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Analogies are not tools for arguments. They change the environment of the situation, tweak severity, and cut corners and successively (and in fact criminally) g
by yawboakye 6y ago
Analogies are not tools for arguments. They change the environment of the situation, tweak severity, and cut corners and successively (and in fact criminally) gloss over important details in the real scenario.
- raattgift 6y agoIs hyperbole? "Criminally", really? Analogies are perfectly fine ways to throw away superfluous detail to focus on salient matters. Of course there are bad analogies, including, as you imply, those deliberately chosen so as to throw away relevant detail, however one can still improve such analogies rather than reject them -- let alone all analogies -- out of hand. Not only are they tools for arguments -- proof by existence -- but they are frequently useful tools for resolving arguments, precisely because they can help choose which are the important details in the real scenario. "Your analogy can be improved by <insert idea>" is also simply more friendly than "all analogies are terrible" or even "your analogy is terrible", which is something to bear in mind if you enjoy friendly debates.