the te of piglet

P: Choose a passage from the book that you particularly dislike and explain why.

R: I don't necessarily dislike this passage however it does confuse me a bit. In this section of the book Hoff explains the differences between Eastern and Western philosophy. In the west we tend to focus on ideas that are not necessarily applicable in daily life. We learn of the inter-workings of complex theories that we can't really use. I can see where this is true, as I'm currently in AP Calculus, I tend to question exactly where I'm going to need to know the derivative of the derivative of a function unless I was to become a calculus teacher in which case I wouldn't really be needing to know this because I'd just be teaching it to other people who could go on to become calculus teachers but no one was really using the things to do anything other than prove they know it's a useable concept that can be taught. In this sense, I relate. He goes on then to explain that in Eastern Philosophy they concentrate more on useful items that we will be able to use everyday. He goes on to list a pageful of every day items that the chinese have invented. What confuses me though is the thought that all of these practical items couldn't have been created with out some understanding of the complex theories that entail Western Philosophy. I feel like there must have been some kind of deep inter-workings behind the creation of the calculator right? He also says that the chinese invented the drilling for natural gas but previous to this he talks of how Taoism (an Eastern Philosophy) is all about working with nature rather than using it to our advantage. Slightly puzzling..