tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/santa-14028/articlesSanta – The Conversation2023-12-20T19:07:00Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2200472023-12-20T19:07:00Z2023-12-20T19:07:00ZSanta Claus is coming to town! How to help kids manage the big build-up to Christmas<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566744/original/file-20231219-15-uy70xb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=49%2C70%2C4674%2C3078&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/a-couple-of-women-wearing-santa-hats-MgM577HC5-M">Richard Stachmann/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>School is out and Santa is on his way, but there’s still a bit of a wait before he wriggles down that chimney. The days before Christmas are both exciting and challenging for children and families. </p>
<p>How can you manage kids’ excitement in this last build-up to Christmas? What should you do if emotions run over? And how might you respond if all the focus on Santa means some kids start asking if he is real? </p>
<h2>Help kids manage outbursts</h2>
<p>Parents and carers may notice children are adorably ridiculous at this time of year (or maybe just ridiculous). </p>
<p>Each day brings a swirling mix of tears, laughter, shouts and tired panda eyes. Sleep patterns can also be disturbed across the Christmas break, with late nights and early mornings leading to extra tiredness.</p>
<p>For younger (and even older) children, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1745-7599.2012.00755.x">temper tantrums</a> may be more common.</p>
<p>If your child does have an outburst, give them some time to cool off. Although it can be tempting, try not to enforce harsh punishments in the moment. An angry threat to cancel Christmas (“I’m going to tell Santa not to come!”) may be matched by an equally angry response by your child. </p>
<p>Instead, come back when you are both calm, <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-024-1042-6_13">acknowledge</a> how they and others might be feeling and <a href="https://denhamlab.gmu.edu/Publications%20PDFs/Denham%202005.pdf">discuss</a> how best to manage those emotions (“If you are feeling very excited, go outside and run around instead of hitting your brother”). </p>
<p>Also be conscious of your own emotions. Children <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1513625/">often model</a> the emotions and behaviours they see from others. So, despite all the things you have to do at the moment, try and pause, relax and seek out opportunities for joy in this festive season. </p>
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<img alt="A child in a Santa suit pulls the hat over their head." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566746/original/file-20231219-29-y829kl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566746/original/file-20231219-29-y829kl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566746/original/file-20231219-29-y829kl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566746/original/file-20231219-29-y829kl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566746/original/file-20231219-29-y829kl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566746/original/file-20231219-29-y829kl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566746/original/file-20231219-29-y829kl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">You may seem more tantrums before Christmas as kids navigate their excitement.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/boy-in-bright-red-soft-santa-costume-hiding-in-hat-6437851/">Marta Wave/Pexels</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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Read more:
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<h2>Help children explore questions about Santa</h2>
<p>Of course, Christmas holds a range of deeper meanings for religion and family. But a key source of excitement in the lead up to Christmas is Santa. The magical world of Santa, reindeers and elves sparks particular joy for kids. </p>
<p>If your child is in early primary school, you might be worrying “what happens if Stella discovers <em>the truth</em>”? </p>
<p>Try not to let this become a family stressor. </p>
<p>Children begin making distinctions between fantasy and reality in preschool, although <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.2466/pr0.1980.46.3.691">often continue</a> to believe in Santa for longer: particularly <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0885201416300375">if parents</a> promote these beliefs. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02253287">one study</a>, children who no-longer believed were interviewed about how they had felt when they realised Santa was not real. Some felt momentarily bad or disappointed but more than half reported feeling happy or relieved to know the truth. They had been wondering anyway. </p>
<p>If children are questioning their beliefs already, consider exploring this with them by asking “what do you think?” Either way, negative emotions tend to be <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/2024-25574-001.html">short-lived</a>: indeed, many children continue to pretend to believe in Santa just for fun. </p>
<h2>Help manage holiday expectations</h2>
<p>For those at home before Christmas, complaints of boredom may already have set in. These are particularly challenging for parents who are still working. </p>
<p>Some children may be happy playing with siblings. For other children, it can help to <a href="https://journals.lww.com/iycjournal/Fulltext/2007/10000/Family_Routines_and_Rituals__A_Context_for.2.aspx">create routines</a> to manage their expectations. This might include times you will be available to play with them, excursions and free play. Include children in <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09362835.2011.537228?src=recsys">the negotiations</a> and help them to manage excitement by creating a list of activities they would like to complete. </p>
<p>For families already away on holidays, the challenges are <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15022250510014255">different but real</a>. An expectation of relaxing bliss can sometime contrast with a reality that is more intense. </p>
<p>Interviews with <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/YC-06-2017-00703/full/html">Danish children and their parents</a> about their trips away reveal both joy and tension, with closer living quarters and 24/7 activities bringing social overload and frayed tempers over time. </p>
<p>Routines can help here too, even if they differ from those at home. Map out when you will be sharing fun activities together and build in quiet time to soothe frayed nerves. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A child prays in front of Christmas candles." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566755/original/file-20231219-23-d2da5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566755/original/file-20231219-23-d2da5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566755/original/file-20231219-23-d2da5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566755/original/file-20231219-23-d2da5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566755/original/file-20231219-23-d2da5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566755/original/file-20231219-23-d2da5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566755/original/file-20231219-23-d2da5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Dear Santa, I promise I have been really good this year …</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/toddler-praying-in-front-of-candle-lights-on-table-14737999/">Helena Jankovičová Kováčová/ Pexels</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<h2>Plan Christmas Eve</h2>
<p>For all children, Christmas Eve is likely to see a clash of excitement and emotion. Help children to plan out any family rituals beforehand, including what time they will go to bed.</p>
<p>For those with siblings, help them to plan who will complete what tasks. This might include chopping carrots for reindeer, pouring milk for Santa, or lighting special Christmas candles. Ensure the negotiations are fair and everyone is happy.</p>
<p>Above all, enjoy. Stories of stress and conflict related to Christmas abound, yet research shows an abundance of <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1174/021347411797361347">positive emotions</a> across the period. ‘Tis a most wonderful time of the year.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Penny Van Bergen receives funding from the Australian Research Council and NSW Department of Education. </span></em></p>School is out and Santa is on his way, but there’s still a bit of a wait before he wriggles down that chimney.Penny Van Bergen, Head of School of Education and Professor of Educational Psychology, University of WollongongLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2174402023-12-14T19:19:29Z2023-12-14T19:19:29ZO Christmas tree, O Christmas tree … what are my rights this season, legally?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564744/original/file-20231211-15-56yql9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>If you were, just for example, a slightly portly, older gent in a red and white suit who soon plans to travel around the globe delivering presents, assisted only by reindeer and a touch of magic, what legal issues might you encounter?</p>
<p>While Santa may not need to lawyer up ahead of his big night, his journey does raise several interesting legal issues that have implications beyond the Christmas season – and there’s some lessons for the rest of us, too.</p>
<h2>Can Santa fly freely around the world in his sleigh?</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.icao.int/publications/pages/doc7300.aspx">Convention on International Civil Aviation</a> sets out the standards required for global air travel. Santa is not bound by these rules because he’s not a sovereign state, but he faces problems anyway. </p>
<p>For starters, he travels at an estimated <a href="https://www.labmate-online.com/news/news-and-views/5/breaking-news/how-fast-does-santa-travel/32594">10,703,437 km/h</a> – significantly faster than the <a href="https://epicflightacademy.com/flight-school-faq/how-fast-do-commercial-planes-fly/#:%7E:text=The%20average%20cruising%20airspeed%20for,Still%20have%20questions%3F">average 860 km/h</a> of commercial flights. </p>
<p>This speed is contrary to the convention, which directs “safe and orderly” civil aviation. It also requires Santa to seek permission to fly over the territory of another state, unless it’s an emergency. It is unlikely Santa falls within the emergency exception, however, as his flight is always scheduled for December 24. </p>
<p>Finally, Santa must submit his sleigh and cargo for inspection when landing if requested by the authorities. Alas! Santa does not allow peremptory peeking into his sack of gifts.</p>
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<h2>Santa has a camera on his sleigh to assist with landings. Does this raise legal problems?</h2>
<p>The law says that you own your land and sky only to a depth and height for your reasonable enjoyment. </p>
<p>If Santa, hovering above your house with a camera, is disturbing your right to enjoy your property, the law may give you a remedy in what is known as the tort of nuisance or the tort of breach of confidence.</p>
<p>However, the intrusion has to be persistent and annoying, and if it’s only occurring on Christmas Eve, and if Santa is welcomed, it’s unlikely a magistrate would order him to stop. </p>
<p>If Santa is filming, you cannot, generally speaking, complain about any breach of privacy. True, there are some legislative remedies against such filming found in the <a href="https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-1900-040#pt.3-div.15B">NSW Crimes Act</a>, the <a href="http://www5.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/qld/consol_act/cc189994/s227a.html#:%7E:text=(ii)%20is%20engaging%20in%20a,commits%20a%20misdemeanour.&text=Maximum%20penalty%E2%80%943%20years%20imprisonment">Qld Criminal Code</a>, and the <a href="http://www5.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/sa/consol_act/soa1953189/s26b.html">SA Summary Offences Act</a>, but usually only if he’s filming for what might be considered voyeuristic purposes, and not for simply guiding the sleigh onto your roof.</p>
<h2>A Christmas dinner guest has a few drinks and starts to espouse views you find offensive. Can you eject them from your home?</h2>
<p>Laws protecting people from offensive, humiliating or vilifying speech generally only apply to public spaces, <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/complaint-information-service/information-people-making-complaints">such as workplaces</a>. </p>
<p>But if you are hosting a party in your own home, you have the right to ask a guest to leave at any time, including if you don’t like their jokes. If they stay without your consent, then they are trespassing, and you can call the police to help you <a href="https://lawhandbook.sa.gov.au/ch12s06s04s15.php">remove them</a>. </p>
<p>Unwanted guests who use offensive language or refuse to obey directions from police can then face <a href="https://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/sa/consol_act/soa1953189/s17a.html">criminal penalties</a>. And while calling the police definitely sounds like a party stopper, you should remember that, as a host, you owe <a href="https://research.bond.edu.au/en/publications/duty-of-care-under-the-civil-liability-acts">a duty of care</a> to the other guests to take reasonable steps to ensure they are not exposed to foreseeable risks of harm.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564746/original/file-20231211-26-yuy1hi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564746/original/file-20231211-26-yuy1hi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564746/original/file-20231211-26-yuy1hi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564746/original/file-20231211-26-yuy1hi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564746/original/file-20231211-26-yuy1hi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564746/original/file-20231211-26-yuy1hi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564746/original/file-20231211-26-yuy1hi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">You are entitled to ask someone to leave your home if you wish.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<h2>As Santa leaves your property, he is injured by a tripwire designed to deter trespassers that you installed. Can he sue?</h2>
<p>Occupiers of land owe a duty of care to any person entering their land to ensure they will not be injured by virtue of the <a href="https://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/cases/cth/HCA/1987/7.html">state of the premises</a>. </p>
<p>At common law, Santa can sue you and seek compensation. The court hearing the case would consider factors such as the circumstances in which Santa became exposed to the danger, his ability to appreciate the danger, the extent to which you ought to have been aware that Santa was arriving, and whether it was appropriate to eliminate or warn Santa against the danger. </p>
<p>But in some jurisdictions, for example in South Australia, an occupier does not owe a duty of care to a trespasser. There is an exception: a duty is owed if the presence of that trespasser was <a href="https://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/sa/consol_act/cla1936161/s20.html">reasonably foreseeable</a>. Santa is trespassing, yes, but you are expecting him, so his arrival is reasonably foreseeable. That being the case, you are likely to be liable for his injuries.</p>
<h2>Wealthy Uncle Harry is choking on his Christmas pudding, and near death. Knowing he has left you a large inheritance, can you refrain from assisting him?</h2>
<p>The answer depends on the relationship between you and Uncle Harry. Under the criminal law of Australia, there is no general duty to assist a choking person, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duty_to_rescue">unlike in some other countries</a>. </p>
<p>But a duty may arise if you are Harry’s carer, or if you are a medical practitioner. You may also attract a duty of care if you ushered the other guests out of the room, saying <a href="https://www.nswlr.com.au/preview/14-NSWLR-226">you would look after Harry</a>. </p>
<p>If Harry chokes to death and you did have a duty to intervene, you may be found guilty of manslaughter. On conviction, you can wave goodbye to the inheritance. <a href="https://lr.law.qut.edu.au/article/download/47/46/47-1-94-1-10-20120615.pdf">The forfeiture rule </a>states that you cannot inherit from a person whom you have unlawfully killed.</p>
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<h2>Your beloved dumps you after Christmas. Can you get those expensive gifts back?</h2>
<p>No. In law, effective transfer of goods occurs when the giver delivers possession of an item with the <a href="https://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/cases/vic/VSC/2003/121.html?context=1;query=nolan;mask_path=au/cases/vic/VSC">intention to give away</a> that item. So handing over a wrapped gift with the words, “this is for you” would be sufficient to transfer ownership. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563859/original/file-20231206-25-5dfu85.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563859/original/file-20231206-25-5dfu85.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563859/original/file-20231206-25-5dfu85.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563859/original/file-20231206-25-5dfu85.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563859/original/file-20231206-25-5dfu85.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563859/original/file-20231206-25-5dfu85.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563859/original/file-20231206-25-5dfu85.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Once you give those Christmas gifts, it’s highly unlikely you’ll get them back.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>In a marriage or de facto relationship, the news might be slightly better for the giver. The Family Law Act allows a court to divide all property of the parties when a relationship breaks down, and little regard is paid to who actually owns what. Instead, the court will consider the contributions each has made to the relationship, and <a href="http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/fla1975114/s79.html">each party’s future needs</a>. It is possible that, in a “just and equitable” settlement, you’d end up with the gifted items back in your hands. But don’t hold your breath.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/217440/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rick Sarre has previously received funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah Moulds is currently the Director of the Rights Resource Network SA.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ben Livings, Juliette McIntyre, Lisa Cooper, and Michelle Fernando do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Christmas season brings joy to many, but it can also raise some legal issues. Our team of experts examine a few.Rick Sarre, Emeritus Professor of Law and Criminal Justice, University of South AustraliaBen Livings, Associate Professor of Criminal Law and Evidence, University of South AustraliaJuliette McIntyre, Lecturer in Law, University of South AustraliaLisa Cooper, Lecturer in Law, University of South AustraliaMichelle Fernando, Senior Lecturer in Law, University of South AustraliaSarah Moulds, Senior Lecturer of Law, University of South AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1968362022-12-20T14:34:29Z2022-12-20T14:34:29ZMerry or scary? Santa’s ‘Ho ho ho’ mirrors our own ambiguous relationship to laughter<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/502137/original/file-20221220-6052-t088sf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5821%2C3883&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Is Santa's laughter good-natured or manic? You be the judge. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/fr/image-photo/happy-excited-old-bearded-santa-claus-1831476538">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Here it is again: the merry, festive Christmas season with its glitter balls, tinsel and the typical “Ho Ho Ho!” Holding onto his red belly, Santa grins and laughs at us from everywhere. Like Halloween pumpkins and clowns, Santa is one of our most popular cultural symbols associated with laughter. In fact, Father Christmas, clowns and demonic veggie visages have more in common than you might think! And our pop culture depictions of Santa’s laughter tell us a lot about the pitfalls and promises of humour, and the not obvious links between humour and laughter.</p>
