Re: virus:santaclause & the easter bunny
rpc man (rpcman@hotmail.com)
Mon, 01 Dec 1997 09:14:57 PST
>>speaking of santa.. I don't know if you have kids, but if you did
what
>>would you tell your kids. (I'm speaking mainly to David, because I'm
>>interested in how this fits with his rational thought system) is this
a
>>hypocrisy?
>
>Interesting example. I remember discussing this with Sean Morgan in
reference
>to his young daughter a couple years ago. He thought (and I agree) that
the
>Santa Claus myth provides a very valuable lesson. Eventually the kid
will find
>out that Santa Claus doesn't exist, and indeed *could not* exist given
his
>purported powers. Hopefully the realization will come that adults'
beliefs
>(or espoused beliefs) are not necessarily true, so maybe similar myths
>involving magical characters withholding gifts contingent on displaying
>regulated behavior will be examined more critically.
>
>So is hypocrisy justified in limited cases? I'm still not sure. Maybe
when
>you're dealing with people that should be treated like children.
As one with a soon to be 2 year old, I have first-hand experience on
this issue. I don't think teaching myth *as fact* is a good thing for
kids so I don't want to teach my kid about santa as though he were real.
My wife disagrees.
In any case, you may find the contents of this page on the topic to be
interesting:
http://www.california.com/~rpcman/santa.htm
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