Scivillage.com Casual Discussion Science Forum

Merry Christmas

Postmodern Jukebox: "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer" (Elmo & Patsy)... https://youtu.be/yHqZQve0KWc


The 1979 original is here: https://youtu.be/MgIwLeASnkw

---

Ho ho hoaxing!
https://junkyardofthemind.com/blog/2024/...ho-hoaxing

INTRO: “Should we put Santa Claus on the ‘naughty list’?” Last Christmas, Nursery World (a childcare magazine) asked this question to an interdisciplinary panel, including James Mahon, a philosopher of deception. Mahon’s answer was a clear “yes”:

“Santa Claus is not a fictional character. Santa Claus is a lie character. There’s an important difference. Harry Potter is a fictional character. Children are not supposed to believe that Harry Potter exists. But children are supposed to believe Santa Claus exists.”

Lying, for Mahon, is naughty, making Christmas a “tainted holiday”. He urges adults to stop lying to children, and to turn Santa into a fictional character instead.

I partly agree with Mahon. He is right to correct anyone who mistakenly categorizes Santa as a fictional character. Hark now, however… Santa is also not a ‘lie character’. Santa is a ‘hoax character’!

Analytic philosophers of fiction and deception have thus far not paid much attention to hoaxing... (MORE - details)

For a start, Santa can make sensible decisions concerning what the child wants and what the parents can actually afford or tolerate.
Santa gives an early introduction to the idea that saying and/or believing a thing exists doesn't mean it actually exists.
Santa is neither a lie nor a hoax. Santa is a token of the relationship between a parent and a child.

If you don't believe in a God, Santa is a useful way to teach children about objectivity, as Santa is always watching and it teaches a child to view their own actions from an outside perspective. Elf on a shelf serves a similar purpose. Christmas gifts are just a more immediately tangible result than karma or heaven.

(Dec 23, 2024 10:19 PM)Syne Wrote: [ -> ]If you don't believe in a God, Santa is a useful way to teach children about objectivity, as Santa is always watching and it teaches a child to view their own actions from an outside perspective. Elf on a shelf serves a similar purpose. Christmas gifts are just a more immediately tangible result than karma or heaven.

Nice one! I wish I'd thought of that.