{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"The aura of metaphor","description":"Metaphors matter. They enliven our speech and our prose; they animate our arguments and stir our passions. Some metaphors power political movements; others propel scientific revolutions. These little figures of speech delight, provoke, captivate, shock, amuse, and galvanize us. In one way or another, metaphors just seem to help us make sense of a messy world. But how do they do all this? Whence their peculiar powers? What does it say about the human mind that we just can\u2019t escape our metaphors\u2014and frankly don\u2019t want to?  My guest today is Dr. Stephen Flusberg. Steve is an Assistant Professor of Cognitive Science at Vassar College, where he directs the Framing, Reasoning, And Metaphor (FRAME) Lab. Here, Steve and I talk about what metaphors are and why we\u2019re so drawn to them. We discuss some of the misleading ideas about metaphor you may remember from middle school literature class. We consider why some metaphors work and others flop. We talk about the metaphors we use for climate change and prevalence and potency of war metaphors across different realms of public discourse. We consider how metaphor operates in science and in scientific theorizing. Finally, we talk about the question of whether there are some ideas that we simply can\u2019t grasp literally, concepts we can only approach through metaphor. Along the way, Steve and I talk about: \u201caura farming\u201d; nautical metaphors and textile metaphors; the outmoded idea that metaphors are mere adornments; metaphor versus analogy; dead metaphors and how to resuscitate them; shadows and footprints; Dan Dennett\u2019s technique of metaphorical triangulation; and the brain-as-computer metaphor\u2014and whether it is actually a metaphor. Alright, friends this is a fun one. Steve has spent his entire career exploring this fascinating terrain\u2014and, as you\u2019ll see, he\u2019s a lively and affable guide. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Without further ado, here\u2019s my conversation with Dr. Steve Flusberg.    Notes 3:00 \u2013 For more on \u201cbeige flags,\u201d see here. For more on \u201caura farming,\u201d see here. 8:00 \u2013 For an overview of metaphor in communication and thought, see here for an article by Dr. Flusberg and co-authors. 18:00 \u2013 The \u201clife is a journey\u201d (or \u201ccareer is a journey\u201d) metaphor\u2014as well as other examples we discuss\u2014are treated at length in the classic book, Metaphors We Live By. 24:00 \u2013 For a detailed academic treatment of the relationship between metaphor and analogy, see here. 32:00 \u2013 Some of the best-studied \u201corientational metaphors\u201d are those found in the domain of time. See here and here. 37:00 \u2013 For more on metaphors used in discussions of environmental issues, see a paper by Dr. Flusberg and a colleague here.   42:00 \u2013 For more on the idea of the \u201cclimate shadow,\u201d see here. 46:00 \u2013 The study by Dr. Flusberg and colleagues comparing the effects of race and war metaphors for climate change. 55:00 \u2013 The article by Dr. Flusberg and colleagues on the role of war metaphors across different areas of public discourse. 1:04:00 \u2013 For an influential discussion of the role of metaphors and analogies in science, see here. For Kensy\u2019s take on Darwin\u2019s metaphors for natural selection, see here. For discussion of whether the \u201cbrain-as-computer\u201d metaphor is actually a metaphor, see here and here. 1:12:00  \u2013 For more on the history of metaphors in the English language\u2014including analyses of which source domains have historically been the most fruitful\u2014see here. 1:14:00 \u2013 For discussion of the (disputed) idea of \u201cdead metaphors,\u201d see here and here. 1:17:00 \u2013 The idea of \u201ctheory-constitutive metaphors\u201d in science is discussed in a chapter by Richard Boyd in this book.  1:19:00 \u2013 For a preview of Dr. Flusberg\u2019s in-progress paper on the philosopher Daniel Dennett and his technique of \u201cmetaphorical triangulation,\u201d see here. 1:33:00 \u2013 For the (extremely short) Borges\u2019 story on maps that are too accurate to be useful, see here.   Recommendations Metaphors We Live By, by George Lakoff & Mark Johnson Consciousness Explained, by Daniel Dennett Three Sheets to the Wind, by Cynthia Barrett   Many Minds is a project of the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute, which is made possible by a generous grant from the John Templeton Foundation to Indiana University. The show is hosted and produced by Kensy Cooperrider, with help from Assistant Producer Urte Laukaityte and with creative support from DISI Directors Erica Cartmill and Jacob Foster. Our artwork is by Ben Oldroyd. Subscribe to Many Minds on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also now subscribe to the Many Minds newsletter here! We welcome your comments, questions, and suggestions. Feel free to email us at: manymindspodcast@gmail.com. For updates about the show, visit our website or follow us on Bluesky (@manymindspod.bsky.social). ","author_name":"Many Minds","author_url":"https:\/\/disi.org\/manyminds\/","html":"