PatMan's Peregrin

Says it all, really...

I’ve had enough with the whole Santa Claus drama, seriously. I was perturbed enough as a child by the thoughts of a large stranger secretly entering my house, no matter how generous his intentions were. Now, I’m disturbed by the (apparently) complete abdication of responsibility by parents – of control over their own children – in favor of a lie.

The linked article above describes schoolchildren “burst[ing] into tears” when told by an exasperated teacher that it was their parents who put the gifts under the tree, not Santa Claus. Ask yourself the question – why would this cause children to cry? Loss of innocence, perhaps? At 7 years old can they really conceptualize that? Maybe it’s the fact they realize their dreams have no hope of come true – there’s never going to be that pony waiting under the tree on Xmas morning? Perhaps.

Personally, at that age, if I had (not already!) come to the realization that my parents were liars, I would have burst into tears too. At age seven, your parents are pretty much the only people you can trust – them and your teacher. And if your teacher rats out your parents, which way do you turn?!

I smelled a rat early on – the careful interrogations during the writing of letters to Santa regarding gifts; the subsequent threats should behavioral standards be breached; the ultimate reception of said gifts, no matter how much the limits had been pushed – everything pointed to a conspiracy. Easily revealed, given the opportunity to accompany my father to work one day – I couldn’t find anything at home, so I figured everything was being stored at his office. A quick foray into his filing cabinets confirmed my suspicions.

I was a precocious 5-year old.

Kids are not stupid. They apply the same yardsticks to the world around them as we adults do – and sometimes they measure things that we (in our wisdom?) neglect, such as sincerity, logic, and honesty. Trust is a highly-valued commodity when you are still aware that the world is constantly teaching you. It’s your filter. When that trust is breached, it is often traumatic – and on occassion, fatal.

Don’t lie to your kids, just because you are too lazy or irresponsible to discipline them yourself. If you want your child to be calm at Xmas, here’s an idea: stop feeding them refined sugar, and prevent them from getting agitated by the constant bombardment of advertisements by turning off the goggle-box and sending them out to play.

I have spoken. Act like you know.

Peace out,
PatMan

Neal Stephenson has long been a favourite author of mine, from Zodiac and Snow Crash through Cryptonomicon and the Baroque Cycle, but this time he has truly out-done himself. With Anathem, he has created a reading experience that demands the suspension of your disbelief by its very logic – yes, it’s that twisted!

The story is set on an Earth-equivalent planet called Arbre, and is narrated in the first person by a young man named Erasmus. Our hero is a member of a mathic concent (read: monastery, but practicing science as opposed to worshiping religion) who discovers an anomaly in the skies. He is summoned, along with many of his fellow Avout (members of the concent), to study and ultimately board what turns out to be an alien spaceship. In doing so, he learns that reality is not what it seems – and if you devote enough time to it, you can shape reality…

Thematically, this masterpiece resonates with me – I am an empirical scientist, and if you cannot prove it with valid and reproducible data, I’m not having any of it. Having said that, I’m also bent towards theoretical physics – which is kind of like making it up as you go along! Purity of thought and openness to debate are two attitudes that, combined, lead to great discoveries – and discoveries that are untainted by personal desires or biases. In Anathem, Stephenson balances these two ethics to provide a framework for an almost-perfect world (much like our own!)

I could go into reams of detail, and post a blog entry as long as the book itself, but I shall refrain – if you come across it, pick it up and have a read. April is two-thirds of the way through it, and is reading it avidly at every available opportunity – if nothing else, it is an engaging read… and you might feel better about yourself having read it

Peace out
PatMan

April and I went up to Washington for a weekend trip, and we drove around Mt. Rainier National Park. April took lots of photos, so rather than me waffle here, why not take a look at the photos?