allegorical explanation is that in life, every real child meets a world that is both old and new: on one hand, you discover a world that is deeply rooted, with a lot of history to explain why things are how they are and how long they've been that way. On the other, your world is also vibrant and dynamic, with a living spark of the modern age---technology and the river of life and all the experiences that await. From your perspective, you are the newest addition to the world, and so your life involves navigating between these two landscapes---history and the horizon. This truth about childhood is mirrored by the world of Pokemon, where mystic nature spirits and futuristic technology meet. I think the balance between the two is especially notable: Pokemon is neither a story about the heavy weight of history and the untamed wilderness, nor a story about ephemeral fast-paced gadgetry. It is a story about these forces in balance. Its optimism is holistic: both the ancient and modern worlds are alive with curiosities; there is much yet to be discovered. Everything can become your special interest. Everything can carry deep meaning. Think of the exhilaration of a natural history museum, how it brings fossils to life. Think of being curious about pollution and urbanization and our relationship to the natural world, and notice the industrial pokemon. Personally, I think of ho-oh flying overhead. I think of a private sense of wonderment---a child's joy at life itself. 3 The intellect can be used virtuously ====================================== All this adventuring begins at home. You inherit your first ideas from the place that you grew up. You must go out and learn from other people and places in order to succeed. Sometimes the quest is hard going. Sometimes, for example, you meet ideas that are too big for you at first and it takes some more maturity before you can master them. At the same time, you can have courage because you know you are, at least, already prepared to /see/ them. In the end, the biggest antagonists in Pokemon are Team Rocket. If Pokemon is a story about a child learning to think, then Team Rocket represents how that intellect can be misused. Instead of seeking knowledge for curiosity's sake, Rocket seeks it for power's sake. They want rare pokemon just in order to sell them. They want powerful pokemon in order to dominate and exploit others. "All pokemon exist for the glory of Team Rocket". I think of leader Sabrina, whose intellect made her cold and unfeeling. For her, mental powers are a blugeoning tool. You've probably met plenty of people like this, who are trapped in an absolutist logical frame of mind: can you beat me outright, or are you a useless child? Can your intelligence keep up, or are you a failure? But of course, the appropriate reply is to be gentle: "I matter in any case; I am learning and growing. None of us is all-powerful and none of us needs to be in order to be capable of giving and receiving love." In the end, Sabrina breaks free of her way of thinking by remembering how to laugh helplessly. I also think about mewtwo, the manufactured skew-clone that Giovanni made in order to dominate the embryonic spirit of life itself. His goal was, again, unchecked personal power. And the lesson is not that human invention is bad---Pokemon is refreshingly enthusiastic about science and technology and all kinds of unholy hacking (remember Bill?). Professors and researchers are around every corner, unusually so. Instead, the lesson is simply that Giovanni did not approach his knowledge, science, and subjects with proper respect. He became a dark wizard for whom knowledge was a destructive force. On the other side, Professor Oak is Giovanni's mirror image. He represents the virtuous approach to life, with knowledge that flows from love and curiosity. Professor Oak gives you a good start to your journey and an archetype of the kind of person you can become. And by the way, if it has ever seemed strange that Professor Oak gave you an empty pokedex, remember that this world is not his childhood---it's yours.