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I'm assuming this is about the Headscratchers.Demon Slayer Kimetsu No Yaiba page, judging by your recent edit history? If so you should link the page in your post.
That part was me. I'm just defending my beliefs and the belief of others. It was stated that the book was just one example of proof out of many others and you clearly missed or flat out dismissed "tons of records
" out of ignorance.
But yeah, I'll cut it.
Edited by KingOfStickersEvidence of belief is not evidence of events. I'd go further, but I'm concerned about derailing. Tanjiro's family have traditions that go back to the first breath style, but that doesn't mean that (without evidence) they would continue to remember all the details of demons/breathing. Mugen's "children" are rare enough that it's reasonable to assume that not everyone has met one, Tanjiro's town is isolated, and his family even moreso. The fact that the Slayers have gone to some effort to live in secret indicates that their existence is not well-known, and it would be a government/lord watched/run organization if they were.
Also, that's rife with violations of First-Person Writing, which is wrong
"Evidence of belief is not evidence of events" is a very true and valid statement. Thank you for being reasonable (that's not sarcasm btw). You're a good mod.
Derailing is a tricky subject to avoid, but then again, talking about derailing would mean we're going off-topic. Because it's tricky, at least for me, maybe a guide would help me avoid derailment?
Now, back to the topic at hand. Crazy, maybe you would like to add that example to the headscratcher? It sounds like it could help give a definite answer to it.
Also, I removed the First-Person Writing including those of the other troper. Sorry for my errors.
Edited by KingOfStickers

For Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, I'm arguing that there are multiple reasons why the Tanjiro's family wouldn't believe in demons and we veer slightly off-topic. In the end I get back on topic but I'm afraid if it's veered too much off its own course. Maybe all the irrelevant parts just need to be cut out.
- Why would Tanjiro and his family not know Demons exist in the start of the series? Considering Demons aren't rare enough to be all that secretive at the start of the story, you have several Demons who can just casually take up shop in random cities and prey on people without being detected, why would his family not know? Even if they weren't told, they live near a village that has people who clearly do know they exist, so why would they think Demons aren't real?
- For the same reason why some people don't believe in ghosts in real life while others do, I guess.
- That doesn't answer the issue. Demons are established to be real, physically exist and have for thousands of years. Why would he and his family not know they exist at all? Besides, Ghosts aren't a good analogy because Ghosts don't exist physically (and I don't believe they exist), Demon's are factually and undeniably real in the setting of Demon Slayers. It would be one thing if Demon's were super rare, or there was some kind of The Men in Black who go out and ensure Demon's aren't seen or deny them, but people know what Demon Slayers are already.
- Maybe some people don't believe in Demon Slayers either. Just knowing that they exist isn't enough proof for them to confirm that demons exist within their limited knowledge of the universe. It's like knowing that Vikings exist(ed), but choosing not to believe in the mythological tales that they talk about because they lack the same experiences, or with any supernatural story that are disbelieved in by the majority of people because others say that it's simply impossible, mostly due to the fact that they don't have the same experiences and word of mouth... Imagine how hard it would be to try and explain vampire Michael Jackson using science (you're welcome to try). Think of it like how people in the middle ages would claim that witchcraft doesn't exist. Not exactly due to how they perceive the world (science), but mostly out of pure fear and as an attempt of controlling society (though it's a bit more complicated than just that). In real life, Demon Slayers can be compared to the Onmyōdō which are basically government-hired magicians. Do you believe in them? Probably not, since you most likely don't believe in magic. But they existed. There's tons of proof of magic existing (seriously, there's tons of records like the Galdrabok. Go check 'em out for yourself) but because the majority of some societies believes it's impossible, well...
- I'm not taking about real world examples because they have no bearing on the plot of the show, I'm only talking about why his family seemed to just not believe Demons exist when, again, there is a town they go to seemingly constantly that has at least one person who we know, for sure, knows Demons exist. Plus it seems Tanjiro's father did know that Demons existed so why would he not tell his family "Hey, be careful at night. There are Demons living in the area who could attack". Magic, ghosts, etc, none of those have any baring on just why they all seemed to just not know Demons exisited. And on your last point, I'm going to be blunt and say that no, magic is not real.
- Because Tanjiro's family is not open-minded to demons, just like how some people in real life aren't open-minded to the supernatural. Whether they believe in demons or not is irrelevant due to the fact they they exist in their universe (or at least we, the viewers know they exist). The world works much more deeper than they're aware of, as they lack the amount of knowledge. They were simply told that demons aren't real by trustworthy people and they believed them. Or maybe it's a cultural taboo to believe in demons. Being told that demons aren't real would probably put one at ease from the terrifying implications, especially if the people that tell you demons aren't real is noteworthy for being trustworthy (for example, a scientist). Also, I made those real world comparisons to try and put you into the mindset of how things would work in their society. Maybe you're asking the wrong questions here, to be honest, 'cause this thread may be getting a little off-topic, and the answer is very complicated.
Little timmy: Daddy daddy, vampire Michael Jackson is in my closet! He's stealing my vegetables!
Dad: Now, now, son, don't be silly. There's no such thing as vampires or Michael Jackson. Hey, where'd all this blood come from? Where'd my finger go? Must be the flu.
- To try and put it simply, there are multiple reasons for Tanjiro's family being unaware of demons:
- 1) Lack of widespread knowledge of demons, especially for Tanjiro's family.
- 2) People may have tried debunking their existence before because they believe they aren't possible and they haven't encountered them. This leads to more and more people accepting they aren't real and rejecting people that actually know demons exist without being open-minded about it.
- 3) They were told they aren't real by trustworthy people (like by scientists/word of mouth). For example them claiming that demons would be physically impossible. These scientists may also want to debunk the existence of demons out of fear of the implications and avoidance of social humiliation or rejection.
- 4) Demons are scary to think about. The supernatural implications are even scarier. If none of that is real the world feels more safe and less scary than it already is.
- 5) Could also be a cultural taboo to believe in demons. See Wolfwalkers to witness something similar happen to the Wolfwalkers.
- 6) A theory: Maybe stuff like magic has a scientific explanation to it in the world of Demon Slayer, like alchemy from FMA. The breathing techniques are sort of like psuedo-science anyways (expanding lung capacity = superhuman powers). At least, in my opinion. But demons have yet to be given a commonly accepted scientific explanation.
Edited by KingOfStickers