Children's Myths and the "Truth" Revisited

Joesph, in his blog, Posthumanity Rising, writes about how even though he's atheist he still thinks Christmas is important to celebrate. His blog inspired me to write about the myths we tell our children and the valuable life lesson that can be passed on when they learn the "truth."

For generations in America and elsewhere, myths have been an integral part of growing up, Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny come to mind.

Many parents have been there for their children when they learn that Santa Claus is not what they had been led to believe but a product of their imaginations, reinforced by adults and media such as cartoons.

Myself, I only have a year or two left before I will also be there for my children.

What will I say to my child when he discovers that what he believes can no longer be supported by what he sees in the world around him. He's already asking questions. He's still holding on to the "magic yet I can see that he senses something is not right.

How many conversations have you had whith your children where he or she says, "Magic must be real because how could Santa deliver all those presents in one day?"

What lesson should we pass on to them?

While I have been determined to not tell my children what to believe about religion or even death, especially since I am unsure myself, I am also determined to let them know that nothing can be taken for the absolute truth.

Most of us remember the recent discussions on whether Pluto should remain a planet. My son didn't like the answers he was hearing since up until that point every book he had read told him it was in fact one of nine planets. His concern revolved around the question, "How can scientists decide that it's not a planet anymore?" In his mind, he imagined it literally disappearing from our solar system and obviously no scientists can make planets disappear.

I believe it's at times like these were a little philosophy maybe even transhuman philosophy can come in.

Many of us are bright enough to know that we don't know everything and things that we think we know for sure will likely change. The transhumanist point, here is that our understanding of the universe will change.

The message I intend to convey to the first of my kids to cross the magic barrier is that we can only know what we know but that we should never ever take for granted that that's all there is. There is no ultimate truth that we can ever hope to comprehend, only temporary models or better approximations that we are forced to use until something better comes along. I'm sure I will add some reassuring thoughts at the end about gravity and the light from the sun because I don't want him to be insecure or afraid of the universe coming to an end tomorrow, I just want him to be cognisant of the fact that what we know will change.

I'm not sure, exactly, how to convey these thoughts meaningfully to a child so if anyone has any advice or input have at it. It may be a multistep process.