Concerning the Reality of Santa Claus

Its something that has broken the heart of many a child. The magic of Christmas stifled in a moment of unveiling. Perhaps it was the accidental discovery of a stash of presents. Perhaps it was a midnight encounter with not too stealthy parents. Too often it's an innocent shattering comment from an older sibling or school mate that brings the fantasy to a screeching halt.

Santa Claus isn't real.

The stories, the reindeer, the milk and cookies... all of it... a farce. In the end it turns out to be nothing more than a culture-wide charade. I mean, we do eventually get over it. Maybe the trust is broken a bit, but we are still getting presents, and we continue in the little game. We don't tell the younger kids, and by the time we are adults, we are so enchanted by the fantasy world of our own youth that we go to great lengths to conjure the phantasmagoria for the younger generation... all for that whiff of nostalgia.

I think it terribly ironic that when you actually face the truth, it is the disbelief in Santa that is childish, not the other way around.

Wait, what?

Yes, Santa is real.

I realize this is not a popular opinion for those over the age of seven, but hear me out. Something is real if it actually exists. While it is true that Santa isn't physically real, meaning he doesn't exist in the physical world, it is a tragic misstep to count him out of all reality.

The things in our heads, are, after all, real. Once again, the idea of a ball is differently real than a ball in your back yard, but no less real. Ideas, dreams, hopes, imaginations, fancies, plans, expectations, emotional experiences, sensations... these are all real. That's why they matter so much. Since Santa exists in the mind of even one person, he exists.

But Santa is real in even more ways. True he can be found in our minds, but he can also be found amid our minds. Santa is a communal notion, spanning the imaginations of many. This mimetic aspect gives jolly ol' St. Nick a wider and more persistent existence.

Finally, Santa is also real because he is a social construct. The idea of the man in red is not a passive thought, but one that evokes action. The legend carries a prescription, a behavioral imperative that we then carry out. Consider the notion of Justice. Nowhere in all the world can you find a physical piece of Justice. Symbols and examples, perhaps, but no actual Justice. No, Justice is an idea, an ideal even, that is communally negotiated and made manifest by human action. In the same way Claus is a collectively authored idea that we make real by playing the part, from buying the gifts to eating the cookie. Just like handcuffs and judge's mallets.

So, while Father Christmas may not be physically real, he is real in that he exists in our minds, amid the minds of a community, and is physically manifested by human actions. But don't tell your brother. I don't think he's ready to know the truth.