<p>Santa’s laughter is often benign. In the 1970 fantasy musical <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haKESbXK28g"><em>Santa Claus Is Coming to Town</em></a>, almost every one of the jolly gent’s good deeds is accompanied with laughter, be it distributing the toys to children in the unwelcoming Sombertown or melting the heart of the Winter Warlock. The laughter thus underscores the niceness of Santa’s activities and adds a cheerful element to the gloomy urban and forest landscapes. Santa’s laughter can also be used to <a href="https://reporter.anu.edu.au/all-stories/from-killer-robot-to-sweatshop-boss-santa-on-screen">improve the educational system on Mars</a> in the 1964 film <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4SZyeUGSM4"><em>Santa Claus Conquers the Martians</em></a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A vintage card shows a painted Santa speaking to a little girl over the phone" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/502149/original/file-20221220-16-5idb4m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/502149/original/file-20221220-16-5idb4m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502149/original/file-20221220-16-5idb4m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502149/original/file-20221220-16-5idb4m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502149/original/file-20221220-16-5idb4m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502149/original/file-20221220-16-5idb4m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502149/original/file-20221220-16-5idb4m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Merry Christmas card from the early 1900s.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.rawpixel.com/image/556799">NYPL/Creative Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The surreal 1959 Mexican fantasy film <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYStOBykqZk"><em>Santa Claus vs. the Devil</em></a> is another great example. The film, which is hilariously outrageous from today’s perspective, shows Father Christmas as a good-natured, chubby bloke who lives in space and hardly says a word. Whether he peeks into children’s rooms on Earth through his cosmic telescope or gives them knockout drugs so that he can hand out his presents undisturbed, his sole comment and universal reaction to everything is a juicy “Ho ho ho!”</p>
<p>This full-bellied “jolly old gentleman” might be a slacker 364 days a year, but he’s generally perceived as a harmless creature. His laughter seems to be inseparable from the festive Christmas atmosphere and is one of the most important audio stimuli in any holiday film. However, even the most good-natured cinematic Santa can’t help playing tricks on the devil and laughing heartily as they succeed. Thus he signals happiness, but also reveals that he and his laughter are not as harmless as they seem to be at the first sight.</p>
<h2>The gloomier side of Santa</h2>
<p>In stories where Santa is a laughing killer robot (e.g., in the <em>Futurama</em> episode <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJGUhVrS-Gs">“Xmas”</a>) or acrobatically, and in large numbers, attacks a simple family man played by Arnold Schwarzenegger (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWyeugspkUA"><em>Jingle all the Way</em></a>), the not always benign nature of Santa’s laughter becomes even more obvious. Unlike in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/00187267035612004">many other cases</a>, humour and laughter here are not meant to foster social cohesion and community spirit. They rather signal the power one has over enemies, the malicious enjoyment of their failures or even an intention to kill them.</p>
<p>In these cases, Santa’s laughter echoes the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/21504857.2021.1989005">deadly laughter of Joker and other comic villains</a>; it is a psychological weapon, yet another way to attack and defeat. Laughter is often accompanied with a grin, and barring the teeth can easily become threatening (“smiling” Halloween pumpkins do give us shivers!). In fact, these maliciously laughing monsters can surface before Christmas, adding a frightening layer to this holiday. Tim Burton’s <em>Nightmare Before Christmas</em> illustrates how evil creatures might try to hijack Christmas – including hijacking Santa’s laughter, which is clearly recognisable but sounds all the more scary when we hear it from a Pumpkin King Skellington. Such laughter has no connection to humour and comes rather closer to the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2013.11.014">risus sardonicus</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Grinning santa with sinisterly coloured cheeks" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/502140/original/file-20221220-23-5oehez.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/502140/original/file-20221220-23-5oehez.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=339&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502140/original/file-20221220-23-5oehez.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=339&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502140/original/file-20221220-23-5oehez.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=339&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502140/original/file-20221220-23-5oehez.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502140/original/file-20221220-23-5oehez.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502140/original/file-20221220-23-5oehez.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A still from the 1959 film <em>Santa Claus</em>.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053241/mediaviewer/rm4031742721/">IMDb</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The different shades of Santa’s laughter mirror the various roles that <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232489851_Laughter_A_Scientific_Investigation">laughter plays in human societies</a>. It can represent and provide enjoyment but it can also have a darker side: when laughing <em>at</em> someone (as opposed to <em>with</em> them), we exclude them from the group, humiliate and denigrate them. Laughter can signal agreement, embarrassment, superiority, aggression – and paradoxically, these feelings can be mixed all together in the single utterance of laughter. Thus there is no clear line between merry and scary in our laughter.</p>
<p>Just like Santas and monsters, we enjoy the ambiguity of our laughter and know that sometimes it can tell much more than a thousand words. Laughter is often tightly connected to humour, but it is even stronger connected to human relationships. The time and context of our laughter – or, on the contrary, our <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/20487675">unlaughter</a> when we want to show explicitly that we are not amused – are also of crucial importance.</p>
<p>So keep an eye on your Santa this weekend and watch out if he is a benign “Ho Ho Ho!” dude or a side-splitting Joker Santa. And as you laugh at or with him, think of how much your laughter can mean to you and the people around you.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196836/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Les auteurs ne travaillent pas, ne conseillent pas, ne possèdent pas de parts, ne reçoivent pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'ont déclaré aucune autre affiliation que leur organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>Could Santa’s grin be closer to the evil clown’s than you think?Anastasiya Fiadotava, Assistant professor, Institute of English studies, Jagiellonian UniversityAnna-Sophie Jürgens, Assistant Professor in Science Communication / Popular Entertainment Studies, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1967842022-12-18T12:20:18Z2022-12-18T12:20:18ZHow to live up to the true spirit of Christmas<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501649/original/file-20221217-22510-tt2p4m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">People enjoying Christmas decorations in Johannesburg, South Africa. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Luca Sola/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>If the media, popular entertainment, and retail habits are taken as indicators then the celebration of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christmas">Christmas</a> is no longer just the reserve of Christians. This has some consequences for the religious and non-religious alike.</p>
<p>In popular culture and the media, Christmas is portrayed as a time of happiness, togetherness, generosity, and peace. In the “made for Christmas” movies, such as those on the popular <a href="https://www.hallmarkchannel.com/christmas">Hallmark Channel</a>, a “feel good” message is the order of the day.</p>
<p>Whether it be the rekindling of a <a href="https://www.hallmarkchannel.com/christmas-in-tahoe">long-lost love</a> or <a href="https://www.hallmarkchannel.com/christmas-at-the-golden-dragon">reconciling</a> between family members after a long and painful conflict, viewers are led to believe that there is a certain kind of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1350508419867205">“magic”</a> at work during what has become known in largely <a href="https://chrestomathy.cofc.edu/documents/vol11/davis.pdf">secular terms</a> as “the holiday season”. </p>
<p>Many people believe, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021516410457">either overtly or tacitly</a>, that Christmas and the celebrations surrounding it will bring them joy, peace, happiness and togetherness.</p>
<p>In my <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ids.v56i1.2849">research</a>, which is in a field called <a href="https://www.otago.ac.nz/ctpi/what/">public theology</a>, I study such “beliefs” to try to understand where they come from, why people hold them, and what implications they have for our social, political and economic life.</p>
<p>I call these <a href="https://books.google.co.za/books?hl=en&lr=&id=_3PnDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT17&dq=dion+forster+secular&ots=R7LY9TV9Ea&sig=Qp3CMnur46BuSNxLb6TKRyLvxv0#v=onepage&q=dion%20forster%20secular&f=false">“secular beliefs”</a> to differentiate them from traditional “religious beliefs”. A secular belief is not formally attached to a religion, or has become detached from a particular religion over time. In this sense, Christmas has come to embody a kind of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-09345-1_5">“secular spirituality”</a>. This has much more in common with the dominant symbols and aspirations of our age (such as leisure, pleasure, social control and consumption) than it does with its religious roots.</p>
<h2>Understanding Christmas</h2>
<p>Christmas, as the name suggests, is linked to the birth of Jesus the Christ. As a professor of theology, I have often jokingly said, “Christ is not Jesus’s surname”. The word “Christ” comes from the Greek word <em>Χρίστος</em> (Chrístos), which is the Greek translation for the Hebrew word “messiah” (<em>מָשִׁיחַ</em> or <em>māšīaḥ</em>). For Jewish people, and later for Christians (people who name themselves after their messiah, Jesus the Christ), the messiah was God’s <a href="https://books.google.co.za/books?hl=en&lr=&id=wJe_SIyxwEkC&oi=fnd&pg=PR12&dq=messiah+as+liberator&ots=HPiqhXM9jn&sig=LDQwEKNz2FV2dQZL7fv46_Xaydc#v=onepage&q=messiah%20as%20liberator&f=false">promised liberator</a> – a King who would come to liberate God’s people from their oppressors and lead them in peace and prosperity.</p>
<p>Christians believe that Jesus is the promised messiah (according to passages in the Bible, such as Isaiah 9:6-7, John 4:25 and Acts 2:38). He came preaching a message of love, peace and anti-materialism. </p>
<p>Early in Christian history, Christians began to celebrate the birth of Jesus the Christ (the promised liberator) in special services, what became known as the <a href="https://www.etymonline.com/word/mass">“mass”</a> after the Latin word <em>missa</em>. Hence, it was the combination of those two words that later became one word, Christmas, a feast that celebrates liberation, peace and joy through the messiah.</p>
<p>When presented in these terms, it would not be surprising to ask what the contemporary presentations of Christmas (particularly in the western world) have to do with the celebration of Jesus the Christ. Santa Claus, snowmen and reindeer seem to have replaced Jesus and his disciples. </p>
<p>Instead of focusing on messianic liberation and anti-materialism, Christmas is focused on parties, family gatherings, and gift-giving. In other words, like so much of western modernity, the focus has turned from the <a href="https://www.google.de/books/edition/A_Secular_Age/hWRXYY3HRFoC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=charles+taylor+secular+age&printsec=frontcover">sacred to the secular</a> and from God to the human self.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021516410457">Research shows</a> that there are seven primary activities and experiences that are attached to the contemporary Christmas holiday:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Spending time with family </p></li>
<li><p>Participating in religious activities</p></li>
<li><p>Maintaining cultural, national, or family traditions (such as decorating a Christmas tree) </p></li>
<li><p>Spending money on others to buy gifts </p></li>
<li><p>Receiving gifts from others</p></li>
<li><p>Helping others (such as a local charity) and</p></li>
<li><p>Enjoying the sensual aspects of the holiday (such as good food and drink, rest, and relaxation).</p></li>
</ul>
<p>However, the same research shows that for many people, these “peaceful” and “joyous” expectations are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021516410457">not met</a>. Christmas is no longer a time of joy, generosity, family togetherness and rest. </p>
<p>Rather, the contemporary expectations of the festive “season” – such as the costs associated with gift giving, travel, celebrations (such as work functions, family gatherings, and community events) – can lead to dissatisfaction, stress, conflict and disappointment. Perhaps you can relate? </p>
<p>Moreover, the burden on <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jcr/article-abstract/17/3/333/1822554?login=false">women</a> is often much higher than it is on men. Women are often expected to arrange gatherings, buy gifts, prepare food, clean up the aftermath and keep the peace.</p>
<h2>Rekindling the true spirit of Christmas</h2>
<p>So, taking these realities into account, what might you do to rediscover the “true”, or at least the historical “spirit” of Christmas this year (whether you are religious or not)?</p>
<p>Here are a few suggestions, based on sociological research.</p>
<p>First, social and psychological research shows that in general, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021516410457">but also at Christmas</a>, people report far greater “well-being”</p>
<blockquote>
<p>when experiences of family closeness and helping others were particularly salient.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Second, that “diminished well-being” is reported where people’s experiences and expectations “focused on the materialistic aspects of the season (spending and receiving)”. Moreover, the research <a href="https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021516410457">showed</a> that religious people who actively participated in religious gatherings tended to have a more positive experience of Christmas, with their expectations largely being fulfilled.</p>
<p>So, whether you are Christian, or have more of a secular spirituality, it may well be wise to recapture something of the historical “spirit” of the Christ-mass message by engaging in the responsible use of money and time, choosing positive consumption practices, while seeking to foster good relationships with family, friends and colleagues.</p>
<p>Moreover, pay careful attention to issues such as the gendered division of labour and responsibility by sharing the work and effort. In doing so, you just may have a happier Christmas.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196784/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dion Forster currently receives funding from the South African National Research Foundation (NRF), the HB Thom fund, and the Humboldt University of Berlin. He is affiliated with the Methodist Church of Southern Africa where is and ordained minister of religion.</span></em></p>Research shows that religious people who actively participate in religious gatherings tend to have a more positive experience of Christmas, with expectations largely fulfilled.Dion Forster, Full Professor of Ethics and Head of Department, Systematic Theology and Ecclesiology, Director of the Beyers Naudé Centre for Public Theology, Stellenbosch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1959322022-12-14T00:19:13Z2022-12-14T00:19:13ZIs it OK to prank your kids? Do they get it? And where’s the line?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500649/original/file-20221213-6755-pi89ao.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C998%2C666&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>We all lie to our kids. Some lies – telling them their artwork is wonderful, or that Wiggles band-aids are infused with anaesthetic – benefit the child. Others are just a bit of fun.</p>
<p>Take the Tiktok trend of telling your kids this weird little gnome is a picture of them as a baby:</p>
<hr>
<p><iframe id="tc-infographic-804" class="tc-infographic" height="400px" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/infographics/804/3aed4435296f4dc8aa2c5a3058c44e970194c3f2/site/index.html" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<hr>
