Metaphorically Speaking

As I began looking over Chesher' s article, as well as Heidegger and The Metaphores we Live By, I began to theorize about the way in which the human brain actually thinks and comprehends information. The whole idea of a metaphor and how we are always relating one thing to another seems to be the basis for the way all thought, is well, thought out. Certain concepts, be it in theory, theology, or even art are understood because we somehow relate what we see or hear back to some basic concept that we have learned in the past. Take for example, the idea of power in the article by Chris Chesher. He speaks about how there comes a point where we face a trade off between precision and power. In order for the computer to actually be used we must learn some level of programming language/power in order for us to make the device do what we want. Again a computer acts as a metaphorical device to either store our own language or act as a medium in which to portray our ideas. Yet there still lies this power among not only the user but the companies that build the computer itself. As stated in the article, IBM, Apple, Microsoft, and others have allowed themselves an upper hand in understanding the power that a computer has over ones mind and life. This can then be related to something like the way a religion might rule over its followers. Some individuals who are highly educated in theology behind a certain religion sometimes can take that knowledge and rule over other followers who don't quite have the same power. Again more metaphors.

While many thoughts and ideas are considered revolutionary or new and innovative, I feel the best way to understand these concepts is to relate them back to something we know and can understand. So depending on your education or overall intelligence, certain people need more metaphors to actually understand a concept. Again lets look at Chesher. One of his main premises of the article is comparing this idea of a computer to invocational media. Some people might look at this statement and see a connection. Others however need to look at another metaphor before the concept is understood. So they compare invocational with asking or looking for some sort of support, which essentially is the definition. Some minds must compare concepts metaphorically with a concept that is a little more concrete. This idea however, then invokes the notion that understanding/thinking is really just as good as the language we have to describe it.

Like we mentioned in class earlier, we can only express what we are thinking in the forms of the language we know. So in an essence language has boundaries just like the walls of a building, again another metaphor, that never really allow us full thinking capabilities. One concept is expressed in language and if it is not understood, metaphors are created to simplify the idea so one can comprehend it.

I have never really thought about how we think before however I feel our brain is like some big web, always connecting one thing to another and I don't really find too much wrong with that. Sorry I guess I just used another metaphor.