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I don't think the point is avoiding these metaphors, but instead about being aware of them. The next slide in that talk is "You're thinking of figurative metaph
by cjhveal 6y ago
I don't think the point is avoiding these metaphors, but instead about being aware of them. The next slide in that talk is "You're thinking of figurative metaphors", and goes on to distinguish cognitive metaphors which are basic tools of thought from the kinds of metaphor that are analyzed in literature for their symbolism or meaning. The speaker encourages the listener to make these cognitive metaphors because they are powerful conduits for transferring understanding.
I believe the goal of this blog post was a fun exploration to try to explicitly consider the ways we use these cognitive metaphors in our technical language, so as to be more aware of them and to able to use them more effectively in communication.
- theelous3 6y ago> Why would I pollute my [concepts] with these fuzzy misleading stories that are completely unrelated?” > And I definitely wonder this sometimes! I really like explaining things in straightforward ways. Pollute, misleading, unrelated are not words I associate with merely "being aware". An overly charitable reading I think.
- theelous3 6y agoReplying to myself as edit time expired, to clarify: The author edited the article in the mean time. It was initially fairly negative towards metaphors, and now appears more neutral.
- the_af 6y agoI agree Maggie's talk wasn't arguing against metaphors. I had to watch it to find out ;) I also agree with you about the point of the blog post, it just wasn't very clear when I first posted. I see Julia has since re-written parts of it, for example removing Maggie's "frivolous" quote, which was a bit misleading for those of us who hadn't listened to her talk.
- cjhveal 6y agoI must have commented in those moments between Julia editing the post and you editing your comment. Thanks for clarifying!