What is Thoreaus explanation of himself and what is his experiment.

Thoreau's explanation of his time at Walden pond was simple..... he was conducting an experiment. What he wanted to see and to prove was that he could survive on his own, and even more than that...... that he could thrive in an environment in which he took everything down to basics. The removal of all luxury left him with nothing more than pure simplicity, and he did thrive.