View source for Philosophy:Lie-to-children

{{Short description|Teaching a complex subject via simpler models}}
A '''lie-to-children''' is a simplified, and often technically incorrect, explanation of technical or complex subjects employed as a teaching method. Educators who employ lies-to-children do not intend to deceive, but instead seek to 'meet the child/pupil/student where they are', in order to facilitate initial comprehension, which they build upon over time as the learner's intellectual capacity expands. The technique has been incorporated by academics within the fields of [[Biology:Biology|biology]], [[Biology:Evolution|evolution]], [[Biology:Bioinformatics|bioinformatics]] and the social sciences.

== Origin and Development ==
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The "lie-to-children" concept was first discussed by scientist Jack Cohen and mathematician [[Biography:Ian Stewart (mathematician)|Ian Stewart]] in the 1994 book ''The Collapse of Chaos: Discovering Simplicity in a Complex World'' as myths—a means of ensuring that accumulated cultural lore is passed on to future generations in a way that was sufficient but not completely true.<ref name="andysawyer" /><ref name="butler">{{cite book|first=Andrew|last=Sawyer|chapter=Narrativium and Lies-to-Children: 'Palatable Instruction in 'The Science of Discworld'|pages=80–82|editor1-first=Andrew M.|editor1-last=Butler|title=An Unofficial Companion to the Novels of Terry Pratchett|year=2007|publisher=Greenwood|isbn=978-1-84645-043-3}}</ref><ref name="collapse">{{cite book|title=The Collapse of Chaos: Discovering Simplicity in a Complex World|first2=Ian|last2=Stewart|author-link2=Ian Stewart (mathematician)|first1=Jack|last1=Cohen|author-link1=Jack Cohen (scientist)|publisher=Penguin Books|year=1994|isbn=978-0-670-84983-3|pages=[https://archive.org/details/collapseofchaosd00cohe/page/7 7–9]|url=https://archive.org/details/collapseofchaosd00cohe/page/7}}</ref>

They further elaborated upon their views in ''Figments of Reality: The Evolution of the Curious Mind'', stating that the lie-to-children concept reflected the difficulty inherent in reducing complex concepts during the education process.<ref name="figments" /><ref name="douglaschapman">{{cite news|first=Douglas|last=Chapman|title=Book Review – Figments of Reality: The Evolution of the Curious Mind|work=Strange Magazine|year=1997|access-date=28 February 2016|url=http://www.strangemag.com/reviews/figmentsofreality.html|archive-date=19 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150919014619/http://www.strangemag.com/reviews/figmentsofreality.html}}</ref> Stewart and Cohen noted that "[a]ny description suitable for human minds to grasp must be ''some'' type of lie-to-children," and that the truth is "much too complicated for our limited minds."<ref name="figments">{{cite book | title = Figments of Reality: The Evolution of the Curious Mind|first1=Ian |last1=Stewart|first2=Jack|last2=Cohen|author-link2=Jack Cohen (scientist)|publisher={{wipe|Cambridge University Press}}|year=1997|isbn=978-0-521-57155-5|pages=37–38; 140}}</ref> 

The concept gained greater exposure when they coauthored ''The Science of Discworld'' with author Terry Pratchett. In this book, the authors acknowledge that some people might dispute the applicability of the term ''lie'', while defending it on the grounds that "it is for the best possible reasons, but it is still a lie".<ref name="pratchett">{{cite book | title = The Science of Discworld | first1 = Terry | last1 = Pratchett |  first2 = Ian|last2=Stewart|author-link2=Ian Stewart (mathematician)|first3=Jack|last3=Cohen | author-link3=Jack Cohen (scientist)|isbn =978-0-8041-6894-6|year=2014 |pages=28–30|publisher=Anchor; 2014 Reprint Edition of 1999 book; Paperback| title-link = The Science of Discworld }}</ref> In an interview promoting the book, Pratchett cautioned: "Most of us need just 'enough' knowledge of the sciences, and it's delivered to us in metaphors and analogies that bite us in the bum if we think they're the same as the truth."<ref name="davidlangford">{{cite book|first=David|last=Langford|pages=38–40|title=CROSSTALK: Interviews Conducted by David Langford|year=2015|publisher=Lulu.com; Republished from: Amazon.co.uk, 1999|isbn=978-1-326-29982-8|author-link=David Langford|chapter=Terry Pratchett, Jack Cohen and Ian Stewart: 1999}}</ref><ref name="langfordamazon">{{cite news|date=1999|title=Weird Science|work=Amazon.co.uk|first=David|last=Langford|author-link=David Langford|url=http://www.lspace.org/about-terry/interviews/amazon.html|access-date=28 February 2016|archive-date=28 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160228165648/http://www.lspace.org/about-terry/interviews/amazon.html|publisher=The L-Space Web: Interviews – Interview Conducted by Amazon.co.uk with Terry Pratchett, Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen}}</ref>

