METAPHORS

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Here are some powerful quotes and metaphor-related gems pulled from the article "Metaphors open up our minds – but can also shut them down" by Claire O’Callaghan:

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🔑 On Metaphors and Thought

• “Once you see the link, you can’t unsee it. A limit is imposed.”

• “Analogy can help us understand something more deeply because we have another inroad to it.”

• “Scientific metaphors are like flypaper: sticky, and less useful the more flies that stick to it.”

• “The price of metaphor is eternal vigilance.” — Arturo Rosenblueth and Norbert Wiener

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💡 On Scientific Metaphors

• “The genetic blueprint is a mere caricature, duping us out of the opportunity to face biological complexity head-on.”

• “Even matching the most complex thing we’ve made (computers) with the most complex thing in nature (brains) is no real match at all.”

• “Much of nature is like this: without a single top-down controller… These systems work in a ‘heterarchy’, where information flows across levels and cause-and-effect can occur in all directions.”

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✨ On Language and Wonder

• “We spend less time tossing around questions and playing with problems… There’s less of a chance to merely wonder about things.”

• “Turn an analogy over and over, and see if the light catches the original idea in a different way.”

• “All I can do is turn a phrase until it catches the light.” — Clive James

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Would you like me to help turn one of these into an infographic or poster?

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Here’s a summary in bullet format:

• Analogies in poetry and science can be powerful, adding richness and depth to our understanding, but they can also constrain thinking by locking in a particular perspective.

• The ease of accessing information online has reshaped our cognitive habits, reducing opportunities for open-ended curiosity and exploration.

• Analogies, metaphors, and similes function as cognitive tools, helping bridge abstract or complex ideas with familiar concepts, but they also guide and sometimes limit how we conceptualize those ideas.

• Poetic analogies offer vivid, imaginative connections, like Les Murray comparing a hippo surfacing to a reader emerging from deep reading, creating inextricable mental links.

• Scientific analogies can aid comprehension, such as likening saccadic eye movement delays to firemen responding late to an emergency – both clarifying and evoking curiosity.

• The danger of analogies lies in their stickiness – they may oversimplify, mislead, or become outdated, such as calling DNA a “blueprint” or the brain a “computer.”

• Outmoded scientific metaphors may obscure biological complexity, as living systems are often dynamic, decentralized, and better described by heterarchies than by top-down models.

• Despite their risks, analogies remain essential, especially when used critically and reflectively – their usefulness lies in their ability to shed new light on familiar ideas.

• The challenge is to wield analogies with care, constantly reassessing their relevance and impact, as metaphor’s “price is eternal vigilance.”

• Ultimately, good analogies should open minds, not close them – they should “catch the light” of an idea and turn it into something illuminating, insightful, and maybe even a little delightful.

Would you like this turned into an infographic summary or presentation slide format?