<p>Or <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/parenting/article-11501319/American-mum-five-slammed-cutting-kids-hair-Elf-Shelf-prank.html#comments">cutting off bits of their hair</a> and pretending it was a naughty elf-on-a-shelf. </p>
<p>Playing tricks on our kids can be a bit of fun for them as well as us, but there are a few golden rules to make sure everyone enjoys the prank. </p>
<h2>First, do kids ‘get’ pranks?</h2>
<p>From a cognitive point of view, a prank firstly involves an attempt to implant a false belief in the mind of another. For example, I’m about to safely sit on a chair. Then it involves a surprising upending of that belief to reveal a different and typically silly scenario: as I sit, I realise a whoopee cushion has been put on my chair. </p>
<p>Implanting a false belief, or lying, requires a well-developed “theory of mind”. <a href="https://www.simplypsychology.org/theory-of-mind.html#:%7E:text=Theory%20of%20mind%20(ToM)%20is,interpret%20the%20behavior%20of%20others">Theory of mind</a> is the ability to understand other people have a different mental state and perspective to your own. You understand the other person is not expecting to sit on a whoopee cushion, and you believe the fart sound it makes will cause a funny surprise to them and those around them. </p>
<p>Children’s brains are undergoing an extraordinary metamorphosis as they grow, with some predictable stages along the way. </p>
<p>Most kids develop a recognisable theory of mind around ages three to four. Parents may notice their child suddenly realises they need to actually communicate their needs (as opposed to chucking tantrums because they’re angry you’re not responding to what they want). This frustration helps to push along the development of theory of mind, language and other social communication skills.</p>
<p>Around four to five years, kids may start to tell lies themselves (albeit badly) and experiment with tricks or pranks of their own as they take their newly formed theory of mind for a spin. So kids over the age of four or five should be able to understand a prank, if you’ve witnessed this change in their theory of mind capacity.</p>
<p>Prior to about the age of 12 when their frontal lobe kicks in, children lack the capacity for <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.1001293">critical reasoning</a>. </p>
<p>They are yet to be able to analyse multiple options, assess credibility or reliability and make a reasoned decision. This leaves them quite gullible, relying almost completely on what their parents or trusted carers tell them. So between four and 12, kids are ripe to be pranked and may even pull a few of their own.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500650/original/file-20221213-22-ue3d6s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Child laying on floor" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500650/original/file-20221213-22-ue3d6s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500650/original/file-20221213-22-ue3d6s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500650/original/file-20221213-22-ue3d6s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500650/original/file-20221213-22-ue3d6s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500650/original/file-20221213-22-ue3d6s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500650/original/file-20221213-22-ue3d6s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500650/original/file-20221213-22-ue3d6s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Before children have developed theory of mind, they don’t know you don’t know what they want and think.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Can pranks damage trust? Or might they teach something?</h2>
<p>A good prank requires a well-developed theory of mind and a thorough understanding of the mind in which you intend to implant the false belief. You have to know precisely what is required to ensure this specific person will fall for your trick, and how to mask your true intentions every step of the way. You also need to be confident they will respond positively.</p>
<p>In this context, pranking done well can be a sophisticated social interaction and you can both equally get a laugh out of it. It can assist with development of theory of mind and humour and even improve the bond between like-minded people.</p>
<p>Most children don’t bear grudges once Santa and the tooth-fairy are outed. As their brains and understanding grow, so does their empathy and ability to see multiple intentions. </p>
<p>By the time children are around 12, the age of reason will be upon them and they will slowly lose interest in supernatural stories and pretend play, as their understanding of reality improves. </p>
<p>Their mature theory of mind makes it easier to realise their parents were trying to make their life a little bit more fun and magical as a child, and most will go on to do the same for their own kids.</p>
<p>So if pranks are done with humour in mind, most children will be able to see this intention and won’t have feelings of mistrust towards their parents. In other words, they’re probably not going to think “they lied about the whoopee cushion, what else are they lying about?”</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500651/original/file-20221213-6751-l8gt7p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Children looking at presents under the tree" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500651/original/file-20221213-6751-l8gt7p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500651/original/file-20221213-6751-l8gt7p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500651/original/file-20221213-6751-l8gt7p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500651/original/file-20221213-6751-l8gt7p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500651/original/file-20221213-6751-l8gt7p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500651/original/file-20221213-6751-l8gt7p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500651/original/file-20221213-6751-l8gt7p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Once children can reason, they understand why you lied about Santa.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Things to bear in mind when pranking kids</h2>
<ol>
<li><p>Know the prankee well. You need to be sure they will find your particular prank funny, and understand their developmental stage and associated interests. It’s worth noting autism typically involves an <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.567401/full">impaired or atypical theory of mind</a>, meaning people with autism may struggle with this form of humour. Rather than finding it funny they may feel hurt and confused they were lied to</p></li>
<li><p>be mindful of the power imbalance. “Punching down,” or playing a prank that makes the prankee look foolish or causes them embarrassment might not be taken well. And it might look distasteful to onlookers. Choose a prank you know you will both find funny, or that makes you the butt of the joke as well as the child.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Pranking can spectacularly backfire, especially if the intention is to humiliate the prankee. Many downright nasty and malicious tricks that have no other purpose are sometimes excused as a prank. If this happens, ask the pranker a simple question: “what about this was funny to me? Break it down and explain it to me”.</p>
<p>Should you accidentally cause someone hurt by a poorly targeted prank, it may be wise to hone another social skill: <a href="https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/the_three_parts_of_an_effective_apology">a genuine apology</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/195932/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rachael Sharman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Elf-on-a-shelf and the ‘this is you as a baby’ Tiktok trend both involve tricking our kids. Can tricking your kids damage trust, or can it actually teach them something? And why do they believe us?Rachael Sharman, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, University of the Sunshine CoastLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1952932022-12-08T19:24:16Z2022-12-08T19:24:16ZTantrums to tinsel: why I love the curious and festive tradition of the Santa photo<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499155/original/file-20221206-5826-q6cnpb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2560%2C1769&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The author and her family with Santa in 1980.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In April 1995, my uncle secured a lucrative job in Saudi Arabia. He and my aunt left their home in suburban Sydney and relocated to a western compound (a residential gated community for expats) in Jeddah. My aunt shares stories of life under Saudi’s strict laws and how she craved her western freedoms. One such freedom was the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/24/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-christmas.html">celebration of Christmas</a>.</p>
<p>Hailing mostly from Australia, the UK and America, the compound residents organised their Christmases by smuggling in decorations and creating homemade Santa suits. They even staged the photographic rituals with mums and dads disguised as the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-history-of-the-shopping-centre-santa-and-how-he-became-a-staple-of-the-festive-season-170544">shopping centre Santa Claus</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498125/original/file-20221129-18-2d4cyv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498125/original/file-20221129-18-2d4cyv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498125/original/file-20221129-18-2d4cyv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=946&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498125/original/file-20221129-18-2d4cyv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=946&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498125/original/file-20221129-18-2d4cyv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=946&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498125/original/file-20221129-18-2d4cyv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1189&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498125/original/file-20221129-18-2d4cyv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1189&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498125/original/file-20221129-18-2d4cyv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1189&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">At home in Saudi Arabia. My uncle catches his daughter as she leaps off Santa’s lap, 1996.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Image courtesy of the Sharbine and Pryor families</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>My aunt’s eagerness to recreate this photographic ritual with her children stems from her own childhood posing with Santa. My siblings and I were also photographed every year on Santa’s lap and we continue the ritual with our own kids. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498136/original/file-20221130-20-t58j7l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498136/original/file-20221130-20-t58j7l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498136/original/file-20221130-20-t58j7l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=973&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498136/original/file-20221130-20-t58j7l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=973&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498136/original/file-20221130-20-t58j7l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=973&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498136/original/file-20221130-20-t58j7l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1222&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498136/original/file-20221130-20-t58j7l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1222&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498136/original/file-20221130-20-t58j7l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1222&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">My aunt is looking at Santa instead of the camera. 1966.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Image courtesy of H. Pryor</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As a photographer, I have spent years studying my curious desire to participate in this photographic custom. While I do not celebrate Christmas on religious grounds and bemoan the increasing consumerism of the season, I participate with overzealous enthusiasm in the Santa Claus photo. </p>
<p>This is evident in the careful way I have cultivated the collection of my children’s Santa photographs between 2009-2018, and kept guard of my family’s collection from the 70s and 80s that portrays me alongside my siblings and, on one rare occasion, with my parents.</p>
<p>I use myself and my family as a case study. Analysing details like my mother’s obsession with dressing my sister and I in identical outfits, and then the ways I consciously made my children dress themselves.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498135/original/file-20221130-20-xljhhz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498135/original/file-20221130-20-xljhhz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498135/original/file-20221130-20-xljhhz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498135/original/file-20221130-20-xljhhz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498135/original/file-20221130-20-xljhhz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498135/original/file-20221130-20-xljhhz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498135/original/file-20221130-20-xljhhz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498135/original/file-20221130-20-xljhhz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Year after year my mother dressed my sister and I in matching outfits - an indicator of togetherness and the ideal family.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Santa photo feeds my photographic penchant for overly staged family portraits that signal to the camera “we are posing together for a photograph”. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-history-of-the-shopping-centre-santa-and-how-he-became-a-staple-of-the-festive-season-170544">The history of the shopping centre Santa, and how he became a staple of the festive season</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Perfect Kodak moments</h2>
<p>In <a href="https://monoskop.org/images/0/03/Bourdieu_Pierre_Photography_A_Middle-brow_Art.pdf">Photography A Middle–Brow Art</a>, the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu famously observed in his 1965 study of amateur photography, that the family represents itself in “ideal moments of celebration” in order to secure its honourable social standing.</p>
<p>The Santa photos certainly fit this schema, tied to the so-called “Kodak moments” where everyone says “cheese”. </p>
<p>Instagram, which today operates as a public family album, reveals a searchable hashtag archive. Across <a href="https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/santaphoto/">#santaphoto</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/santaphotos/">#santaphotos</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/santapictures/">#santapictures</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/vintagesantaphoto/">#vintagesantaphoto</a> you’ll find thousands of images of children sitting nicely on Santa’s lap. </p>
<p>Like most family photographs they serve a nostalgic function to take us into our pasts (with rose coloured glasses) and make us laugh at ourselves, at how we used to look, our hair styles, fashions, poses and reactions. </p>
<p>Today there are even photo sessions <a href="https://scenetobelieve.com.au/santaphotos/">for pets</a>, and “sensitive Santa photo sessions” for children with special needs. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498137/original/file-20221130-14-t58j7l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498137/original/file-20221130-14-t58j7l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498137/original/file-20221130-14-t58j7l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498137/original/file-20221130-14-t58j7l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498137/original/file-20221130-14-t58j7l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498137/original/file-20221130-14-t58j7l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=689&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498137/original/file-20221130-14-t58j7l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=689&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498137/original/file-20221130-14-t58j7l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=689&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">COVID-era sees young Leo posing 1.5 metres apart from Santa.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Image courtesy of the Morosin family.</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>With the rise of COVID-19, we see action packed <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-11-07/santa-photos-covid-safe-social-distancing-christmas-photos-beach/12849618">beach Santa photos</a> proving popular. In the shopping centre, the 1.5 metre social distancing rule is captured for posterity.</p>
<p>But Santa photos capture more than just the idealised moments of family life. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-borrowed-customs-and-traditions-of-christmas-celebrations-149527">The borrowed customs and traditions of Christmas celebrations</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Hilarious ‘Santa fails’</h2>
<p>If the perfect family photograph is where the children are well dressed and everyone is posing and smiling happily, the “Santa fails” resist the ideal. </p>
<p>Santa fails show children reeling from Santa, throwing tantrums, back arching, crying and demanding to leave. Search <a href="https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/santafail/">#santafail</a> on Instagram to see the truth of the matter: we happily and freely deposit our children onto the lap of a total stranger. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498143/original/file-20221130-12-ql9rek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498143/original/file-20221130-12-ql9rek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498143/original/file-20221130-12-ql9rek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498143/original/file-20221130-12-ql9rek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498143/original/file-20221130-12-ql9rek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498143/original/file-20221130-12-ql9rek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498143/original/file-20221130-12-ql9rek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498143/original/file-20221130-12-ql9rek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Scared of Santa. My sister in 1977 and my brother in 1989 both in tears.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The artist Julie Rrap recently shared a story with me about her father who was once employed as a shopping centre Santa. He often reported coming home with a saturated lap from children having wet themselves while seated. </p>
