My Santa Claus Experience
Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2011 8:35 pm
When I was a little kid, I firmly believed in Santa Claus. When I was about 6, though, my best friend told me there was no such thing as Santa---it was just your parents who put out the presents on Christmas Eve. I was very angry at his assertion, and rejected his claim. I knew that Santa was real, and I continued to believe in Santa until I was 9.
It was around then that it became obvious to me that it was much more likely that my parents were the ones who gave me presents and attributed them to Santa Claus. Now, I will admit that I cannot prove with certainty that Santa is not real. My conclusion that Santa is not real is based on the current state of the evidence, and it may theoretically be possible that some evidence will come along someday to change the paradigm to which I desperately cling. That is, I am stuck in a paradigm where it is ridiculously implausible that a fat man who lives with a bunch of elves at the North Pole gets in a sleigh every Christmas Eve, has flying reindeer pull this sleigh through the sky, goes around the world and is able to physically enter the houses of every child on this planet (unless they're Jewish or something) to leave behind presents that coincidentally seem directly related in quantity and quality to what the child's parents can afford. This is just a paradigm, though, and I can't say for sure that the collective human experience, reason, and pretty much every scientific field will not come together and rearrange our understanding of reality such that belief in Santa seems reasonable and logical.
Because I cling to my anti-Santa paradigm, despite my lack of absolute proof that Santa isn't real, I feel compelled to say that there is no such thing as Santa Claus. There are some children who still believe in Santa Claus, though, who warn that if we don't believe in Santa, he won't bring us any presents on Christmas. Since I have already concluded that Santa is not real and that it's just other people buying presents and pretending they are from Santa, the threats of a make-believe person not bringing me presents I am already getting for myself and others is not especially troubling to me. I am already perfectly capable of obtaining Christmas presents without Santa, making him irrelevant as well as fictitious. But notwithstanding the fact that my rejection of a childish fantasy has had no effect whatsoever on my giving or getting Christmas presents, children who still do believe in Santa continue to be angry at my gainsaying their beliefs---just as I was angry at the friend who told me Santa was real when I still believed. These children who warn me that I won't be on Santa's "good list" just cannot wrap their heads around the idea that I cannot force myself to believe in Santa when the fables about him are so obviously untrue, and I don't need him because I get presents anyway without continuing to affirm a belief that magical flying deer will bring him to my house so he can slide down my chimney and perform a reverse burglary every Christmas Eve.
Some children, as they get older (or even younger children at times) start to think analytically about the Santa Claus story. They begin to see some elements of the myth as implausible. Well-meaning parents who aren't ready for their kids to grow up too fast sometimes make things up to explain how Santa could be real. He could somehow travel so fast with his flying reindeer that he can make it all over the world on just one night. He could have wheels on his sleigh for places where there is no snow (yes, I have heard that one). He could shrink himself or expand chimneys in order to get in your house, or else magically open your door. He could have "helpers" all over the world to spy on children to see if they have been bad or good. The lack of Santa showing up on radar or satellite photos of the North Pole could be because grown-ups don't want kids to see proof of Santa, since it's the child-like belief without any factual basis for doing so that makes Christmas so magical. And so on. For some kids, such ad hoc assertions and meta-fables tide them over so they continue to think that Santa is real. For others, it becomes readily apparent that there is no reason to believe Santa is real, there are a great many reasons to think he is not, and parents and others trying to explain how Santa Claus could be real are simply making it up as they go, all for the sake of perpetuating a myth that is fun but has no impact on presents being under your tree on Christmas morning.
I have some good memories of believing in Santa. It was fun while it lasted. But I am a grown up now, and Santa Claus being a fantasy has been glaringly obvious since I was 9. I do not feel compelled to make up reasons why Santa might be real anyway, or cling to the hope that evidence will be forthcoming at some point showing that Santa is real after all. I get presents anyway. I give presents anyway. Christmas can still be fun, be a tradition, and be part of my heritage without insisting that there really is a "right jolly old elf" in a red suit who flies around the world bringing toys to children every Christmas Eve. Just because I have rejected the ludicrous myth of Santa being a real person or the stories about him being actually true does not mean I have rejected Christmas, tradition, my heritage, my fond memories, or that I don't give or get presents anymore. When I was 6 and got angry when it was suggested to me that Santa Claus was made up, I was afraid that if that were so, it would be the end of Christmas and the end of presents. Now I know better. I have had a lot of years of Christmas and presents without imagining that it's all because of good Saint Nick. The parents and children who made up one myth to explain another, trying to convince me to keep believing in Santa, were wrong. And the kids who warned me that not believing in the literal truth of the Santa Claus myth would mean the end of presents on Christmas were wrong, too.
