rwallace comments on On Juvenile Fiction - Less Wrong

24 Post author: MBlume 17 March 2009 08:53AM

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Comment author: gjm 17 March 2009 12:31:04PM 6 points [-]

Consider, e.g., books in which magical things go on. Narnia or Harry Potter, say. I wouldn't worry much about children becoming serious believers in magic as a result of reading such books, or actually expecting that if they crawl into a wardrobe they might find themselves in another world. On the other hand, in such stories it's usually true on some level that Good Always Wins In The End, or that Love Conquers All (for some notion of "love", usually not the same one as in escapist material for adults), and I think children are more likely to absorb that sort of idea uncritically.

Comment author: rwallace 17 March 2009 02:48:35PM 4 points [-]

Well yes - that's the point of fiction, it's an ingredient of the miracle by which civilization is built from killer apes.

Comment author: gjm 17 March 2009 07:50:03PM 3 points [-]

Could you be more specific about what particular feature you're saying is the point of fiction?

Comment author: MBlume 17 March 2009 07:57:30PM 4 points [-]

I believe he's implying that fiction can convince us that Good Always Wins In The End, or that Love Conquers All, and that, to some extent, these beliefs become self-fulfilling.