<p>The comic relief that comes with such stories and the Santa fails are over time another ritual enjoyed among family members. But my attraction to the Santa photo goes deeper than comic relief of fearing Santa. </p>
<h2>A work of art</h2>
<p>As a migrant family in 70s and 80s Australia, we interpreted the Santa photo as a fun and unpretentious custom that assimilated us into the middle-class values of suburban Australia. </p>
<p>Participating in this ritual made us feel and appear more Australian, if only to ourselves. </p>
<p>I’m also interested in the Santa photos as a photographic typology. As a photographer, I have done what Bourdieu describes and “elevated the ordinary photo into a work of art”. </p>
<p>Through my training I have linked the seriality of Santa photographs to Rineke Dijkstra’s photographic portraits of <a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/dijkstra-olivier-les-guerdes-france-november-1-2000-p15478">Olivier</a> and <a href="https://www.moma.org/explore/inside_out/2010/01/14/what-s-in-a-portrait-rineke-dijkstra-s-almerisa/">Almerisa</a>. Photographing the same people over many years, Dijkstra captures the subtle changes in their appearance, mood and fashion style, as well as their social and political status. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498148/original/file-20221130-14-2d4cyv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498148/original/file-20221130-14-2d4cyv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498148/original/file-20221130-14-2d4cyv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=335&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498148/original/file-20221130-14-2d4cyv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=335&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498148/original/file-20221130-14-2d4cyv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=335&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498148/original/file-20221130-14-2d4cyv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498148/original/file-20221130-14-2d4cyv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498148/original/file-20221130-14-2d4cyv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Marking time. Frame by frame I witness what I can’t see before my very eyes, my children growing and changing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I am also reminded of the playful <a href="https://www.mariangoodman.com/usr/documents/press/download_url/32/art-history-journal-2016-.pdf">fictional photographs of Christian Boltanski</a> where the title of the work – 10 photographic portraits of Christian Boltanski 1946-1964, 1972 – leads the viewer to think they are looking at portraits of a boy growing up, when in fact they are reconstructions. </p>
<p>Like these artworks, Santa photos mark time, revealing what is imperceptible in everyday life. Through the repetition of a performance, a scene and an image we confront ourselves and the people we love changing. </p>
<p>Children and animals are notoriously the hardest subjects to photograph. The training a photographer receives with Santa photography is a baptism of fire. Moving subjects, crying babies, a toddler’s inability to sit still, scared children that won’t smile and toddlers engaged in escape attempts all combine with the parent’s consumer expectations that the photographer should get the right shot. </p>
<p>Remember, the next time you take your children, pets or yourself to have a Santa photo, keep in mind that the “right shot” and the best Santa photos are often not the ones where they’re smiling. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/10-months-and-hundreds-of-subjects-how-i-took-portrait-photography-to-the-streets-of-parramatta-189448">10 months and hundreds of subjects: how I took portrait photography to the streets of Parramatta</a>
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</p>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/195293/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cherine Fahd does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As a migrant family, participating in this ritual made us feel and appear more Australian, if only to ourselves.Cherine Fahd, Associate Professor of Visual Communication in the School of Design, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1495272020-12-20T21:12:48Z2020-12-20T21:12:48ZThe borrowed customs and traditions of Christmas celebrations<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372195/original/file-20201201-18-1fl360e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=297%2C595%2C2738%2C1418&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ruslan Kalnitsky/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Not long to go now before many of us get to spread some good tidings and joy as we celebrate Christmas.</p>
<p>The main ways we understand and mark the occasion seem to be rather <a href="https://www.whychristmas.com/cultures/">similar across the world</a>. It’s about time with community, family, food-sharing, gift-giving and overall merry festivities.</p>
<p>But while Christmas is ostensibly a Christian celebration of the birth of Jesus, many of the rituals and customs come from other traditions, both spiritual and secular.</p>
<h2>The first Christmas</h2>
<p>The journey of Christmas into the celebration we know and recognise today is not a straight line.</p>
<p>The first Christmas celebrations were <a href="https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/301-600/the-1st-recorded-celebration-of-christmas-11629658.html">recorded</a> in Ancient Rome in the fourth century. Christmas was placed in December, around the time of the northern <a href="https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/winter-solstice.html">winter solstice</a>.</p>
<p>It is not difficult to spot the similarities between our now long-standing <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christmas">Christmas</a> traditions and the Roman festival of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Saturnalia-Roman-festival">Saturnalia</a>, which was also celebrated in December and co-existed with Christian belief for a period of time.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/feeling-pressured-to-buy-christmas-presents-read-this-and-think-twice-before-buying-candles-150174">Feeling pressured to buy Christmas presents? Read this (and think twice before buying candles)</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<p>Saturnalia placed an emphasis on the sharing of food and drink, and spending time with loved ones as the colder winter period arrived. There is even evidence that the Romans exchanged little gifts of food to mark the occasion.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372457/original/file-20201202-22-ipw85o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A table with food, wine and candles." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372457/original/file-20201202-22-ipw85o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372457/original/file-20201202-22-ipw85o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372457/original/file-20201202-22-ipw85o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372457/original/file-20201202-22-ipw85o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372457/original/file-20201202-22-ipw85o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372457/original/file-20201202-22-ipw85o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372457/original/file-20201202-22-ipw85o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some people still celebrate Saturnalia today with food and drink.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/carolemage/38396036234/">Carole Raddato/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>As Christianity took greater hold in the Roman world and the old polytheistic religion was left behind, we can see the cultural imprint of Saturnalia traditions in the ways in which our well-known Christmas celebrations established themselves across the board.</p>
<h2>A Yule celebration</h2>
<p>Turning an eye to the Germanic-Scandinavian context also provides intriguing connections. In the <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/christmas/history-of-christmas">Norse religion</a>, Yule was a winter festival celebrated during the period we now roughly associate with December.</p>
<p>The beginning of Yule was marked by the arrival of the Wild Hunt, a spiritual occurrence when the Norse god Odin would ride across the sky on his eight-legged white horse.</p>
<p>While the hunt was a frightening sight to behold, it also brought excitement for families, and especially children, as Odin was known to leave little gifts at each household as he rode past.</p>
<p>Like the Roman Saturnalia, Yule was a time of drawing in for the winter months, during which copious amounts of food and drink would be consumed.</p>
<p>The Yule festivities included bringing tree branches inside the home and decorating them with food and trinkets, likely opening the way for the <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/christmas/history-of-christmas-trees">Christmas tree</a> as we know it today.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372477/original/file-20201202-16-m4og1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A decorated Christmas tree in a home." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372477/original/file-20201202-16-m4og1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372477/original/file-20201202-16-m4og1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372477/original/file-20201202-16-m4og1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372477/original/file-20201202-16-m4og1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372477/original/file-20201202-16-m4og1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372477/original/file-20201202-16-m4og1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372477/original/file-20201202-16-m4og1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The decorated Christmas tree can trace its roots back to Northern Europe.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/wolfsavard/3145328220/">Laura LaRose/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>The influence of Yule on the festive season of Northern European countries is still evident in linguistic expression too, with “Jul” being the word for Christmas in Danish and Norwegian. The English language also maintains this connection, by referring to the Christmas period as “Yuletide”.</p>
<h2>Here comes Santa</h2>
<p>Through the idea of gift-giving, we see the obvious connections between Odin and Santa Claus, even though the latter is somewhat of a popular culture invention, as put forward by the famous poem <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43171/a-visit-from-st-nicholas">A Visit from St Nicholas</a> (also known as The Night Before Christmas), attributed to American poet <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Clement-Clarke-Moore">Clement Clarke Moore</a> in 1837 (although <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/books/86071888/who-really-named-santas-reindeer-its-not-who-you-thought">debate continues</a> over <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/night-before-christmas-poem-1.4446455">who actually wrote the poem</a>).</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yeb_oH5_OJE?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
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<p>The poem was very well-received and its popularity spread immediately, going well beyond the American context and reaching global fame. The poem gave us much of the staple imagery we associate with Santa today, including the first ever mention of his reindeer.</p>
<p>But even the figure of Santa Claus is evidence of the constant mixture and mingling of <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33574172-christmas">traditions, customs and representations</a>.</p>
<p>Santa’s evolution <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1493195.Christmas">carries echoes</a> of not only Odin, but also historical figures such as <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Nicholas">Saint Nicholas of Myra</a> — a fourth-century bishop known for his charitable work — and the legendary Dutch figure of <a href="https://www.dutchnews.nl/features/2015/11/ten-things-you-need-to-know-to-celebrate-sinterklaas/">Sinterklaas</a> that derived from it.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372717/original/file-20201203-19-mc5oyb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Sinterklaas has a white beard and is dressed in a red jacket, speaking with some children." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372717/original/file-20201203-19-mc5oyb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372717/original/file-20201203-19-mc5oyb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372717/original/file-20201203-19-mc5oyb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372717/original/file-20201203-19-mc5oyb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372717/original/file-20201203-19-mc5oyb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372717/original/file-20201203-19-mc5oyb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372717/original/file-20201203-19-mc5oyb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Dutch figure Sinterklaas looks a lot like Santa.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/archeon/4141592110/">Hans Splinter/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Christmas down under in the summer</h2>
<p>The idea of connecting Christmas to winter festivals and drawing in customs makes the most sense in the colder months of the Northern hemisphere.</p>
<p>In the Southern hemisphere, in countries such as New Zealand and Australia, the traditional Christmas celebrations have evolved into their own specific brand, which is much more suited to the warmer summer months.</p>
<p>Christmas is an imported event in these areas and acts as a constant reminder of the spread of European colonialism in the 18th and 19th centuries.</p>
<p>Celebrating Christmas still carries the influence of European contexts, being a time for merriment, gift-giving and community spirit.</p>
<p>Even some of the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45310198-christmas-food-and-feasting">traditional foods</a> of the season here are still indebted to Euro-British traditions, with <a href="https://thisnzlife.co.nz/12-tips-cooking-perfect-christmas-turkey/">turkey</a> and <a href="https://dish.co.nz/recipes/raspberry-glazed-christmas-ham">ham</a> taking centre stage.</p>
<p>All the same, as Christmas falls in the summer down under, there are also different ways to <a href="https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/kiwi-christmas">celebrate it in New Zealand</a> and <a href="https://www.whychristmas.com/cultures/">other regions</a> that clearly have nothing to do with winter festivals.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-choose-the-right-christmas-gift-tips-from-psychological-research-149739">How to choose the right Christmas gift: tips from psychological research</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Barbecues and beach days are prominent new traditions, as borrowed practices co-exist with novel ways of adapting the event to a different context. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372759/original/file-20201203-13-no0rb6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A plate of mini tropical fruit pavlovas with berries" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372759/original/file-20201203-13-no0rb6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372759/original/file-20201203-13-no0rb6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372759/original/file-20201203-13-no0rb6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372759/original/file-20201203-13-no0rb6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372759/original/file-20201203-13-no0rb6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372759/original/file-20201203-13-no0rb6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372759/original/file-20201203-13-no0rb6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Try a pavlova, something more summery for Christmas in New Zealand.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/30478819@N08/50194313052/">Marco Verch Professional/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The wintery Christmas puddings are often exchanged for more summery pavlovas, whose fresh fruit toppings and meringue base certainly befit the warmer season to a greater extent.</p>
<p>The transition to outdoor Christmas celebrations in the Southern hemisphere is obviously locked in common sense because of the warmer weather.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, it also shows how both cultural and geographical drivers can influence the evolution of celebrating important festivals. And if you really want to experience a cold Christmas down under, there is always a mid-year Christmas in July to look forward to.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/149527/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lorna Piatti-Farnell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Christmas we celebrate today around the world, whether in northern winter or southern summer, has its roots in many cultures and traditions.Lorna Piatti-Farnell, Professor of Popular Culture, Auckland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1082352018-12-17T21:42:09Z2018-12-17T21:42:09ZThe science of saying goodbye to Santa<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249524/original/file-20181209-128205-1jkmc13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Don't fret if your kids are starting to doubt Santa's magic. Coming to disbelieve is not particularly distressing for them and most come to their own conclusions. </span> </figcaption></figure><p>Dear Parent, </p>
<p>Santa here. I know this season has been hard. Your eight-year-old looked at you baldfaced and said I wasn’t real. How can this be? Is the innocence and magic already gone? It seems like just yesterday they were so easily convinced that crumbs on the plate were irrefutable evidence that I’d been there. And they have no respect for how hard I work to make my handwriting look just like yours! </p>
<p>No matter that you never got a chance to tell them I don’t exist. <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02253287">Most children come to that conclusion themselves.</a> </p>
