5 ms·
This isn't a lie in the way we'd typically talk about lies. It isn't meant to deceive. It's a myth. As a child grows and discovers that there isn't really a mo
by sparker72678 6y ago
This isn't a lie in the way we'd typically talk about lies. It isn't meant to deceive. It's a myth.
As a child grows and discovers that there isn't really a monster in the sea, are they going to resent their parents when they understand the explanation?
I think that's the difference here.
- darkerside 6y agoReminds me of Luke and Obi Wan. What the parents are saying is true, from a certain point of view.
- gameswithgo 6y agoPerhaps these kinds of magical ideas that we teach our kids makes them more susceptible to believing various religions/cults are real. That would be a downside.
- riffraff 6y agounless, to quote the late Terry Pratchett[0], we _need_ to learn the little lies so we can believe the big ones. Justice, Mercy, Duty, that sort of thing. :) [0] https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/583655-hogfather https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/583655-hogfather
- dmos62 6y agoWhen you stigmatize suspension of disbelief (myths, stories), you setup the child to chronically suspend belief. You get a person who can only value what can be pointed to and measured. A gullible person is bad, but the other extreme is no better.
- NortySpock 6y agoDo you have a citation for that last claim?
- shard 6y agoNot the OP, but in the book Impro, Keith Johnstone strongly lamented the suppression of imagination in and by grown-ups. He wrote: "Most children can operate in a creative way until they are eleven or twelve, when suddenly they lose their spontaneity, and produce imitations of 'adult art'." He cites schools suppressing imagination as a factor, saying that, "The research so far shows that imaginative children are disliked by their teachers." I feel that suspension of disbelief and imagination are closely related, as a lack of suspension of disbelief will close you off to many avenues of imagination.
- dmos62 6y agoThanks for that response. It's funny that you mention Keith Johnstone, because I'm rereading him now. The suspension of disbelief v. suspension of belief concept comes from a writing pedagogue named Peter Elbow (highly recommended if you enjoyed Keith Johnstone).