Young kids don’t make a clear distinction between fantasy and reality. The process of coming to reject the Santa myth helps them clarify the distinction.
It’s interesting to me that young kids function as well as they do without the notions of true/false, real/pretend! What does “belief” even mean in that context? They change their beliefs from minute to minute to suit the situation.
Even for most adults, most beliefs are instrumental: We only separate true from false to the extent that it’s useful to do so!
The above strikes me as more true than false, but not true thanks to some combination of making its claim too strongly/too universally/via a kind of typical-mind channel.
If I had been trying to convey [my own version of this claim], I would have written something like:
The ability to make clear distinctions between fantasy and reality isn’t present in humans from birth. It’s absent in very young children, and doesn’t become possible until they’ve reached a certain age. The process of coming to reject the Santa myth is one of our culture’s tools for helping them make that distinction, though that comes with other downsides.
It’s interesting to me that very young kids function as well as they do without the notions of true/false, real/pretend, and that even some kids who are technically old enough to have made the shift still don’t bother to make the distinction. What does “belief” even mean in that context, for a person who changes their beliefs from minute to minute to suit the situation?
Even for most adults, it seems like most (or at least many) beliefs are instrumental. There are a lot of people who only separate true from false to the extent that it’s immediately/locally useful to do so.
… these hedges and caveats might feel like nitpicks, but they feel pretty important to me personally for not immediately losing track of what’s true! =P
Young kids don’t make a clear distinction between fantasy and reality. The process of coming to reject the Santa myth helps them clarify the distinction.
It’s interesting to me that young kids function as well as they do without the notions of true/false, real/pretend! What does “belief” even mean in that context? They change their beliefs from minute to minute to suit the situation.
Even for most adults, most beliefs are instrumental: We only separate true from false to the extent that it’s useful to do so!
The above strikes me as more true than false, but not true thanks to some combination of making its claim too strongly/too universally/via a kind of typical-mind channel.
If I had been trying to convey [my own version of this claim], I would have written something like:
… these hedges and caveats might feel like nitpicks, but they feel pretty important to me personally for not immediately losing track of what’s true! =P