== Examples in education ==
A typical example of a lie-to-children is found in [[Physics:Physics|physics]], where the [[Physics:Bohr model|Bohr model]] of atomic electron shells is still often used to introduce atomic structure before moving on to [[Physics:Bohr model#Refinements|more complex models]] based on [[Physics:Matrix mechanics|matrix mechanics]]. Similarly in chemistry, students are often introduced to the [[Chemistry:Acid–base reaction#Arrhenius definition|Arrhenius definitions of acids and bases]] before being taught the more technically correct, but more complex [[Chemistry:Brønsted–Lowry acid–base theory|Brønsted–Lowry]] model, followed by the [[Chemistry:Lewis acids and bases|Lewis]] model. This order of teaching chemistry concepts also reflects the historical progression in the development of these models.

High school teachers and university instructors often explain at the outset that the model they are about to present is incomplete. An example of this is given by Gerald Sussman during the 1986 video recording of the [[Biography:Hal Abelson|Abelson]]-Sussman Lectures ([https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/6-001-structure-and-interpretation-of-computer-programs-spring-2005/video-lectures/1b-procedures-and-processes-substitution-model/ lecture 1-b]):
{{blockquote|text=If we're going to understand processes and how we control them, then we have to have a mapping from the mechanisms of this procedure into the way in which these processes behave. What we're going to have is a formal, or semi-formal, mechanical model whereby you understand how a machine could, in fact, in principle, do this. Whether or not the actual machine really does what I'm about to tell you is completely irrelevant at this moment.

In fact, this is an [[Function model|engineering model]], in the same way that, [for an] electrical resistor, we write down a model V = IR—it's approximately true, but it's not really true; if I put enough current through the resistor, it goes boom, so the voltage is not always proportional to the current, but for some purposes the model is appropriate.

In particular, the model we're going to describe right now, which I call the substitution model, is the simplest model that we have for understanding how procedures work and how processes work—how procedures yield processes.

And that substitution model will be accurate for most of the things we'll be dealing with in the next few days. But eventually, it will become impossible to sustain the illusion that that's the way the machine works, and we'll go to other, more specific and particular models that will show more detail.}}

== Analysis ==
=== Comparison to other concepts ===
Andrew Sawyer compared the concept to that of science fiction in the article "Narrativium and Lies-to-Children: 'Palatable Instruction in 'The Science of Discworld{{' "}}, in which he wrote: "The 'lies-to-children' we tell ourselves about science are a different form of science fiction: one, perhaps where 'fiction' qualifies the word 'science'. They are 'fictions about science' rather than 'science fictions'."<ref name="andysawyer">{{cite journal|first=Andy|last=Sawyer|journal=Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies (HJEAS)|volume=6|issue=1|year=2000|pages=155–178|publisher=Centre for Arts, Humanities and Sciences (CAHS), acting on behalf of the University of Debrecen CAHS|jstor=41274079|title=Narrativium and Lies-to-Children: 'Palatable Instruction in 'The Science of Discworld'|issn=1218-7364|}}</ref><ref name="butler" />

[[Biography:Anthony Judge|Anthony Judge]] has noted that the concept itself is a lie-to-children for more complex concepts in the philosophy of science.<ref name="judge">{{cite book|first=Anthony|last=Judge|access-date=28 February 2016|chapter-url=https://www.laetusinpraesens.org/docs00s/mislead.php|chapter=Strategic leadership as essentially a "shell game" with potential opponents, followers and dissidents?|title=Emergence of a Global Misleadership Council – misleading as vital to governance of the future?|date=1 July 2007|archive-date=31 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121031134328/http://www.laetusinpraesens.org/docs00s/mislead.php|publisher=Laetus in Praesens}}</ref>

Writing for ''{{wipe|Forbes}}'' in 2015, physics [[Social:Professor|professor]] and science journalist [[Biography:Chad Orzel|Chad Orzel]] explored how the University of California Museum of Paleontology initiative ''Understanding Science'' goes beyond a simple explanation of the [[Scientific method|scientific method]] in a lie-to-children format, and instead goes into more depth and specifics to directly inform others on how science impacts their daily quality of living.<ref name="orzel">{{cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/chadorzel/2015/11/03/the-scientific-method-is-a-myth-long-live-the-scientific-method|access-date=26 February 2016|work={{wipe|Forbes}}|title='The Scientific Method' Is A Myth, Long Live The Scientific Method|first=Chad|last=Orzel|date=3 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151112005555/http://www.forbes.com/sites/chadorzel/2015/11/03/the-scientific-method-is-a-myth-long-live-the-scientific-method/|archive-date=12 November 2015}}</ref>