<p>But don’t worry about your kids too much. Coming to disbelieve in Santa is not particularly distressing for them. You, like many parents, are actually <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02253287">sadder than your kids are about it.</a> And they probably won’t blame you for having told them I exist, either. Kids who no longer believe in me <a href="https://europepmc.org/abstract/med/9052114">think that other kids should be encouraged to</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306843/original/file-20191213-85417-1vfnqt2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306843/original/file-20191213-85417-1vfnqt2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306843/original/file-20191213-85417-1vfnqt2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306843/original/file-20191213-85417-1vfnqt2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306843/original/file-20191213-85417-1vfnqt2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306843/original/file-20191213-85417-1vfnqt2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306843/original/file-20191213-85417-1vfnqt2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Research suggests not many children over the age of seven-and-a-half believe in Santa.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And a little happiness can’t hurt, particularly in light of evidence that <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11482-015-9441-8">people are less happy around Christmastime,</a> (with the exception of devout Christians).</p>
<p>Parenting is tough these days. I don’t get a lot of news up here in the North Pole, though we’ve gotten a lot more since Mrs. Claus talked the elves into using pixie-dust to make a rocking horse that functions as an Amazon Echo. But from the little news we get, we can tell that people are <a href="http://mottnpch.org/sites/default/files/documents/061917_criticizingmoms.pdf">super-judgmental about every decision you make,</a> including your decision to (or not to) tell your kids to believe in Santa Claus.</p>
<p>Some Christians think Santa strengthens <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1542-734X.1987.1001_87.x">consumption as religion</a>. Indeed, like the gods of religions, I do have <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1551-6709.2012.01242.x">“strategic knowledge”</a> about what your kids do that is good and bad, paying more attention to moral issues than anything else (I don’t pay any attention to <em>you</em>, parents, so don’t worry about clearing your browser history, ho ho ho!). But the similarity of believing in me to believing in the gods of religions is <a href="http://nautil.us/blog/is-santa-claus-a-god">tenuous,</a> because <a href="https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:efbc8932-ac22-4975-914f-f47a3e221545">I have failed to attract a substantial community of true believers.</a> </p>
<p>Your skeptical kids are not alone. <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/record/2013-42173-004">Not many people over the age of seven-and-a-half believe in Santa Claus.</a></p>
<p>Some think that telling kids about me is lying, and destroys trust, but <a href="https://theconversation.com/lies-about-santa-they-could-be-good-for-your-child-88855">there’s no evidence that that happens</a>. In fact, there isn’t any scientific evidence that believing in me is harmful in any way. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250792/original/file-20181216-185234-gwpv26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250792/original/file-20181216-185234-gwpv26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250792/original/file-20181216-185234-gwpv26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250792/original/file-20181216-185234-gwpv26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250792/original/file-20181216-185234-gwpv26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250792/original/file-20181216-185234-gwpv26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250792/original/file-20181216-185234-gwpv26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">There’s no evidence that telling kids about Santa destroys trust.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Michael Nunes/Unsplash</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But belief might have some benefits: kids are more generous after talking about me (versus when they talk about pets or the Easter Bunny). But <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0361476X84900031">it’s unclear whether bringing up Santa promotes good behaviour.</a></p>
<p>So if your kids stopped believing, or if they never did, it probably doesn’t matter much either way. But don’t be too sad. Just because a sleigh ride ends doesn’t mean it wasn’t fun, does it?</p>
<p>Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night,</p>
<p>Santa Claus</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/108235/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jim Davies does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>When your kids stop believing, it’s probably harder on you than on them.Jim Davies, Professor, Institute of Cognitive Science, Carleton UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1078842018-12-17T19:04:57Z2018-12-17T19:04:57ZTeleporting and psychedelic mushrooms: a history of St Nicholas, Santa and his helpers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250876/original/file-20181217-185249-1a1da2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Illustration to verse 1 of the children's poem Old Santeclaus with Much Delight. 1821. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Claus%27s_reindeer#/media/File:The_Children%27s_friend._Number_III._A_New-Year%27s_present,_to_the_little_ones_from_five_to_twelve._Part_III_(1821),_page_1.jpg">Wikimedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>There are many sides to the beloved figure of Santa Claus - a giant of pop culture, he also has “miraculous” powers and ties to the celebration of the birth of Jesus. Santa’s blend of religion and popular culture is, however, not modern at all. Several of Santa’s modern features, such as his generosity, miracle-working, and focus on morality (being “naughty or nice”), were part of his image from the very beginning. Others, like the reindeer, came later. </p>
<p>The original Santa, <a href="https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/12/131219-santa-claus-origin-history-christmas-facts-st-nicholas/">Saint Nicholas</a>, was a <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-did-we-come-to-celebrate-christmas-66042">fourth century CE bishop of Myra</a> (in modern Turkey) with a reputation for generosity and wonder-working. St Nicholas became an important figure in eighth century Byzantium before hitting pan-European stardom around the 11th century. </p>
<p>He became a focus not just for religious devotion, but Medieval dramas and popular festivals - some popular enough to be suppressed <a href="https://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousbench/2016/12/not-merry-christmas-protestantism-nearly-killed-st-nick/">during the Reformation</a></p>
<h2>The naughty list</h2>
<p>St Nicholas had his own version of the naughty list, including the fourth century “arch-heretic” <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Arianism">Arius</a>, whose views annoyed the saint so much he supposedly smacked Arius in the face in front of Emperor Constantine and assembled bishops at Nicaea. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250869/original/file-20181217-185252-1p0v1ye.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250869/original/file-20181217-185252-1p0v1ye.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250869/original/file-20181217-185252-1p0v1ye.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1008&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250869/original/file-20181217-185252-1p0v1ye.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1008&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250869/original/file-20181217-185252-1p0v1ye.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1008&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250869/original/file-20181217-185252-1p0v1ye.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1266&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250869/original/file-20181217-185252-1p0v1ye.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1266&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250869/original/file-20181217-185252-1p0v1ye.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1266&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Portrait of Saint Nicholas of Myra. First half of the 13th century.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St_Nicholas_Icon_Sinai_13th_century.jpg">Wikimedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>An even more surprising listee is the Greek goddess of the hunt, Artemis. In popular Byzantine stories, Nicholas acted like a one-man wrecking crew, personally pulling down her temples, and even demolishing the great temple of Artemis at Ephesus, one of the <a href="https://www.salon.com/2017/08/20/how-we-lost-the-seven-wonders-of-the-ancient-world/">Seven Wonders of the World</a>. It’s almost a shame, as they probably would have agreed about the importance of reindeer.</p>
<p>The idea of St Nicholas’ conflict with Artemis probably relates to religious change in Anatolia, where the goddess was hugely popular. Historically, the temple was sacked earlier, by a band of Gothic raiders in the 260s CE, but hagiographers had other ideas. Perhaps these furious northmen even count as Santa’s earliest “helpers”. He was after all (as part of his extensive saintly portfolio) the patron of the Varangians, the <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/viking-runes-at-hagia-sophia">Viking bodyguard</a> of the Byzantine Emperors. </p>
<h2>Fast travelling</h2>
<p>Santa’s greatest miracle is intrinsic to modern Christmases: his ability to reach all the children on Earth in one night. <a href="https://www.noradsanta.org/">NORAD, the US and Canadian air defence force, has tracked Santa’s sleigh</a> since the 1950s, <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/news/science/santa-claus-is-a-master-of-the-multiverse-1.2461813">presumably trying to figure out the secret of his super speed</a>. But really, they just need to check their ancient sources. </p>
<p>St Nicholas had a history of <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/quantum-computing-gate-teleported-first-time-1108858">teleporting</a> about on his own — often showing up in the nick of time when people ask for his help. <a href="http://helleniclifestyle.com/decorate-tree-ship-greek-christmas/">As the patron saint of sailors</a>, he often did this out at sea. </p>
<p>In one story, sailors in a wild storm in the eastern Mediterranean cried out for the already-famous wonderworker’s help. With the mast cracking and sails coming loose, a white-bearded man suddenly appeared and helped them haul the ropes, steady the tiller, and brought them safe to shore. Rushing up the hill to the local church to give thanks, the sailors were astonished to see Nicholas was already there, in the middle of saying mass.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250878/original/file-20181217-185246-1g1kkwe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250878/original/file-20181217-185246-1g1kkwe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250878/original/file-20181217-185246-1g1kkwe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250878/original/file-20181217-185246-1g1kkwe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250878/original/file-20181217-185246-1g1kkwe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250878/original/file-20181217-185246-1g1kkwe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250878/original/file-20181217-185246-1g1kkwe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250878/original/file-20181217-185246-1g1kkwe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Saint Nicholas saves a ship. Circa 1425.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gentile_da_Fabriano_064.jpg">Wikimedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Suddenly appearing to save people became a favourite trick in accounts of the saint’s life and in folklore. He once saved three innocents from execution, teleporting behind the executioner and grabbing his sword, before upbraiding the judges for taking bribes. </p>
<p>There’s also the tale of Adeodatus, a young boy kidnapped by raiders and made the cupbearer of an eastern potentate. Soon after, St Nicholas appeared out of nowhere, grabbed the cupbearer in front of his startled master, and zipped him back home. </p>
<p>Artists depicting this story stage the rescue differently, but the Italian artists who have St Nicholas <a href="http://www.luoghigiottoitalia.it/en/o.cfm?id=53">swoop in from the sky, in full episcopal regalia, and grab the boy by the hair</a> are worth special mention.</p>
<h2>The flying reindeer</h2>
<p>None of the old tales have Saint Nicholas carrying around stacks of gifts when teleporting, which brings us to the reindeer, who can pull the sleigh full of millions of presents. The popular link between Santa Claus and gifting came through <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/christmas/santa-claus">the influence of stores advertising their Christmas shopping in the early 19th century</a>. This advertising drew on the old elf’s increasing popularity, with the use of “live” <a href="https://theconversation.com/tears-jeers-and-bullying-elves-tough-at-top-for-super-santas-21693">Santa visits in department stores</a> for children from the late 1800s. </p>
<p>Santa Claus became connected to reindeer largely <a href="http://mentalfloss.com/article/26719/mystery-behind-worlds-most-famous-christmas-poem">through the influence of the 1823 anonymous poem</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sL9Hqo7h8Bk">A visit from St Nicholas.</a>. In this poem, “Saint Nicholas” arrives with eight tiny reindeer pulling a sleigh full of toys. The reindeer have the miraculous ability to fly.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250874/original/file-20181217-185240-25aful.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250874/original/file-20181217-185240-25aful.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250874/original/file-20181217-185240-25aful.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250874/original/file-20181217-185240-25aful.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250874/original/file-20181217-185240-25aful.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250874/original/file-20181217-185240-25aful.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250874/original/file-20181217-185240-25aful.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250874/original/file-20181217-185240-25aful.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The fly agaric, a mushroom which produces toxins that can cause humans to hallucinate.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/40948266@N04/38010247562/in/photolist-ZUQskU-oNHS3c-ZUQsTY-CFP9v9-4GDzA9-ef7q3U-ZaWr3S-ZpBsD1-2cLW6Mt-e92Jg7-ef7rvL-21aW1zY-atFiNn-CNA9fd-hzowkJ-r3gXHg-dUypXm-YBwbJ7-8NTPLR-ZJfaVu-q5t6eK-jfeEg8-YmJ2vW-gh1XYF-YmMDCU-7c3LBx-5fSR3y-8QqXkP-BNRDGh-XdJ7Yr-hsdDSG-2cpBZ1W-av4Ehf-21JBaHY-Zfvbf1-26g9FMr-e26nDy-21sGf4N-dkYhXK-7gSFrF-aeTV4e-e2RDxi-FRdjMZ-Zq9oWm-51WK8-2cpBZ15-zp3dQd-roFE4Q-aSwXYr-pWDmEY">Flickr/Björn</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The origins of the animals’ flight may link back to the Saami reindeer herders of northern Scandinavia. Here, the herders were said to feed their reindeer a type of red-and-white mushroom with psychedelic properties, known as fly agaric fungi (<em>Amanita muscaria</em>). <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/21/opinion/santa-christmas-mushrooms.html">The mushrooms made the reindeer leap about, giving the impression of flying.</a> </p>
<p>The herders would then collect and consume the reindeer’s urine, with its toxins made safe by the reindeer’s metabolism. The reindeer herders could then possibly imagine the miraculous flight through the psychedelic properties of the mushroom.</p>
<p><a href="https://people.com/movies/rudolph-red-nosed-reindeer-voice-actor-says-bullying-criticism-misses-the-point/">The ninth reindeer, Rudolph</a>, was created as part of a promotional campaign for the department store Montgomery Ward by Robert Lewis May in 1939. May himself was a small, frail child, who empathised with underdogs. In May’s story, Rudolph Shines Again (1954), the little reindeer is helped by an angel to save some lost baby rabbits, once again blending Santa’s religious and popular sides.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250872/original/file-20181217-185268-1xvf3fg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250872/original/file-20181217-185268-1xvf3fg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250872/original/file-20181217-185268-1xvf3fg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250872/original/file-20181217-185268-1xvf3fg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250872/original/file-20181217-185268-1xvf3fg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250872/original/file-20181217-185268-1xvf3fg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250872/original/file-20181217-185268-1xvf3fg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250872/original/file-20181217-185268-1xvf3fg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Reindeer in Lapland.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/16927804@N07/8607086503/">Flickr/Steve K</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>And … invisible polar bears</h2>
<p>A number of modern depictions have connected Santa with polar bears, such as the 1994 film <a href="https://pagesix.com/2018/11/22/tim-allen-shot-and-killed-santa-in-original-santa-clause/">The Santa Clause</a>. It seems likely the association grew as Santa’s home became <a href="https://www.pri.org/stories/2015-12-24/how-and-when-north-pole-became-part-christmas">accepted as the North Pole</a> — though in one of the oldest stories, St Nicholas saves three Roman soldiers, one of whom is named Ursus (“Bear” in Latin). </p>
<p>Polar bears are undoubtedly useful companions for secretive Santa, and don’t even need his powers to move about unseen - <a href="http://mentalfloss.com/article/63340/polar-bears-perfect-spies">the special properties of their fur mean they are hidden even from night-vision goggles</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250875/original/file-20181217-185246-1qc578q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250875/original/file-20181217-185246-1qc578q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250875/original/file-20181217-185246-1qc578q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250875/original/file-20181217-185246-1qc578q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250875/original/file-20181217-185246-1qc578q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250875/original/file-20181217-185246-1qc578q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250875/original/file-20181217-185246-1qc578q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250875/original/file-20181217-185246-1qc578q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Polar bears have fur that is invisible to night vision goggles.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>J.R.R. Tolkien’s Letters From Father Christmas (1976), written by the Lord of the Rings’ author to his children, features the (mis)adventures of the North Polar Bear. Like St. Nick, the North Polar Bear isn’t shy about getting physical with those he perceives as wrong-doers. In one letter, the North Polar Bear saves Santa, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/22/elf-lobby-iceland-road-project">his elves</a>, and Christmas from a murderous group of goblins. </p>
