Blog 1

This text had many explanations on metaphors that I thought proved to be true and very interesting. One line in the text that caught my attention was “metaphors structure the way we think and talk…” because I believe that to be very true. I think that metaphors help others to understand the ideas and concepts that we have developed. Metaphors can also be a way that we can compare things that have similar functions, which can put a new way of describing something out into the world. Also, metaphors can break things down into simpler terms or they can be as complicated as calculus. There is always a meaning when it comes to metaphors which is why they help to structure our thoughts and conversations. Another interesting part of the text was the question of why metaphors can’t be reversed. Personally, I think that it slightly changes the meaning of the metaphor. An example the text used was “my jail is a job…”, which makes no sense at all. This to me means that someone who could literally be in jail or just have a terrible life thinks that it is their job to live that way. Whereas, if the metaphor was “my job is a jail” means that a person feels like they are imprisoned because their job is so horrible. In a way I guess if a metaphor was reversed it has a similar meaning, but I don’t think that it can work for all metaphors. I think that metaphors play an important role in language because metaphors can describe ideas and concepts and shapes how we communicate.

Blog 2

After rereading Erard’s essay a second, some new ideas stood out to me the second time. The first idea that stuck out to me was the idea that some pseudo-mistakes have a lasting effect. These pseudo-mistakes have the power to stick around because they have such an effect on some people. I think that metaphor designers do this on purpose so that people will have to take notice to these metaphors. An example could be “life is a rollercoaster” which could have been a pseudo-mistake, but today it so widely known as a way to describe someone’s day or their life. I think that some metaphors where just pseudo-mistakes, but they describe something so perfectly that they have become apart of the language. Another part of the essay that I was interested in the second time was that words have dual reference. For example everyone knows that a shark is mammal that lives in water and feeds on fish. However, it is also used to describe a lawyer because lawyers are known to be ruthless and relentless just like a shark. To people a shark is just animal that swims in the water, but when it’s put in a metaphor it is given a whole new meaning and the shark is given a personality. Which now makes us think that sharks are ruthless and relentless animals that prey on the little fish. A quote that stuck out to me was ” maybe the best metaphor needs no furniture” which I think can be very true. A metaphor that needs no explanation means that it was well thought out and most people can relate to it. I think that reading the essay over again helped me understand more about metaphors and how they are thought out. Metaphor designers put a lot of thought into metaphors to make sure they have a lasting effect and people can relate to them.

Blog 3

In reading The Trouble with Medicine’s Metaphors it talked about how metaphors are used in the lives of patients to encourage them through their illness. The text mentioned how metaphors that would usually be used to describe military have been adopted by doctors to make their patients understand that they are fighting a battle. In most patients this has worked because they have found the will to fight through their battle. In the text it talks about how patients have felt that their doctors understand their conditions better because the doctors relate their condition to the military using metaphors. Overall, metaphors have been used in the medical field for a very long time and have been used by doctors to encourage their patients through a battle by relating their situation to that of the military, and it seems to have a positive affect on the patients. My issue with doctors using metaphors in general is that it can create false hope in the patient. I know that it has been proven effective, but by telling the patient that they are as strong as a soldier is giving them the idea that they are invincible. If a cancer patient is told that, and then the cancer comes back stronger it just created a whole lot of disappointment. I think that a patient and the military are both fighting battles, but the battles are very different and have a different magnitude. I do think that there is a time and place to tell a patient that they are as strong as a soldier and that is when the person is completely healthy because then there is no bad news that can follow a few minutes later.
“But evidence suggests they do more than explain similarities-they can invent them where they don’t exist, and blur the lines between the literal and the figurative.” -Dhruv Khullar

• Metaphors have the power to create connections between two concepts that have nothing in common.

 

“Maybe the best metaphor needs no furniture.” -Micheal Erard

• A metaphor that perfectly describes something needs no explanation why.

 

Metaphor matters because it creates expectations.” -James Geary

• A metaphor has the power to create the expectation that something is good or bad and it can change someone’s life.