=== Application across fields ===
Writing for ''Forbes'', Tim Worstall commented on the lie-to-children's application in physics and music, where lessons on scales precede those on atonality, common time and half time precede syncopation. He notes that Newton's physics is a lie-to-children compared to Einstein's additions.<ref name="worstall">{{cite news|first=Tim|last=Worstall|access-date=28 February 2016|work={{wipe|Forbes}}|title=To Prove Econ 101 Is Wrong You Do Need To Understand Econ 101|date=25 November 2015|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2015/11/25/to-prove-econ-101-is-wrong-you-do-need-to-understand-econ-101|archive-date=11 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160211163351/http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2015/11/25/to-prove-econ-101-is-wrong-you-do-need-to-understand-econ-101/}}</ref>

In ''Nonlinear Dynamics in the Life and Social Sciences'', Jack Cohen discussed the application of lies-to-children to teaching evolution, including the notion of [[Biology:DNA|DNA]]'s purpose as a "blueprint", stating that "[o]nly the search for universal features, while treasuring all the exceptional specifics, offers some hope of sketching out the general shape of the evolutionary process so that we can explain it honestly as a Lie-to-Children."<ref name="nonlinear">{{cite book|first=Jack|last=Cohen|chapter=Complexity of Evolution|pages=357–359|editor1-first=William H. |editor1-last=Sulis|editor2-first= Irina Nikolaevna |editor2-last=Trofimova|title=Nonlinear Dynamics in the Life and Social Sciences|year=2001|series=NATO Science, Series A: Life Sciences, Vol. 320|publisher=IOS|isbn=978-1-58603-020-9}}</ref> Similarly, in ''Bioinformatics, Biocomputing and Perl'', authors Michael Moorhouse and Paul Barry explained how the lie-to-children model may be utilized as a teaching technique for the concepts of [[Biology:Protein|protein]], [[Biology:RNA|RNA]], and DNA.<ref name="moorhouse">{{cite book|first1=Michael|last1=Moorhouse|first2=Paul|last2=Barry|year=2004|pages=4–6|title=Bioinformatics Biocomputing and Perl: An Introduction to Bioinformatics Computing Skills and Practice|publisher=Wiley|isbn=978-0-470-85331-3}}</ref>

In a [[Computer science|computer science]] paper on [[Linear algebra|linear algebra]] instruction, D.J. Jeffrey and Robert M. Corless from the University of Western Ontario identified an example from early childhood mathematics instruction: "We happily teach children that 'you cannot take 3 from 2' because we are confident that someone will later introduce them to negative numbers."<ref name="teachinglinear">{{cite web|first1=D.J.|last1=Jeffrey|first2=Robert M.|last2=Corless|publisher=Ontario Research Centre for Computer Algebra at the University of Western Ontario|title=Teaching Linear Algebra with and to Computers|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160227024502/http://epatcm.any2any.us/10thAnniversaryCD/EP/2001/ATCMP127/fullpaper.pdf|archive-date=27 February 2016|access-date=27 February 2016|date=2001|url=http://epatcm.any2any.us/10thAnniversaryCD/EP/2001/ATCMP127/fullpaper.pdf}}</ref> Corless followed up on this view in a subsequent paper, stating that "mathematics before computers was a lie to children."<ref name="corless2004">{{cite web|first=Robert M.|last=Corless|url=http://kong.apmaths.uwo.ca/~rcorless/frames/PAPERS/EDUC/CMTpaper.pdf|access-date=27 February 2016|date=July 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160227025107/http://kong.apmaths.uwo.ca/~rcorless/frames/PAPERS/EDUC/CMTpaper.pdf|archive-date=27 February 2016|title=Computer-Mediated Thinking|publisher=ORCCA and the Department of Applied Mathematics at the University of Western Ontario}}</ref>