<p>So with Santa Claus once again coming to town, remember — ancient or modern - it’s better to be <a href="https://www.deseretnews.com/article/900030918/if-being-nice-makes-us-happier-why-dont-more-people-do-nice-things.html">on the “nice” side</a> of this teleporting saint and his motley crew of miracle-workers.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/107884/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Several of Santa’s modern features, such as his generosity, miracle-working, and focus on morality (being ‘naughty or nice’), were part of his image from the very beginning.Louise Pryke, Lecturer, Languages and Literature of Ancient Israel, Macquarie UniversityChristopher Malone, Honorary Associate, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1069302018-12-09T19:09:02Z2018-12-09T19:09:02ZWe asked five experts: should I lie to my children about Santa?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/246376/original/file-20181120-161641-rk8pvl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">If they ask, tell them the truth.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ah yes, December. Christmas trees and decorations are popping up in shop windows, the weather is warming up, and the school holiday period looms. This may be exciting or distressing, depending on your relationship with your family.</p>
<p>Not everyone celebrates Christmas. But, for those who do, you may find yourself lying to your children during the holidays about jolly old Saint Nick. But is there real harm in lying to your children to prop up a popular myth? And don’t you deserve the credit for buying all the presents? </p>
<p>As adults we know Santa Claus isn’t real, but many of us remember the disappointing day we discovered this was the case. We asked five experts from various fields if you should lie to your children about Santa.</p>
<h2>Four out of five experts said no</h2>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/246375/original/file-20181120-161609-k77ikl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/246375/original/file-20181120-161609-k77ikl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=99&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246375/original/file-20181120-161609-k77ikl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=99&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246375/original/file-20181120-161609-k77ikl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=99&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246375/original/file-20181120-161609-k77ikl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=125&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246375/original/file-20181120-161609-k77ikl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=125&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246375/original/file-20181120-161609-k77ikl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=125&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><strong><em>Here are their detailed responses:</em></strong></p>
<p><iframe id="tc-infographic-315" class="tc-infographic" height="400px" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/infographics/315/a26b30792e6cee54e98490e0b6649e6923f55cef/site/index.html" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
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<p><em>If you have a “yes or no” education question you’d like posed to Five Experts, email your suggestion to: sophie.heizer@theconversation.edu.au</em></p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/210303/original/file-20180314-113452-h7un11.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/210303/original/file-20180314-113452-h7un11.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210303/original/file-20180314-113452-h7un11.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210303/original/file-20180314-113452-h7un11.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210303/original/file-20180314-113452-h7un11.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210303/original/file-20180314-113452-h7un11.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210303/original/file-20180314-113452-h7un11.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em>Disclosures: David Zyngier is convenor of The Public Education Network.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/106930/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Four out of five experts said no.Sophie Heizer, Commissioning Editor, Education, The ConversationLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/893582017-12-21T19:08:37Z2017-12-21T19:08:37ZDear robot Santa…<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199878/original/file-20171219-27557-jne6xu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">What if Santa was eventually replaced by an AI robot? </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/Aleutie</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In 1897, eight-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon wrote to the editor of New York’s The Sun newspaper to ask whether her friends were right to say there was no Santa Claus. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Papa says, ‘If you see it in THE SUN it’s so.’<br>
Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Her letter prompted one of the most famous newspaper editorials in history, <a href="http://www.newseum.org/exhibits/online/yes-virginia/">Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus</a>.</p>
<p>A modern-day Virginia’s smartphone is probably more capable than Santa of knowing what she wants for Christmas.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ten-tips-to-make-your-holidays-less-fraught-and-more-festive-88866">Ten tips to make your holidays less fraught and more festive</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p>So, how long before Siri and a network of artificially intelligent successors (programmed to anticipate human needs and communicate with each other) usurp Santa and start asking the alternative question: is Virginia real?</p>
<p>In the spirit of the New York’s The Sun (which no longer exists, sadly) this reply from a newspaper editor (if they still exist in the future) to a robotic Santa is set in 2047, 150 years after Virginia asked the question that is part of Christmas folklore.</p>
<hr>
<blockquote>
<p>December 2047</p>
<p>Dear Santa,</p>
<p>Your friends are wrong, affected by the scepticism of a sceptical age where they believe their “intelligence” can anticipate every thought and match it with an action.</p>
<p>It’s true that you machines, invisible but ubiquitous, have trumped our natural intelligence through your endless, silent buzz with each other. It began in the 2010s with Siri, and ultimately reached your level of apparent omnipotence.</p>
<p>But don’t forget. Somewhere (often remotely) at the end of every action, you are serving a human. In your case, it’s a little girl who wants to keep believing in the mystery and magic of Christmas.</p>
<p>So in answer to your question: Yes Santa, there really is a Virginia.</p>
<p>Don’t forget. The Santa whom children believed in has always seen all and known all - just like you. </p>
<p>He has always had helpers to create the gifts and magic of his story. Now, the workshops are run by bots, and the elves have become marketing assistants who no longer know how to wrap a gift, let alone guess what a little girl might want.</p>
<p>And the reindeer, freed from training for their annual epic flight thanks to your army of drones, have gone to fat. Even Rudolph with his nose so bright can no longer guide himself to the food trough, let alone a sleigh tonight.</p>
<p>Santa, you’ve asked what this is all about, what is your purpose? And precisely, is there really a Virginia or is she, as your robotic friends say, the toy of a personal bot she has had since birth?</p>
<p>The personal bot boom of the 2020s, then the development of belief and philosophy by your robotic predecessors in the 2030s, was always going to lead to you asking this question.</p>
<p>Fair enough. In earlier times, we humans would have asked ourselves why we were helping a machine think about its purpose in life. In fear, our instinct would have been to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgkyrW2NiwM">instantly cut off its power</a>. Now we’re flattered you asked.</p>
<p>Thankfully, we accepted how machines like you could do the heavy physical and mental lifting that for centuries has been the burden of humans.</p>
<p>We <a href="http://www.deccanchronicle.com/science/science/250717/regulate-ai-now-or-face-death-of-humanity-warns-elon-musk.html">regulated your limits</a> but gave <a href="https://theconversation.com/robot-rights-at-what-point-should-an-intelligent-machine-be-considered-a-person-72410">you rights</a>. Now our minds and bodies have been freed from the strains of earlier times, sparing us to concentrate on living good lives, rather than productive lives.</p>
<p>But, Santa, the good human life well lived starts with fantasy, as one of our predecessors, New York’s The Sun, explained to children 150 years ago.</p>
<p>The power of fantasy describes where the work you do every year comes from.</p>
<p>But the fantasy does not belong to the other bots you talk to. The fantasy belongs to the child they serve. Such fantasy allows something unexplainable to create universal joy, an emotion you can understand but never experience.</p>
<p>And those fantasies are what will create new ways of meeting human needs. Such fantasies led people to <a href="http://www.scififantasynetwork.com/man-invented-word-robot-karel-capek/">dream of, then create, the first robots</a> with only a fraction of your capabilities. Such fantasies found ways to power the planet without damaging it.</p>
<p>Your question about your purpose reminds us that such fantasies continue to matter - even to machines like you that learn effortlessly from us and each other.</p>
<p>But Santa, there is one fantasy you should not have. And that is that the little girl who craves a doll or a toy car like they used to drive in the good old days doesn’t matter. Or that the little boy who craves a toy kitchen or inflatable ball is subservient to the personal bot your “elves” listen to.</p>
<p>No Virginia, Santa? She is real - even if not to you. And you are real to her, not as a machine but as a magical figure that sees all and knows all - just as you always have, long before Siri.</p>
<p>She and you live forever. A thousand years from now – nay, 10,000 years from now – you and what you stand for will continue to make glad the heart of childhood and children like Virginia.</p>
<p>Yours, Ed </p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p><em>Thanks to veteran journalist <a href="https://www.biography.com/people/francis-p-church-21186543">Francis Pharcellus Church</a>, who penned the original editorial in New York’s The Sun all those years ago.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/89358/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Fagan is the author of Wake Up - The nine h#shtags of digital disruption (UQP, 2017). </span></em></p>What if Santa’s job is one of those taken over by an intelligent machine? Would a robot Santa begin to question its purpose and the existence of those it’s designed to serve at Christmas?David Fagan, Adjunct Professor, QUT Business School, and Director of Corporate Transition, Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/704582016-12-21T10:36:55Z2016-12-21T10:36:55ZYour child probably knows the truth about Santa – they’re playing along for the presents<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150997/original/image-20161220-26715-z0phrm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Most parents lie to their children. It’s usually done to get the children to behave the way the parents want. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23173801">One study found</a> that well over 80% of American parents and more than 90% of Chinese parents admitting to this kind of “instrumental” lying. Lying about the existence of Father Christmas often falls into this category, used as a tool <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03057240903101630">to teach pro-social behaviour</a> (helping and sharing) through the promise of presents if the children are good.</p>
<p>Of course, there can be other reasons for carrying on the Santa myth that are more to do with children’s immediate happiness. These could include extending the naivety of childhood and raising the excitement of the holiday season. But given what we know about children’s ability to figure out the truth, it seems likely that slightly older kids may well be playing along with their parents’ fantasy in order to reap the benefits of the promised rewards.</p>
<p>When <a href="https://secure.jbs.elsevierhealth.com/action/getSharedSiteSession?rc=1&redirect=http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(16)30363-7/abstract&code=lancet-site">studies have questioned</a> whether lying to children about Father Christmas <a href="https://theconversation.com/should-you-tell-your-child-the-truth-about-santa-a-psychologists-view-51955">does them any harm</a>, the theory seems to be that the dishonesty undermines parents’ image as trustworthy and reliable sources of information. But there’s no real evidence of any lasting damage.</p>
<p><a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02253287">Research with children who no longer believe</a> has shown that they tend to stop believing in Santa around seven years of age. When interviewed about their feelings about being lied to – and how they felt about Santa now – the children generally tended to report positive happy emotions around the topic. Parents, on the other hand, were left saddened by their child’s loss of Santa belief. </p>
<p>Children tend to come to the end of their belief of Santa either through their own tenacious questioning of the logic and practicality of the myth, or by older, more seasoned siblings and peers bursting the bubble. This is particularly the case for today’s tech-savvy kids, who have the internet to answer every question and give them extra space for conversations away from the protective guidance of adults keen to keep the myth alive.</p>
<p>Yet while children often come to the realisation that Santa is not what they had been lead to believe on their own, they also tend to act along with the fiasco and <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02253287">continue to play along</a> with 58% of children in one study playing the role of Santa-believer. This goes counter to the under-sevens’ tendency to correct the mistakes adults make, <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0885201409000501">in speech for example</a>, and to trust more reliable adults. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151243/original/image-20161221-3353-1w2hxjs.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151243/original/image-20161221-3353-1w2hxjs.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151243/original/image-20161221-3353-1w2hxjs.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151243/original/image-20161221-3353-1w2hxjs.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151243/original/image-20161221-3353-1w2hxjs.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151243/original/image-20161221-3353-1w2hxjs.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151243/original/image-20161221-3353-1w2hxjs.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151243/original/image-20161221-3353-1w2hxjs.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Following the script?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So what’s in it for the kids in maintaining the lie? Well the commonly written letter to Santa <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cb.88/abstract">may give us some clues</a>. Rather than reading this note assuming that this child believes in Santa, if we cynically consider that he or she no longer believed in Santa but is playing along – then the child is playing along like a pro.</p>
<p>We can see children’s willingness to play along with pretence and fantasy well beyond the seasonal myths into a more general eagerness to suspend reality for the enjoyment of play, something long <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cad.20154/full">associated with their development</a>. The act of playing along may also <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/dev/49/9/1660/">support children as they test out</a> out their knowledge and theories of the real world.</p>
<h2>Logical to pretend</h2>
<p>Within the letter to Santa, children often recognise the premise that they should have been good to warrant the requested presents, demonstrating they have followed the behavioural compliance set out by their parents. They put in a good mix of optimistic present requests, but with a placating note for those that might be overreaching and some humbler suggestions with a higher likelihood of approval. Plus there may be a nod to their doting grandparents for the affection it can be assumed they appreciate. </p>
<p>Really, the traditional letter represents a child’s well-constructed communication to people they know are lying in the hope they will reward the pro-social behaviour and willingness to play along. So, while <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002713809622135">researchers have reported</a> that younger Santa cynics may have well-developed abilities in logic and reasoning, this doesn’t necessarily mean they won’t play along with the myth for a little longer. Doing so may be enjoyable in itself, have some present-shaped benefits, and be a positive family experience. </p>
<p>There is also little evidence that childhood myths challenge otherwise trusted and secure parent-child relationships. Instead, when children realise that their parents were engaged in a protracted deception, the children appear to be less saddened than their parents.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/70458/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kate Ellis-Davies is affiliated with Nottingham Trent University and the University of Cambridge</span></em></p>Kids as young as seven have a good enough sense of logic to work out the truth and why it can be better to lie.Kate Ellis-Davies, Senior Lecturer, Division of Psychology, Nottingham Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/518032015-12-23T21:16:08Z2015-12-23T21:16:08ZHow to unwrap Christmas and Santa for the little atheists in your life<p>We don’t need to be christian to celebrate Christmas. That’s been true for a long time. We don’t even need to be religious. Considering the commercialisation of the holiday, that might be an advantage. </p>
<p>But there is no way to get around the religious iconography. Jesus, nativity scenes and christian symbols are everywhere. So how do you explain this to your children – or someone else’s children – if you and they are not religious?</p>
<p>Explaining Jesus to your child means explaining God. But when you pull that thread the story unravels to reveal the many versions of god that make up mainstream religion. So we have at least two distinct Christmas problems: the question of God’s existence, and which god might we be talking about.</p>
