Lies to Children: Difference between revisions

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'''Dad:''' Trees sneezing.
'''Dad:''' Trees sneezing.
'''Calvin:''' Really?
'''Calvin:''' Really?
'''Dad:''' No, but the truth is more complicated.|''[[Calvin and Hobbes]]''}}
'''Dad:''' No, but the truth is more complicated.
|''[[Calvin and Hobbes]]''}}


When things are strange and complicated, people like to explain them by analogy. Sometimes, this analogy is actually not all that accurate; for instance, atoms are usually described as a proton-neutron nucleus with electrons orbiting it like planets round a star, but doesn't actually resemble the solar system at all. However, it is still useful because it gives the listeners a simple concept they can grasp, while a more accurate explanation would confuse them or simply go over their heads. Once they've learned the analogy, they can continue to more complex topics that will eventually lead to the truth of the situation—or to another, more complicated set of '''Lies to Children'''.
When things are strange and complicated, people like to explain them by analogy. Sometimes, this analogy is actually not all that accurate; for instance, atoms are usually described as a proton-neutron nucleus with electrons orbiting it like planets round a star, but doesn't actually resemble the solar system at all. However, it is still useful because it gives the listeners a simple concept they can grasp, while a more accurate explanation would confuse them or simply go over their heads. Once they've learned the analogy, they can continue to more complex topics that will eventually lead to the truth of the situation—or to another, more complicated set of '''Lies to Children'''.
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This is, of course, likely to [[Analogy Backfire|backfire]] if the listener takes the analogy too literally.
This is, of course, likely to [[Analogy Backfire|backfire]] if the listener takes the analogy too literally.


The term was coined by Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen, and used in the book ''[[Discworld/The Science of Discworld|The Science of Discworld]]''. Discworld books occasionally make an odd analogy, then, when taxed, say, "[[Dissimile|no, it's nothing like that]], but it's a lie you can understand."
The term was coined by Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen, and used in the book ''[[The Science of Discworld]]''. Discworld books occasionally make an odd analogy, then, when taxed, say, "[[Dissimile|no, it's nothing like that]], but it's a lie you can understand."


Very much [[Truth in Television]], particularly, though not exclusively, with regard to science. (Hell, considering how much we don't understand of the universe, science ''itself'' is this to a degree.)
Very much [[Truth in Television]], particularly, though not exclusively, with regard to science. (Hell, considering how much we don't understand of the universe, science ''itself'' is this to a degree.)
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