> The continuing series of qualifications "it's kinda like this, for what you're talking about" gets pretty rough there
The qualifications are there; that's just a fact. Being told about them, or at least about their existence if not every detail of them, up front seems better to me than finding out about them later on when your mental model is solidified around the simplified version that you then find out doesn't always work.
> I don't think omission of detail is the same as lying.
Saying "multiplication is repeated addition", without qualification and without any caveats, is not "omission of detail". It's a false, categorical statement, i.e., lying.
As for where the line is where you stop giving details, obviously that will depend on the circumstances. A teacher who says "we don't have time to talk about that during class today, but yes, there is much more detail here that you can look into on your own" is not lying and is not saying the child is "not smart enough" to take in all the detail now. (Bonus points if the teacher says "see me after class and I'll give you some pointers on where to go for more information".) A parent who says something similar because they have to get dinner ready and the child needs to do the rest of their homework before bed is also not lying and not saying the child is "not smart enough". Limitations of time are a fact of life, and children need to deal with it just like the rest of us.
A teacher who just says "we're not talking about that", or who doesn't even know about the qualifications, or who gets snippy when a child asks a natural question, is obviously not doing the child any good; but that is because of the teacher fixating on a simplified model and treating it as "the Truth", so doing more of that won't fix it.
The qualifications are there; that's just a fact. Being told about them, or at least about their existence if not every detail of them, up front seems better to me than finding out about them later on when your mental model is solidified around the simplified version that you then find out doesn't always work.
> I don't think omission of detail is the same as lying.
Saying "multiplication is repeated addition", without qualification and without any caveats, is not "omission of detail". It's a false, categorical statement, i.e., lying.
As for where the line is where you stop giving details, obviously that will depend on the circumstances. A teacher who says "we don't have time to talk about that during class today, but yes, there is much more detail here that you can look into on your own" is not lying and is not saying the child is "not smart enough" to take in all the detail now. (Bonus points if the teacher says "see me after class and I'll give you some pointers on where to go for more information".) A parent who says something similar because they have to get dinner ready and the child needs to do the rest of their homework before bed is also not lying and not saying the child is "not smart enough". Limitations of time are a fact of life, and children need to deal with it just like the rest of us.
A teacher who just says "we're not talking about that", or who doesn't even know about the qualifications, or who gets snippy when a child asks a natural question, is obviously not doing the child any good; but that is because of the teacher fixating on a simplified model and treating it as "the Truth", so doing more of that won't fix it.