<h2>Christmas is secular as much as religious</h2>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/106158/original/image-20151215-25641-ryyhlf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/106158/original/image-20151215-25641-ryyhlf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/106158/original/image-20151215-25641-ryyhlf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=897&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/106158/original/image-20151215-25641-ryyhlf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=897&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/106158/original/image-20151215-25641-ryyhlf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=897&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/106158/original/image-20151215-25641-ryyhlf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1127&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/106158/original/image-20151215-25641-ryyhlf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1127&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/106158/original/image-20151215-25641-ryyhlf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1127&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Nativity scenes in stone.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Stephen Brent</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But the question of Christmas (a bit like the <a href="https://theconversation.com/easter-scuppers-the-certainties-of-modern-fundamentalists-39562">question of Easter</a>) is a more specific one. This particular holiday is a combination of secular celebration of goodwill and deep religious significance.</p>
<p>These two perspectives can of course co-exist, and for many the celebratory and the sacred complement each other. But nowadays, neither of these is really necessary for the other. </p>
<p>It might be tempting for atheist parents to just separate their Christmas from Christian celebrations altogether: some people are religious, some are just having a good time. But it’s hard to totally avoid religious references even in secular interpretations. </p>
<p>Apart from the iconography mentioned earlier, our carols are full of references to shepherds, saviours, angels and virgins. Many secular people love to belt these out each year during Carols by Candlelight or other communal gatherings. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/106159/original/image-20151215-25610-1sgn46b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/106159/original/image-20151215-25610-1sgn46b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/106159/original/image-20151215-25610-1sgn46b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=805&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/106159/original/image-20151215-25610-1sgn46b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=805&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/106159/original/image-20151215-25610-1sgn46b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=805&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/106159/original/image-20151215-25610-1sgn46b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1011&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/106159/original/image-20151215-25610-1sgn46b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1011&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/106159/original/image-20151215-25610-1sgn46b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1011&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Christmas tree in front of Wawel Cathedral, Poland.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bill Tyne</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>(Though it’s not all one way - Frosty the Snowman and Jingle Bells are as much a part of Christmas as Away in a Manger and Silent Night.)</p>
<p>Midwinter festivals are a very old pagan tradition, and the inclusion of nature symbols such as Christmas trees and mistletoe add another cultural layer to this holiday. </p>
<p>It’s the historical mix of the christian, pagan and now secular that makes Christmas so interesting as a modern time of celebration. </p>
<h2>Forget the problem of god - what about the problem of Santa?</h2>
<p>Even Santa Claus, originally based on a <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/12/131219-santa-claus-origin-history-christmas-facts-st-nicholas/">christian bishop</a> (and possibly even earlier pagan legends), is now a completely secular figure.</p>
<p>Santa himself, from a secular or religious point of view, is not without problems for the thinking child. Apart from the obvious logistical issues of present delivery world-wide, what about the myth that Santa only brings presents to good children? Does that mean poor children are bad? </p>
<p>How can this be reconciled with the realities of the world, which are far from hidden from our children? If Santa is not bringing presents to children in the Sudan, there are some unappealing deductive conclusions to be drawn.</p>
<p>It is a mistake to imagine that these issues fly under the radar of children. They are far more sensitive to issues of justice and fairness than we usually give them credit for. </p>
<h2>Understanding Christmas through Santa and Jesus</h2>
<p>The very organic mix of the secular and religious in Christmas is perhaps no better expressed that in Bart Simpson’s sentiment,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Haven’t we forgotten the real meaning of Christmas? You, know, the birth of Santa?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>For the religious parent, Santa may fall, but Jesus must remain. This can be a bit of a challenge for a child who has had one illusion shattered and is susceptible to a repeat. But for the secular parent once Santa goes that’s about it. All else is historical.</p>
<p>So there are two phases of understanding Christmas for children whose parents don’t feel the need to preserve two cultural stories. The first is the Santa phase, in which preserving Santa while contextualising Jesus is difficult. The second is the post-Santa phase, in which the whole facade crumbles and there is no need to walk on mythological eggshells. </p>
<p>For the former stage, about the only resort is the “some people believe” response; this is a bit tepid – after all, the “some people believe” approach can be equally applied to Santa. The latter, post-Santa stage, should put the onus on the child to develop their own thinking through conversations about the full and rich history of human ceremony, Santa and the christian Christmas story itself. </p>
<p>It’s hard to imagine a better teaching opportunity for children to understand their cultural heritage than to unpack all that is Christmas. Parents can encourage open inquiry into how the past has influenced our behaviour and values in the present, and help their child nurture an appreciation of why we do what we do. </p>
<p>This is not a rejection of the past, nor is it a belittling of it. Rather it makes taking part in Christmas a celebration of what we have collectively gone through to get where we are today.</p>
<p>The true meaning of Christmas is defined through the celebration of all those who have historically enjoyed this time of year. This collective understanding presents an opportunity for children to appreciate the deep cultural history that makes up Christmas.</p>
<p>That is what we should pass on to them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/51803/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Ellerton does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>You might not believe in God, but do you tell your kids about Santa? How do you explain Christmas to your children if you and they are not religious?Peter Ellerton, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy and Education; Curriculum Director, UQ Critical Thinking Project, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/517372015-12-22T21:40:00Z2015-12-22T21:40:00ZShould I lie to my child about Santa?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105951/original/image-20151215-23176-4ltf9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">It's not always a bad thing to lie to your kids.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s that time of the year again when parents deliberate over whether to lie – or continue the lie – to their kids about Santa Claus.</p>
<p>Many parents don’t feel comfortable “lying” to their child just to prop up a popular myth.</p>
<p>But does lying about whether Santa exists really do children any psychological harm? And if you do choose to lie to them, when’s the best age to break the news?</p>
<h2>How lying works</h2>
<p>Lying is a surprisingly sophisticated skill – it’s all about a person’s intentions.</p>
<p>For example, I might say, Sally is bringing Turkey on Christmas day, because I honestly believed that was the arrangement. But actually I got it wrong, Sally is bringing ham. </p>
<p>Unintentional misreporting of information we genuinely believe to be true is not the same as deliberately trying to implant a false belief.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8hLubgpY2_w?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>The ability to lie and deliberately have someone believe something we know not to be true requires a fairly well-developed theory of mind (ToM) with two specific components:</p>
<p><strong>1) Understanding perception</strong></p>
<p>You appreciate that others can entertain a different understanding to yours. It might surprise you that a number of adults still struggle with this concept because they have difficulty seeing things from another point of view. </p>
<p>Stepping outside your own perspective to appreciate another’s involves an extraordinary amount of brain function; <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811910007895">error rates</a> in doing so, even among adults, remain high. </p>
<p><strong>2) Knowing you can convince someone of a false belief</strong></p>
<p>If you ask me my name and I tell you it’s Sandra, do you demand to see a birth certificate to verify that information? Of course not, chances are you will take whatever I tell you at face value. Only if inconsistencies or suspicions arise are you likely to invest any time or effort to determine that my real name is Rachael. </p>
<p>The purpose of lying can be fairly obvious (I want you to hold a false belief about my name to hide my identity); alternatively the reasons why some people lie can be extremely perplexing. </p>
<p>Pathological liars, for example, seem to have no clear motive whatsoever. It seems they <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1348/135532510X518722/full">simply enjoy</a> the sport of implanting false beliefs – an act that has been coined “duping delight”. </p>
<h2>When do children understand the concept of lying?</h2>
<p>Theory of mind is an incredibly important skill to cultivate – it’s the basis of what you might think of as social intelligence. </p>
<p>Around the age of four years children will experience an epiphany in realising that not everyone thinks exactly the same way as they do. </p>
<p>Unlike a number of other brain functions, ToM has a tendency to <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2014/05/16/4006135.htm">improve with age</a> (and experience). </p>
<p>Being able to put yourself in another’s shoes is a vital skill for day-to-day relationships (just because I like Turkey at Christmas lunch, that doesn’t automatically mean my family do, so I should also offer other options). </p>
<p>In a bigger picture application, it allows us to negotiate using diplomacy, politics and strategy to achieve compromise rather than slugging out our differences on a battlefield.</p>
<p>ToM helps us to appreciate if we are being deceived, manipulated and drives us to think critically – for example, demand evidence to test a belief that is being put to us. </p>
<p>It also helps us to imagine, fantasise, daydream and create. Little kids holding imaginary tea parties, despite the obvious omission of hot tea, causes few parents concerns. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105948/original/image-20151215-23176-vhx1pe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105948/original/image-20151215-23176-vhx1pe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105948/original/image-20151215-23176-vhx1pe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105948/original/image-20151215-23176-vhx1pe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105948/original/image-20151215-23176-vhx1pe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=752&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105948/original/image-20151215-23176-vhx1pe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=752&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105948/original/image-20151215-23176-vhx1pe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=752&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Stories about Santa help to develop imagination.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>You can think about Santa in the same vein. </p>
<p>Stories about trolls, monsters, fairies and Santa fertilise a developing imagination and may even <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11682-013-9241-4#/page-1">encourage lateral thinking</a>.</p>
<p>Most kids will figure out that Santa is not real in early primary school, either from their friends, or simply because around the same time their brain naturally <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-magical-thinking-and-do-we-grow-out-of-it-35384">moves from magical</a> to <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-truth-the-whole-truth-and-wait-how-many-truths-are-there-6955">logical thinking</a>.</p>
<p>This doesn’t seem to bother them for the most part, possibly because they are concurrently developing an understanding of others’ intentions (Mum told me about Santa to make me happy). </p>
<p>No matter how old and cynical we become, most of us still indulge the odd fantasy: reading fictional books, watching zombie films or daydreaming. </p>
<p>There’s nothing wrong with bringing a little joyful magic into your child’s life. However if your child starts to cultivate suspicions that Santa isn’t real, and asks you directly for the truth of the matter, it is probably time to fess up.</p>
<p>Continuing the Santa mirage after age 12 years isn’t helpful, as most kids will have the brain power by then to realise you are just being silly. However up to eight years or so, not only are stories about Santa and others age-appropriate, they may even facilitate imagination, hope and optimism: some approaches to life we would all do well to cultivate further.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/51737/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rachael Sharman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Stories about Santa can help to develop imagination, so there’s nothing wrong with bringing a little joyful magic into your child’s life.Rachael Sharman, Lecturer in Psychology, University of the Sunshine CoastLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/357932015-01-01T13:54:12Z2015-01-01T13:54:12ZHope for the New Year: getting fitter boosts even the survival of the fattest<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68121/original/image-20150101-8207-h46hrk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">It's never too late to balance the ledger!</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&language=en&ref_site=photo&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&use_local_boost=1&searchterm=fat%20fitness&show_color_wheel=1&orient=&commercial_ok=&media_type=images&search_cat=&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&color=&page=1&inline=169751894">rangizzz</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Like many high school students I completely misunderstood the philosopher <a href="http://www.iep.utm.edu/spencer/">Herbert Spencer’s</a> phrase “survival of the fittest.” I interpreted it to mean that those animals of a species that were the most physically fit were most likely to survive and reproduce. What Spencer was actually proposing when he first <a href="https://archive.org/details/principlesbiolo05spengoog">coined the phrase in 1864</a> to explain Darwin’s theory of <a href="http://darwin200.christs.cam.ac.uk/pages/index.php?page_id=d3">natural selection</a> was that those organisms that best “fit” their environment are the most likely to survive and reproduce. </p>
<p>Yet recent developments in human health science now suggest that misinterpretations like mine might not have been so wide of the mark. It turns out that being physically fit almost certainly improves our longevity after all. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/67987/original/image-20141223-32210-1lq56vb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/67987/original/image-20141223-32210-1lq56vb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/67987/original/image-20141223-32210-1lq56vb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=639&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67987/original/image-20141223-32210-1lq56vb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=639&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67987/original/image-20141223-32210-1lq56vb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=639&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67987/original/image-20141223-32210-1lq56vb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=802&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67987/original/image-20141223-32210-1lq56vb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=802&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67987/original/image-20141223-32210-1lq56vb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=802&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Breaking tread!</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&language=en&ref_site=photo&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&use_local_boost=1&search_tracking_id=fhsVZtPviTZm90GqrQp3aw&searchterm=treadmill&show_color_wheel=1&orient=&commercial_ok=&media_type=images&search_cat=&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&color=&page=1&inline=183795212">Jasminko Ibrakovic</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In very simple terms, human fitness can broadly be separated into two facets – aerobic fitness and strength. Aerobic fitness can be assessed
with the dreaded <a href="http://www.brianmac.co.uk/treadmill.htm">VO2max test</a>, which involves exercising to your physical limit on a treadmill or stationary bike. This gives a good indication of the functional capacity of an individual’s cardio-respiratory system.</p>
<p>Strength assessments are neither so gruelling nor simple, but usually involve producing maximum muscle contractions using weights or a force measurement device like a <a href="http://www.npl.co.uk/reference/faqs/what-is-the-general-principle-of-a-force-transducer-(faq-force)">stationary force transducer</a> or a <a href="http://www.topendsports.com/testing/tests/handgrip.htm">grip dynamometer</a>. Both the aerobic and strength tests have now been proven to be excellent predictors of life span. This means that individuals who are most <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2951585/">aerobically fit</a> or <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2453303/">most strong</a> are most likely to live the longest.</p>
<h2>Biggest fitness threat: ageing or inactivity?</h2>
