I am going to share with you now my interpretation of the tale 'The Emperor's New Clothes':
A king wanted to look as beautifully as possible, so they hired two wise men, and asked them to tell the king what to do.
The wise men told the king that all they had to do was to tell the people that if somebody complained that they didn't see the king's clothes, they were either unfit for their position or stupid.
People generally didn't mind whether the king was wearing any clothes or not, so they didn't complain, and they candidly didn't want to be viewed as stupid.
One child, however, who was perhaps genuinely stupid, eventually shouted, according to Wikipedia:
But he isn't wearing anything at all!
The story doesn't have any moral, though. What the moral is?
Wikipedia says:
As an idiom, use of the story's title refers to something widely accepted as true or professed as being praiseworthy, due to an unwillingness of the general population to criticize it or be seen as going against popular opinion.
I don't know what was praiseworthy in the king's behavior. Perhaps it is the ingenuity of the king who explained to people that it is stupid to criticize somebody for the clothes they are wearing or lack thereof.
Wikipedia says that the people were already unwilling to criticize the king, though.
Wikipedia article on the tale refers to pluralistic ignorance, or going along with the consensus if nobody seems to mind.
In the tale nobody was hurt by the king, so I think that people other than the child simply agreed that it was okay.
I remember in Gypsy Taub's blog a clothes optional parade being discussed. I do not even think that people had to be reminded that it was stupid to criticize it, as it was already common knowledge.
One child did indeed shout when they saw a naked man:
Dad, this man is not wearing any shoes!
Perhaps this child assumed that, all other clothes being optional, one should still wear shoes when they are at a parade. I do not think the child was stupid, though. Just surprised.
I do not think the emperor's-new-clothes situation has been reproduced in reality, other than in the example mentioned above.
I would like to know, though, how children usually react. Do they start to yell when they see a clothes-optional parade, or a naked yoga (vivastra yoga) class, and does it mean they are stupid?
