Spotting Disinformation Can Start At An Early Age

What a great way to spend Christmas Day down under!

Man and dog; well, actually, my wife was there too, taking the photo, but I digress. This article is about Christmas, but much more. I had an email from Igor Chudov's substack in which he brought up the subject of Santa Claus as the first conspiracy. You can read his article here.

Igor's newsletter was timely as the evening before––Christmas Eve––I was out seeing Christmas lights with my 11-year-old granddaughter. The subject of Santa Claus came up. I jokingly said, "You do believe in Santa, don't you?" She put that idea to rest quickly. I asked her when she realized that Santa was not real. She told me she had known since age seven but didn't let on because she wanted to 'scam' her parents for presents. 

I asked her how did she know? She told me several reasons, the main one being she couldn't see how a big fat man could fit through a chimney. Now that's critical thinking! 

Even more striking was her understanding of fundamental physics. When she was eight, she flew to the U.S. on that long-haul 14-hour flight between Sydney and LA. She quickly realized that Santa couldn't visit every house on the planet in one night when it took so long to cross the Pacific.

Our other granddaughter also had a revelation when she was 10. We were at a Christmas party held at the home of a colleague. After all the food, the owner appeared dressed as Santa, ringing a bell on the roof with a "Ho, ho, ho." Notwithstanding there was no sleigh to be seen, my granddaughter recognized that she had seen that bell earlier upon our arrival at the house. "Oops". She realized who Santa really was.

Of course, Santa is a cultural representation of a benevolent person spreading cheer and goodwill worldwide, which we need more than ever. It's all an illusion, of course. There is a balance between good and evil, right and wrong, and information and disinformation. Children, in their innocence, have a good B.S. meter. If only more adults had the same.

Since Covid came on the scene, we have been exposed to the most extensive disinformation campaign in history. The health authorities convinced many that masks, lockdowns and the "vaccines" are all safe and effective strategies to combat a virus 100 nanometers in size. 

Electron micrograph of Sars Cov-2

We gave up so much power and spread so much disinformation, all for a particle 1000 times smaller than a human hair. Most people bought the disinformation hook, line and sinker.

The kids can spot the scam. What do healthy children do when you approach them with the needle? They recoil and cry. What about when you try to put a mask on a child? They tug at it, pull it down and again, recoil at our attempt to muzzle them.

Kids figure things out quickly. Santa Clause is acceptable as a cultural illusion; when kids find out, it doesn’t have lifelong consequences. However, the Covid disinformation strategies that we have subjected kids and adults to have lifelong consequences.