=== Drawbacks ===
In ''Evolving the Alien: The Science of Extraterrestrial Life'', Cohen and Stewart themselves warn of a potential side-effect of lies-to-children in reducing complex science concepts to overly simplified explanations.<ref name="langfordevolving">{{cite news|first=David|last=Langford|work=New Scientist|title=Evolving the Alien: The science of extraterrestrial life by Jack Cohen and Ian Stewart|date=5 October 2002|access-date=28 February 2016|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg17623636-300-evolving-the-alien-the-science-of-extraterrestrial-life-by-jack-cohen-and-ian-stewart/|url-access=subscription |archive-date=28 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160228172211/https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg17623636-300-evolving-the-alien-the-science-of-extraterrestrial-life-by-jack-cohen-and-ian-stewart/|issn=0262-4079}}</ref> In a paper published in ''Digital Difference'', Hamish Macleod and Jen Ross wrote that lies-to-children can have the negative impact on learners by setting an unreasonable expectation for "simple and unambiguous questions and equally simple answers".<ref name="macleodross">{{cite book|first1=Hamish|last1=Macleod|first2=Jenn|last2=Ross|chapter=Structure, Authority and Other Noncepts1 |title=Digital Difference: Perspectives on Online Learning|year=2011|publisher=Sense Publishers|pages=15–28|access-date=28 February 2016|chapter-url=http://www.research.ed.ac.uk/portal/files/13447040/Structure_Authority_and_Other_Noncepts.pdf|archive-date=28 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160228173510/http://www.research.ed.ac.uk/portal/files/13447040/Structure_Authority_and_Other_Noncepts.pdf|doi=10.1007/978-94-6091-580-2_2|isbn=978-94-6091-580-2}}</ref>

In the journal ''Metaphilosophy'', Kirsten Walsh and Adrian Currie draw a distinction between "caricature" and "mythmaking" in the framework of lies-to-children, and conclude that mythmaking is unjustified.<ref name="walsh">{{cite journal|first1=Kirsten|last1=Walsh|first2=Adrian|last2=Currie|title=Caricatures, Myths, and White Lies|journal=Metaphilosophy |volume=46|issue=3|date=22 July 2015|pages=414–435|doi=10.1111/meta.12139|issn=1467-9973|url=https://ore.exeter.ac.uk/repository/bitstream/10871/35769/1/Walsh-Currie%20-%20Caricatures.pdf|hdl=10871/35769|hdl-access=free}}</ref> 
North Eastern Hill University economics professor Sudhanshu K. Mishra explored the use of mythology in parenting, such as the case of parents telling children that they were [[Biology:White stork#Storks and delivery of babies|brought by a stork to the house]], instead of providing a more adequate explanation of [[Medicine:Childbirth|childbirth]].<ref name="mishra">{{cite journal|first=Sudhanshu K. |last=Mishra|access-date=28 February 2016|title=An Essay on the Nature and Significance of Deception and Telling Lies|url=https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/22906/1/|date=23 May 2010|archive-date=28 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160228033645/https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/22906/1/|journal=Munich Personal RePEc Archive; MPRA Paper No. 22906}}</ref> In ''The Children's Bill of Emotional Rights'', Eileen Johnson discussed the problems that childhood mythology could cause in the future during the parenting process. Johnson cautioned that the lie must eventually be revealed, and that parents "are not sure how much of this deceit is right, how far to go with it, and how and when to explain it was all a lie."<ref name="eileenjohnson">{{cite book|pages=38–40|title=The Children's Bill of Emotional Rights: A Guide to the Needs of Children|year=2011|first=Eileen|last=Johnson|publisher=Jason Aronson, Inc.|isbn=978-0-7657-0850-2}}</ref>

