Member-only story
Shaping Reality
How simple lies can end up destroying lives
When I was four years old and living with my family in Arabia, I attended what today would be called a pre-school. Fortunately for me, it was not merely a parking-lot for children designed to facilitate the ability of fathers to work undisturbed and mothers likewise to enjoy drinks with their friends (this was, dear reader, a great many decades ago). This particular establishment encouraged children to learn to read and write as well as to run around in the playground — which given the outside conditions of 40+ Celsius and 98% humidity, was just as well.
Nevertheless, despite the scorching conditions, we did do quite a bit of running around and congregating in groups suitable for the playing of various childish games. And it was here that I discovered a rather curious aspect of human behavior that begins in childhood and persists throughout most people’s adult lives: the ability to believe things that quite clearly are untrue.
In the playground, some child would make a random accusation along the lines of “Jenny smells funny!” Other children would obediently squeal and distance themselves from the hapless Jenny (who, obviously, smelled no different from any other four-year-old). Inventive types would create nasty rhymes while others would take the opportunity to push Jenny or appropriate her…
