Is Santa silly?

Arran said:

This is now entering the realm of psychology. Everybody who knows the truth basically has a choice of either telling the truth or telling a lie in order to please other people. Some people basically have the attitude of telling the truth at any price and others prefer to say things to pleases particular people or majority even if what they say is an outright lie.

One of my heroes is Galileo. Every sane person today believes that he was right and the officialdom of the time was wrong, but only a small fraction are aware that at the time very few locals came to his defence. Why? Because the majority of people in society prefer to keep their nose clean and do not want to upset their families, friends, and work colleagues or run the risk of prosecution themselves in the name of the truth.

The fight between Galileo and officialdom is definitely an inspiring and important tale, I agree with that, and should be continued through to modern day. Although I think there's a difference between telling the truth to officialdom, and telling the truth to other people who are in "the same boat" in life. In terms of officialdom, I'd rather tell the truth when dealing with them, as they're in such a position to influence things, and as such, it's fairly important that they get things right - often officialdom is the inventor of lies that are deliberately designed to keep people down, and they have to be challenged with rigor. When it comes to other people, who aren't really in positions of power, I tend to reserve judgement, for practical reasons. The bottom line for me, is that I generally try and be honest and open when I think it may be effective, and as far as other people (who aren't in positions of power) are concerned, I don't tell the truth, as they can easily turn against you whenever you're not seen to be heaping praise on them. Okay, I'm definitely no paragon of virtue, I openly admit. But there's a hell of a lot of pain that can be associated with the emotional problems of AS and autism, and I just tend not to aggravate the old nervous system unless it's unavoidable or will have a definite positive impact that I can be sure of.

Lying is something children have to learn about. It is vital for survival.

Absolutely correct, longman. There are too many social situations where it's just far too risky to tell the truth. I know that AS/autism spectrum makes it difficult to gague those situations, but once you're faced with them routinely, it becomes easy to spot.

Perhaps the safest thing you can be in terms of society is to be unpredictable/unreadable. It's better to keep other people guessing, than for them to know immediately who you are, what you believe and what you're up to.

Although I am glad you popped on Longman to use your academic background to enhance the logic and evidence of everyone else).

Thank you, IntenseWorld! :D

I think it's important to understand firstly that 'hygenic' does not always translate to 'safe/good to eat', and secondly and more importantly that ritual cleanliness or uncleanliness does not necessarily relate to biological hygeine. It's a cultural and religious concept with its own terms of reference.

Alex R (posting personally)

Fair point, Alex, and well made.

Okay, I'd probably be better calling this discussion a day; I've got to concentrate my energies on other things at the moment. I think we're at an impasse, where everyone's opinions are firmly set, which is fine by me! :D

...TAXI FOR LIQUIDSUNSHINE!

Arran said:

This is now entering the realm of psychology. Everybody who knows the truth basically has a choice of either telling the truth or telling a lie in order to please other people. Some people basically have the attitude of telling the truth at any price and others prefer to say things to pleases particular people or majority even if what they say is an outright lie.

One of my heroes is Galileo. Every sane person today believes that he was right and the officialdom of the time was wrong, but only a small fraction are aware that at the time very few locals came to his defence. Why? Because the majority of people in society prefer to keep their nose clean and do not want to upset their families, friends, and work colleagues or run the risk of prosecution themselves in the name of the truth.

The fight between Galileo and officialdom is definitely an inspiring and important tale, I agree with that, and should be continued through to modern day. Although I think there's a difference between telling the truth to officialdom, and telling the truth to other people who are in "the same boat" in life. In terms of officialdom, I'd rather tell the truth when dealing with them, as they're in such a position to influence things, and as such, it's fairly important that they get things right - often officialdom is the inventor of lies that are deliberately designed to keep people down, and they have to be challenged with rigor. When it comes to other people, who aren't really in positions of power, I tend to reserve judgement, for practical reasons. The bottom line for me, is that I generally try and be honest and open when I think it may be effective, and as far as other people (who aren't in positions of power) are concerned, I don't tell the truth, as they can easily turn against you whenever you're not seen to be heaping praise on them. Okay, I'm definitely no paragon of virtue, I openly admit. But there's a hell of a lot of pain that can be associated with the emotional problems of AS and autism, and I just tend not to aggravate the old nervous system unless it's unavoidable or will have a definite positive impact that I can be sure of.

Lying is something children have to learn about. It is vital for survival.

Absolutely correct, longman. There are too many social situations where it's just far too risky to tell the truth. I know that AS/autism spectrum makes it difficult to gague those situations, but once you're faced with them routinely, it becomes easy to spot.

Perhaps the safest thing you can be in terms of society is to be unpredictable/unreadable. It's better to keep other people guessing, than for them to know immediately who you are, what you believe and what you're up to.

Although I am glad you popped on Longman to use your academic background to enhance the logic and evidence of everyone else).

Thank you, IntenseWorld! :D

I think it's important to understand firstly that 'hygenic' does not always translate to 'safe/good to eat', and secondly and more importantly that ritual cleanliness or uncleanliness does not necessarily relate to biological hygeine. It's a cultural and religious concept with its own terms of reference.

Alex R (posting personally)

Fair point, Alex, and well made.

Okay, I'd probably be better calling this discussion a day; I've got to concentrate my energies on other things at the moment. I think we're at an impasse, where everyone's opinions are firmly set, which is fine by me! :D

...TAXI FOR LIQUIDSUNSHINE!