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> Participation trophies are for protecting people from knowledge that there were winners and losers in a competition and that they are one of the losers.

Have you ever seen a participation trophy?

I have some from youth sports. They're a tenth the size of the actual placement trophies. They were not an attempt to fool people.

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> They were not an attempt to fool people.

That's exactly what they are. The whole reason People started pushing them was to pursue an agenda to affect developmental psychology. Perhaps you are misreading my point, as are others who seem to equate not being a loser with first place. A third place trophy is not fooling anyone that the winner is equal to the first place winner either. Participation trophies allow children to accumulate a room full of trophies and praise from relatives.

If it's very clearly distinguished from placement trophies to everyone involved, then where's the deception?

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