Eliezer_Yudkowsky comments on Is Santa Real? - Less Wrong

19 Post author: thomblake 13 March 2009 08:45PM

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Comment author: JulianMorrison 22 March 2009 01:33:57PM 4 points [-]

I have to wonder what else you'd be teaching them alongside Santa, as a necessary corollary, that might not come unstuck when Santa himself does. At that young age, you are helping them create some pretty basic ground-state assumptions about reality.

Comment author: scotherns 23 March 2009 12:08:56PM 4 points [-]

I'm aiming for:

  • Some things are real, some are pretend
  • It can be hard to tell them apart, and even adults will disagree
  • Learning how to investigate and make up your own mind is more important than specific examples in either category