4 ms·

Non-truths/falsehoods and lies aren’t the same thing, unless you’re in an Intro Philosophy logic class.

• gruez 5y ago
  >Non-truths/falsehoods and lies aren’t the same thing You're right, but the distinction in this case is far less clear than you make it out to be. The santa claus story has a social engineering component to it. Specifically, that an omniscient entity is monitoring your behavior and will give you gifts if you behave well. Given that, it's arguably a case of intentional deception (ie. lies). Absent christmas/santa claus being a cultural phenomena, telling your kids that they should behave well because there's an omniscient entity monitoring them, would be clearly a lie.
  • 7952 5y ago
    I think kids lack a clear distinction between imagination and the real world. They can believe something at one level and disbelieve at another without feeling the inconsistency. That can be a great skill to have that adults lose. But also makes the world more scary.
    • dTal 5y ago
      I think this is exactly backwards. Kids "believe in" Santa Claus in the same sense they believe in school and picnics - they listen for reindeer noises and hope to get a glimpse of him, and as far as they are concerned he exists in the same corporeal universe. It is only adults who possess the cognitive compartmentalization to "believe in" absurdities like the transubstantiation of wine into the blood of Christ, without it ever occurring to them to wonder what blood type it is, or whether it might be a useful source for transfusions.