“What do you want from Santa Claus this year?” A question my mother asked me a week prior to Christmas every year. She would also remind me to be good and do all my work by myself. I obeyed her and was at my best behaviour through out the week. On 24th December, I would hang a red sock on my Christmas tree and put my wish list in it. Every Christmas eve I’d sleep in the hall, only to see if Santa really came on reindeers. But, I was a kid and would fall asleep by half past eleven. When I would rise the next morning, I’d see a gift under the tree. Santa always gave me whatever I had asked for.
One Christmas eve, something strange happened; I didn’t fall asleep at half past eleven. I was awake at midnight. Suddenly the room lights came on and heard footsteps. I pretended to be asleep and covered my face with the blanket. When I peeped from one side, I saw a lady in her nightgown keeping the gifts under the tree. Is Santa Claus a lady? I muttered to myself. Unable to pretend any more, I jumped off the sofa and was shocked at what I saw – my mother was the Santa Claus! I was shocked and burst into tears. My mother then explained to me that there was no Santa Claus and it was just a myth about Christmas to make children happy. I had believed in Santa Claus since my 1st Christmas. After 7 long years, I was unable to accept that he did not exist. I felt cheated!
Similarly, when Nicholas Copernicus said that the earth was not the centre of the universe, people refused to believe him. According to the Pope, the earth was the centre of the centre of the universe and all other celestial bodies revolved around it. People had believed this because everyday, they saw the sun rise in the east and set in the west, this made the people think that the sun revolved around the earth; just as I believed in Santa Claus because I received presents every Christmas. Copernicus’ theory that the Earth revolved around the sun seemed false to everyone. It went against the philosophical and religious beliefs that had been held during the medieval times. Their earlier belief had become so strong that they considered it to be the truth even though they had no evidence of it. Just as my mother told me that my belief wasn’t ‘true’ Copernicus explained to the people that the sun was the centre of the solar system and the planets, including the earth revolved around it.
It is thus observed that certain beliefs are accepted as truths because there is no evidence denying it. My belief in Santa Claus had been proved false only after my mother told me that Santa Claus was only a myth. Similarly, when Copernicus showed evidence to the people, they accepted it with difficulty because they considered their earlier belief as their knowledge.
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1 comment:
Lots of the comments for Somiran apply here, but the essential difference is that in your case PERCEPTION played a vital role. There are echoes of Descartes in your point that you did not WANT to give up your old belief, just as he, after his mental excursions, found that he was quite happy to continue believing in the things he believed in the beginning. Plato said that a life not constantly re-examined is not worth living, but for you and Descartes and me the constant re-examining can be emotionally very wearing, and for very little benefit. I give this 17 out of 20 although it has elicited from me a more interesting reply!
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