In the days leading up to December 25, it’s a question that many parents hear again and again – it’s Dad Christmas reality?
Last week a student intervened on the issue and what people were saying that the cheerful gift-giver is a ‘vain lie’.
But now one expert is insisting that parents should tell children that Santa exists because it makes Christmas better and encourages ‘healthy skepticism’.
In the context of DiscussionTom Whyman, lecturer in philosophy at the University of Liverpool, says that ‘children need Santa’.
‘Without that sweet decoration, there would have been no tradition of writing to him, leaving sherry and mince pies, eagerly waiting to see if he “stayed” on Christmas morning,’ he says.
‘Without the legend of Santa, what would Christmas be like for the average child?
‘A strange day when they are allowed to play with gifts their parents may have bought months before – how can that help?’
Dr Whyman also questions the meaning of being ‘honest enough’ with a child from an early age.
It’s a question many of us ask early in our lives – is Father Christmas real? A philosopher intervened by saying that a cheerful gift-giver is a ‘vain lie’.
“If I felt I had to tell my children anything, I couldn’t talk about the problems of the world, my existence, leaving my job so deeply that nothing good could happen,” says Dr Whyman.
‘When you think back to your first Christmas, do you think it would have been better if your parents had been honest about Santa?’
Meanwhile, Dr Joseph Millum, senior lecturer in philosophy at the University of St Andrews, thinks parents shouldn’t tell their kids Santa is there because it ‘spoils trust’.
‘In a healthy parent-child relationship, children trust their parents,’ Dr Millum said in his article Discussion.
‘Young children can be completely confident. That’s why a lie as silly as Santa can endure for so long, even among skeptical children.’
Throughout the year, parents often use Santa’s threat not to leave any presents at Christmas as a way to get children to behave, according to Dr Millum.
But the student calls this ‘cheating’, adding that ‘cheating is wrong because it violates trust’ – a belief shared by many philosophers.
‘It is true that young children do not have the capacity to make important decisions for themselves, however, telling children lies to make them behave is a trick,’ he says.
Santa Claus came from St. Nicholas of Myra, who, according to Christian tradition, was a bishop in a small Roman town in the 4th century AD. This photo shows a 13th century icon of Saint Nicholas from the monastery of Saint Catherine in Sinai, Egypt.
‘It prevents them from making decisions for the right reasons. This includes telling a child that they will not receive Christmas presents unless they are good.’
Dr Millum adds that there is ‘no conclusive evidence’ that believing in Santa is essential to enjoying Christmas as a child, contradicting Dr Whyman’s claims.
Overall, parents shouldn’t worry too much about the consequences of believing in Santa, according to Jared Piazza, a psychology professor at Lancaster University.
“Children are always looking for the beliefs of the people around them – and evaluating the compatibility of such beliefs in order to achieve them,” he once said.
Santa Claus came from St. Nicholas of Myra, who, according to Christian tradition, was a bishop in a small Roman town in the 4th century AD.
He is being followed every year at Christmas and the US military, while recent research though he made a carbon footprint of his journey.
A study of the festival found that his eagle could fly even without magic, even with a small change in technology.
According to research published last year, the average age at which disbelief in Santa begins is eight, but many children want to celebrate Santa with their children later in life.
If you want to find the truth, Young Internet users have been turning to Google Search by typing ‘is Santa here?’‘
Last year, Jake Moore, a technology expert and security consultant at ESET, said his daughter Googled the big question ‘Is Father Christmas real?’ and was disappointed with the results
But last Christmas, Google was criticized for giving a Scrooge-worthy answer: ‘There’s no man up there climbing a rope pulled by a reindeer’.
The top response was a blog post by Hotel Chocolat, which said ‘there’s no man up there climbing a tightrope’, although they admitted that Santa Claus ‘isn’t a completely made-up man’.
Since the start of anger, Google Search seems to have changed its algorithm to be more in line with happiness.
Now a search for the words ‘real Santa’ leads to a post by Parade.com showing as the top result, which says: ‘According to old records, Santa is real.’
According to a 2019 report by Exam Paper Plus, 1.1 million children are told on Google Search that Saint Nick is a fictional character.
However, it found smart assistants such as Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa are rational and creative when it comes to their answers to a question, neither confirming nor denying the truth.
Santa’s Sleigh Can Fly… with a few big changes
As kids can tell you, Santa uses magic to complete a 99 million mile journey around the world on Christmas Day.
But the 2022 survey found his chariot can fly without this special ability, although he had a great transformation.
This includes the wings from the commercial line and the engine from the Saturn V rocket, as used by NASA under the Apollo program.
The Santa Clause could fly if it had a few major modifications, including two wings similar to those on a commercial airliner and an engine similar to that made by NASA’s Saturn V rocket or 150 Boeing 747-400 aircraft.
It also has to travel at 12,300 kilometers per hour (5,500 meters per second) – about 10 times the speed of sound – to generate enough lift.
The study was written by physics students at the University of Leicester, inspired by the scene in the 2003 film Elf, in which Santa Claus had to rely on a jet engine to generate his energy.
“We’ve realized that Santa’s jet engine must be very powerful and therefore he and the elves must have access to advanced technologies,” said co-author Ryan Rowe.