In a column for the [[Organization:Carleton College|Carleton College]] website, geophysicist Kim Kastens lists potential pitfalls, such as how a lie-to-children that must later be unlearned may provide a potential obstacle to subsequent teachers, or how a student may discern the lie.<ref name="kastens"/> In a contribution to ''Teaching Bilingual/Bicultural Children'', Kharem and Collura assert that such a revelation makes the educators seem disingenuous and undermines their respect in the student.<ref name="kharem">{{cite book|year=2010|title=Teaching Bilingual/Bicultural Children: Teachers Talk about Language and Learning |chapter=Chapter Seventeen: Teachers Rethinking Their Pedagogical Attitudes in the Bicultural/Bilingual Classroom|pages=152–155|first1=Haroom|last1=Kharem|first2=Genevieve|last2=Collura|editor1-first=Lourdes Diaz|editor1-last= Soto|editor2-first=Haroon|editor2-last=Kharem|series=Counterpoints (Book 371)|publisher=Peter Lang Publishing|isbn=978-1-4331-0718-4|jstor=42980693}}</ref> Kastens lists criteria to avoid the pitfalls, such ensuring the teacher understands the truth beyond the lie-to-children, and having a "master plan" of a learning progression that the lies-to-children works towards.<ref name="kastens">{{cite news|access-date=26 February 2016|url=http://serc.carleton.edu/earthandmind/posts/lies_children.html|title=Telling Lies to Children|date=26 October 2011|first1=Kim |last1=Kastens|first2= Dana |last2=Chayes |work=Earth and Mind|archive-date=5 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160205090900/http://serc.carleton.edu/earthandmind/posts/lies_children.html|publisher=[[Organization:Carleton College|Carleton College]]}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{div col}}
* {{annotated link|Social:Age appropriateness}}
* {{annotated link|All models are wrong}}
* {{annotated link|Philosophy:Half-truth}}
* {{annotated link|Philosophy:Naïve physics}}
* {{annotated link|Philosophy:Neurath's boat}}
* {{annotated link|Philosophy:Noble lie}}
* {{annotated link|Philosophy:Not even wrong}}
* {{annotated link|Social:Pedagogy}}
* [[Philosophy:Sunday school answer|Sunday school answer]]
* {{annotated link|Physics:Toy model}}
* {{annotated link|Philosophy:Understanding}}
* {{annotated link|Philosophy:Upaya}}
* {{annotated link|Philosophy:Wittgenstein's ladder}}
{{div col end}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/chadorzel/2015/11/03/the-scientific-method-is-a-myth-long-live-the-scientific-method|access-date=26 February 2016|work={{wipe|Forbes}}|title='The Scientific Method' Is A Myth, Long Live The Scientific Method|first=Chad|last=Orzel|date=3 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151112005555/http://www.forbes.com/sites/chadorzel/2015/11/03/the-scientific-method-is-a-myth-long-live-the-scientific-method/|archive-date=12 November 2015}}
* {{cite book | title = The Science of Discworld | first1 = Terry | last1 = Pratchett |  first2 = Ian|last2=Stewart|author-link2=Ian Stewart (mathematician)|first3=Jack|last3=Cohen | author-link3=Jack Cohen (scientist)|isbn =978-0-8041-6894-6|year=2014 |pages=28–30|publisher=Anchor; 2014 Reprint Edition of 1999 book; Paperback| title-link = The Science of Discworld }}
* {{cite journal|first=Andy|last=Sawyer|journal=Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies (HJEAS)|volume=6|issue=1|year=2000|pages=155–178|publisher=Centre for Arts, Humanities and Sciences (CAHS), acting on behalf of the University of Debrecen CAHS|jstor=41274079|title=Narrativium and Lies-to-Children: 'Palatable Instruction in 'The Science of Discworld'|issn=1218-7364|}}
* {{cite book | title = Figments of Reality: The Evolution of the Curious Mind|first1=Ian |last1=Stewart|first2=Jack|last2=Cohen|author-link2=Jack Cohen (scientist)|publisher={{wipe|Cambridge University Press}}|year=1997|isbn=978-0-521-57155-5|pages=37–38; 140}}
* {{cite news|first=Tim|last=Worstall|access-date=28 February 2016|work={{wipe|Forbes}}|title=To Prove Econ 101 Is Wrong You Do Need To Understand Econ 101|date=25 November 2015|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2015/11/25/to-prove-econ-101-is-wrong-you-do-need-to-understand-econ-101|archive-date=11 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160211163351/http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2015/11/25/to-prove-econ-101-is-wrong-you-do-need-to-understand-econ-101/}}

== External links ==
* {{cite news|url=https://blogs.unimelb.edu.au/sciencecommunication/2012/08/17/lies-to-children/|access-date=26 February 2016|title=Lies-to-children|date=17 August 2012|work=Scientific Scribbles|publisher=University of Melbourne|archive-date=12 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150712155148/https://blogs.unimelb.edu.au/sciencecommunication/2012/08/17/lies-to-children/}}
* {{cite news|access-date=26 February 2016|url=http://serc.carleton.edu/earthandmind/posts/lies_children.html|title=Telling Lies to Children|date=26 October 2011|first1=Kim |last1=Kastens|first2= Dana |last2=Chayes |work=Earth and Mind|archive-date=5 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160205090900/http://serc.carleton.edu/earthandmind/posts/lies_children.html|publisher=[[Organization:Carleton College|Carleton College]]}}
* {{cite news|access-date=26 February 2016|url=http://wiki.lspace.org/mediawiki/Lies-To-Children|title=Lies-to-Children|date=12 January 2014|archive-date=4 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150304022104/http://wiki.lspace.org/mediawiki/Lies-To-Children|work=Discworld & Terry Pratchett Wiki|publisher=The L-Space Web}}
* {{cite news|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHX06-rf6FE|access-date=26 February 2016|title=Lying to Children|publisher=[[Company:YouTube|YouTube]]|author=Nineteenthly|date=5 March 2013}}



[[Category:Philosophy of science]]

{{Sourceattribution|Lie-to-children}}