It was around then that it became obvious to me that it was much more likely that my parents were the ones who gave me presents and attributed them to Santa Claus. Now, I will admit that I cannot prove with certainty that Santa is not real. My conclusion that Santa is not real is based on the current state of the evidence, and it may theoretically be possible that some evidence will come along someday to change the paradigm to which I desperately cling. That is, I am stuck in a paradigm where it is ridiculously implausible that a fat man who lives with a bunch of elves at the North Pole gets in a sleigh every Christmas Eve, has flying reindeer pull this sleigh through the sky, goes around the world and is able to physically enter the houses of every child on this planet (unless they're Jewish or something) to leave behind presents that coincidentally seem directly related in quantity and quality to what the child's parents can afford. This is just a paradigm, though, and I can't say for sure that the collective human experience, reason, and pretty much every scientific field will not come together and rearrange our understanding of reality such that belief in Santa seems reasonable and logical.
Because I cling to my anti-Santa paradigm, despite my lack of absolute proof that Santa isn't real, I feel compelled to say that there is no such thing as Santa Claus. There are some children who still believe in Santa Claus, though, who warn that if we don't believe in Santa, he won't bring us any presents on Christmas. Since I have already concluded that Santa is not real and that it's just other people buying presents and pretending they are from Santa, the threats of a make-believe person not bringing me presents I am already getting for myself and others is not especially troubling to me. I am already perfectly capable of obtaining Christmas presents without Santa, making him irrelevant as well as fictitious. But notwithstanding the fact that my rejection of a childish fantasy has had no effect whatsoever on my giving or getting Christmas presents, children who still do believe in Santa continue to be angry at my gainsaying their beliefs---just as I was angry at the friend who told me Santa was real when I still believed. These children who warn me that I won't be on Santa's "good list" just cannot wrap their heads around the idea that I cannot force myself to believe in Santa when the fables about him are so obviously untrue, and I don't need him because I get presents anyway without continuing to affirm a belief that magical flying deer will bring him to my house so he can slide down my chimney and perform a reverse burglary every Christmas Eve.
Some children, as they get older (or even younger children at times) start to think analytically about the Santa Claus story. They begin to see some elements of the myth as implausible. Well-meaning parents who aren't ready for their kids to grow up too fast sometimes make things up to explain how Santa could be real. He could somehow travel so fast with his flying reindeer that he can make it all over the world on just one night. He could have wheels on his sleigh for places where there is no snow (yes, I have heard that one). He could shrink himself or expand chimneys in order to get in your house, or else magically open your door. He could have "helpers" all over the world to spy on children to see if they have been bad or good. The lack of Santa showing up on radar or satellite photos of the North Pole could be because grown-ups don't want kids to see proof of Santa, since it's the child-like belief without any factual basis for doing so that makes Christmas so magical. And so on. For some kids, such ad hoc assertions and meta-fables tide them over so they continue to think that Santa is real. For others, it becomes readily apparent that there is no reason to believe Santa is real, there are a great many reasons to think he is not, and parents and others trying to explain how Santa Claus could be real are simply making it up as they go, all for the sake of perpetuating a myth that is fun but has no impact on presents being under your tree on Christmas morning.
I have some good memories of believing in Santa. It was fun while it lasted. But I am a grown up now, and Santa Claus being a fantasy has been glaringly obvious since I was 9. I do not feel compelled to make up reasons why Santa might be real anyway, or cling to the hope that evidence will be forthcoming at some point showing that Santa is real after all. I get presents anyway. I give presents anyway. Christmas can still be fun, be a tradition, and be part of my heritage without insisting that there really is a "right jolly old elf" in a red suit who flies around the world bringing toys to children every Christmas Eve. Just because I have rejected the ludicrous myth of Santa being a real person or the stories about him being actually true does not mean I have rejected Christmas, tradition, my heritage, my fond memories, or that I don't give or get presents anymore. When I was 6 and got angry when it was suggested to me that Santa Claus was made up, I was afraid that if that were so, it would be the end of Christmas and the end of presents. Now I know better. I have had a lot of years of Christmas and presents without imagining that it's all because of good Saint Nick. The parents and children who made up one myth to explain another, trying to convince me to keep believing in Santa, were wrong. And the kids who warned me that not believing in the literal truth of the Santa Claus myth would mean the end of presents on Christmas were wrong, too.