<p>The physical frailty associated with ageing is primarily due to reduced aerobic capacity and physical strength. After the age of 25, inactive individuals lose their aerobic capacity <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11154-005-6726-5#page-1">at a rate</a> of approximately 1%/year. They lose muscle mass <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3379447">at a rate</a> of approximately 0.6%/year after the age of around 30 (30% decrease from age 30 to 80). </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/67988/original/image-20141223-32207-apx8to.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/67988/original/image-20141223-32207-apx8to.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/67988/original/image-20141223-32207-apx8to.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67988/original/image-20141223-32207-apx8to.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67988/original/image-20141223-32207-apx8to.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67988/original/image-20141223-32207-apx8to.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67988/original/image-20141223-32207-apx8to.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67988/original/image-20141223-32207-apx8to.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Gran master.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&language=en&ref_site=photo&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&use_local_boost=1&search_tracking_id=rmaxb0hK4FVmthM3bQ_IDw&searchterm=older%20athlete&show_color_wheel=1&orient=&commercial_ok=&media_type=images&search_cat=&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&color=&page=1&inline=101645395">i4lcocl2</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As this implies, not everyone loses muscle mass and aerobic capacity at the same rate. Veteran or <a href="http://www.xchangecms.co.uk">masters athletes</a> are a particularly interesting segment of the population in this regard. They have an <a href="https://physsportsmed.org/sites/default/files/rpsm.2011.09.1933_secure.pdf">incredible ability</a> to retain their muscle mass and function well into old age. This may be the result of genetic advantages which lead these individuals to self-select to be active. But it is just as likely that their athletic activities are somehow preserving their fitness. </p>
<p>Studies into immobilisation and reduced activity support this idea that ageing-related declines in fitness may have much to do with doing less physical activity than age per se. One recent study <a href="http://press.endocrine.org/doi/abs/10.1210/jc.2013-1502?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori%3Arid%3Acrossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub%3Dpubmed&">found that</a> simply reducing the step count of healthy older adults for two weeks is sufficient to reduce the lean mass of the legs (mostly muscle) by almost 4%, for example. </p>
<p>Another study <a href="http://jp.physoc.org/content/586/24/6049.long">showed that</a> when healthy young adults have one leg completely immobilised for two weeks, it leads to a 5% decrease in muscle area and a shocking 25% decrease in muscle strength. In short, the old “use it or lose it” adage is highly applicable to physical fitness. This is particularly poignant when you consider that the aerobically fittest and strongest men in a population <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2453303/">are 60% less likely</a> to die of any cause than the weakest and least aerobically fit. You start to see why the American College of Sports Medicine launched the <a href="http://www.exerciseismedicine.org/index.php">“Exercise is Medicine” initiative</a> as a way to increase the use of exercise as a way to promote health a few years ago. </p>
<h2>Exercise as the key to longevity?</h2>
<p>There is now such a large body of evidence on the negative health effects of being physically inactive that a team of researchers has <a href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2812%2961031-9/fulltext">even conservatively quantified</a> the associated disease burden and death rates. They estimated that in 2008, inactivity caused a whopping 9% of all premature deaths. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68122/original/image-20150101-8221-1mkfy45.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68122/original/image-20150101-8221-1mkfy45.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68122/original/image-20150101-8221-1mkfy45.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68122/original/image-20150101-8221-1mkfy45.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68122/original/image-20150101-8221-1mkfy45.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68122/original/image-20150101-8221-1mkfy45.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68122/original/image-20150101-8221-1mkfy45.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68122/original/image-20150101-8221-1mkfy45.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The route to ab-solute longevity!</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/s/fat+fitness/search.html?page=2&thumb_size=mosaic&inline=72520048">Hubis</a></span>
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<p>It is worth pointing out here that it is extremely difficult to truly delineate cause from effect – the data tells us that fitness correlates with longevity, but it may not be the actual cause. A number of studies have now shown that the ability of exercise to improve fitness is highly variable, with some individuals <a href="http://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/Citation/2005/06000/Variability_in_Muscle_Size_and_Strength_Gain_after.10.aspx">being described as</a> “non-responders” and a <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0037887">very small percentage</a> even displaying negative health outcomes from exercise. </p>
<p>But the key question is, “does increasing fitness improve longevity?” A large <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2951585/#bibr67-1359786810382057">follow-up study</a> in which men had their aerobic fitness tested at least twice over the course of five years seems to suggest that for aerobic fitness at least, the answer is yes. The study found that a group of men who became fit had a significantly lower risk of dying than a group who stayed unfit. We don’t have equivalent data for strength training in the general population yet, but recent data [certainly suggests that](http://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/article/S0025-6196(14) strength training during cancer survival is associated with a reduced risk of death from all causes. </p>
<h2>Let there be hope</h2>
<p>If you are currently unfit, much of these data can admittedly be pretty depressing. After gaining my PhD I went from being very physically fit to rather unfit, which gave me first-hand experience of how quickly fitness is lost. But when I resigned myself to start building it up again I knew there was a good chance I would get most of it back. </p>
<p>Even the very elderly can substantially improve their physical function with a programme of physical training. Even though they will start out at a lower baseline for strength and aerobic fitness than younger people, they can actually achieve similar degrees of improvement with an effective training programme. Being classified as fit at some point in middle age <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2951585/#bibr67-1359786810382057">is meanwhile associated with</a> a reduced risk of death even if you become unfit later. Then there is the so-called <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02640414.2011.553965#tabModule">“fit-fat” phenomenon</a>, which is that fitness can offset the mortality risk of being overweight or obese. Even for those who remain obese afterwards, the exercise and healthy diet <a href="https://physsportsmed.org/doi/10.3810/psm.2011.05.1898">will still</a> significantly improve their cardio-respiratory health. </p>
<p>The final take-home message: so long as it is safe to do so, most people should experience gains in health and longevity from beginning (and sticking to) a programme of exercise designed to get them stronger and more aerobically fit. This is irrespective of age or fatness. However much you over-indulge from the comfort of your sofa this festive season, when the time for self-improvement comes around in January, there is still hope for us all.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/35793/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lee holds funding from the Insulin-dependant Diabetes Trust, the Society for Endocrinology and the American College of Sports Medicine</span></em></p>Like many high school students I completely misunderstood the philosopher Herbert Spencer’s phrase “survival of the fittest.” I interpreted it to mean that those animals of a species that were the most…Lee Hamilton, Lecturer in Sport, Health and Exercise Science, University of StirlingLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/357942014-12-23T22:25:48Z2014-12-23T22:25:48ZSanta’s dilemma: to give, or not to give … potatoes!<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68043/original/image-20141224-32200-1ee6q7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Potatoes for Christmas?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/funch/5343626853">Flickr/Lotte Grønkjær</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>I remember the Santa depicted in the movies being a kind man that spent the entire year making toys to give all the boys and girls. But the songs painted a slightly more cynical picture of a man who used all the tricks to “find out who’s naughty and nice”.</p>
<p>In the schoolyard I heard whispers that Santa would give coal or potatoes to the naughty kids, but I never met anyone that actually got a piece of coal or a potato in their stocking. I figured it must have been a false threat … until a few weeks ago.</p>
<p>Speaking to some of the other parents, I discovered that one of my daughter’s best friends had indeed been given some potatoes last year. While another mother reported that one of her friend’s six-year-old daughters had received an entire sack of potatoes - and not a single gift - from Santa because she had been exceptionally naughty that year. THESE ARE TRUE STORIES!</p>
<p>I couldn’t believe it! That didn’t sound like the Santa from the movies. Surely nobody would have the gumption to give my kids potatoes for Christmas!</p>
<p>Then my dear little five-year-old Susie started getting naughtier and naughtier. So I thought I should remind her that Santa “sees you when you’re sleeping. He knows when you’re awake. He knows if you’ve been good or bad” … so she should be good for goodness sake! </p>
<p>This certainly got Susie worried, but not enough to behave any better. As I ripped out my hair with frustration, I told her that her own best friend from school had been given potatoes last year from Santa, so Susie better be careful otherwise she might find a few in her stocking. That did the trick. That and a few good nights of sleep! </p>
<p>She has been on her best behaviour for the last few days. So I thought we had avoided confronting Santa with his perennial Christmas dilemma – to give, or not to give, potatoes! </p>
<p>That was until last night when my daughter calmly explained that she thinks she will probably get two potatoes this year. One for the time at home when she was so naughty that I was forced to explain Santa’s potato rule. The second potato was for the one time she was REALLY naughty at school. “Ahh huh??”</p>
<p>After some questioning, she confessed to me in her most adult voice that “one day all of my friends were saying very nasty things to each other, so we all had a big fight and got in trouble from the teacher”. Susie figures she probably deserves a potato for that. As her parent, I am pretty sure it would be unwise to argue against this logic. </p>
<p>It is horrible to imagine your own children receiving potatoes on Christmas morning. On the positive side, however, my Susie is quite sure that Santa’s potatoes must taste delicious. </p>
<p>I have no idea what Santa’s potatoes taste like … but I have a sneaky suspicion I am about to find out.</p>
<p><em><strong>Merry Christmas and happy holidays!</strong></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/35794/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
I remember the Santa depicted in the movies being a kind man that spent the entire year making toys to give all the boys and girls. But the songs painted a slightly more cynical picture of a man who used…Olivia Carter, Senior Research Fellow and Lecturer, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/353842014-12-23T20:07:21Z2014-12-23T20:07:21ZWhat is magical thinking and do we grow out of it?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66975/original/image-20141211-6060-pfxn4q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How is it the intelligent human brain can believe a presumably wealthy fat man flies to every household in the world in one night delivering presents?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/armadillo444/3129790095">Flickr/Carlos</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Have you ever wondered why children so easily accept that once every year, a terribly generous and presumably very wealthy gentleman travels by magic reindeer to all children across the world to deliver presents during the night?</p>
<p>Just prior to Christmas I thought I’d outline a surprisingly common quirk of human cognition – magical thinking.</p>
<p>As humans we appear to have an innate tendency to draw links between our observations of phenomena in our environment. For example, I may observe that when grey clouds gather, it is more likely to rain, and if I took steps to objectively test that observation, chances are I’d be on the money. </p>
<p>From an evolutionary point of view you can see how important making these links have been to our survival. Being able to figure out what precedes what, and develop some method of prediction, can allow us to develop some control over our environment.</p>
<p>This tendency to infer causation between seemingly related stimuli can lead to some <a href="http://theconversation.com/clearing-up-confusion-between-correlation-and-causation-30761">hilarious red herrings</a> such as the relationship between cheese consumption and strangulation by bedsheet, and some very common mistakes including the <a href="http://theconversation.com/mind-over-matter-the-ethics-of-using-the-placebo-effect-3752">placebo effect</a> (misattributing a change in one’s health to an external agent of some sort).</p>
<p>Kids are attracted to, and even excited by, the idea of magic (as seen in the phenomenal success of Harry Potter). Kids will happily accept impossible explanations for many things. Parents need to be careful in times of stress that kids don’t take on blame for events that have nothing to do with them – for example believing that their parents are divorcing because their grades were bad.</p>
<p>These perfectly normal examples of child cognition coincide with normal child brain development; their egocentricity combined with a limited ability to reason with abstract concepts are largely responsible for these errors.</p>
<p>In the clip below, I filmed my daughter (then aged about 13 years) making a classic magical thinking error – she reasoned Kevin Rudd must be making it rain because it started to rain a lot after he came in to power. I put her hypothesis to two 10-year old boys, and after initially accepting this as a perfectly logical relationship, they struggled to explain their reasoning.</p>
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<p>Although much criticism has been directed towards Rudd’s prime ministership, I really don’t think we can pin the weather on him.</p>
<p><a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=Z2aYAgAAQBAJ&dq=jean+piaget+magical+thinking&source=gbs_navlinks_s">Developmental psychologist Jean Piaget</a> first documented magical thinking in children and typically it should start to wane <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1348/026151004772901140/abstract">around the age of 10 years</a> (give or take a couple of years either way). Children will start to question the feasibility of the mechanisms that lie behind the connections they make – can a man really travel round the entire world in just one night? How can a politician influence the weather?</p>
<p>Eventually we are supposed to grow up. And most of us like to believe that as adults, our opinions, understanding or attitudes are grounded in solid realistic principles. However, it may come as a huge shock that most adults (even extremely well educated ones) will hold on to their favourite magical thinking quirks, and/or quickly fall back on magical thinking – especially in <a href="http://psp.sagepub.com/content/28/1/102.short">times of high emotion/stress</a>, or where clear links are <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/psp/67/1/48/">difficult to elucidate</a>.</p>
<p>Examples are almost too numerous to list, but be honest with yourself – do you occasionally read your horoscope, buy a lotto ticket in times of financial stress, cross your fingers when you really want a particular outcome, or use denial as a coping mechanism when reality is just too awful to face? Chances are that you’ve engaged in magical thinking.</p>
<p>Some forms of magical thinking are more culturally accepted than others, as comedian Arj Barker points out here in the hypocrisy behind mainstream religion’s <a href="http://livedash.ark.com/transcript/arj_barker__lyao/6732/COMEDYP/Monday_July_26_2010/386007/">criticism of Scientology</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>They’re like, ‘hey, man, I just can’t believe that you would put your faith in a religion which is based on science fiction. That’s just about the craziest thing I’ve ever heard in my whole life. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna continue reading my bible.’ - ‘And then the talking snake said, 'here, eat the magical apple.“</p>
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<p>And don’t be fooled into believing only mere average Joes fall victim to magical thinking. Think about controversial murder cases (Azaria Chamberlin, Jon Benet Ramsey) where frenzied desperation to find and blame a killer over-rode a careful and thoughtful analysis of the evidence. </p>
<p>Even some government policies, for example the Queensland government’s recent <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-12-09/seeney-removes-climate-change-references-from-council-plan/5954914">flat out denial</a> of the mere possibility of rising sea levels due to climate change, would be hysterically funny if it weren’t so potentially dangerous.</p>
<p>Certain aspects of magical thinking stay with most of us well into adulthood, probably because at the end of the day, we all have a tendency to see the world the way we want it to be, rather than the way it actually is.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/35384/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rachael Sharman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Kids are attracted to, and even excited by, the idea of magic. Why?Rachael Sharman, Lecturer in Psychology, University of the Sunshine CoastLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.