1 - I plead guilty to misusing "metaphor." Only, however, to the extent that
I conflate multiple similar terms, e.g., simile and analogy, under a single
umbrella, "metaphor." Also, because, even when used precisely, a metaphor can
be different 'things' at different times—i.e., it has a lifecycle—including
epiphor, diaphor, failed metaphor, lexical term, and my own neologism,
"paraphor."
2 - Metaphor is, and should be used as such, just as precise a term as any
other word; including the ones you listed and catachresis. There is a thread
within linguistics study dedicated to metaphor.
3 - As for, 'everything a metaphor'. Every noun (likely any word) in a
language might be construed as metaphor, e.g., "dog" **_is_** "this complex,
amalgamated, integrated, bundle of sensor (e.g., nerve ending) blips."
4 - with regards responsibility: the damage done by unrecognized,
unacknowledged metaphors like, "brain is computer," and, "executing software is
cognition," are extraordinarily harmful but no one is held to account for
asserting them.
davew
On Tue, Mar 17, 2026, at 6:17 PM, glen wrote:
> Were you to write something like: "... scientists, when they use such
> rich catachreses as 'entanglement', fail to take responsibility for
> consequences of such use", I would not object. That word, unlike
> metaphor, has a fairly concrete meaning, something like "fills lexical
> gaps in scientific terminology, providing names and concepts where none
> previously existed".
>
> Or, were you to write something like: "... scientists, when they use
> such rich didactic metaphors as 'entanglement', fail to take
> responsibility for consequences of such use", that would be OK too. The
> 'didactic' qualifier helps the reader *understand* whatever the hell
> you might mean.
>
> I don't actually care that much what the first person who used a word
> meant by that word. Etymology and usage history are interesting and can
> sometimes hint at the word's normative meaning. But what matters much
> much more is what the current author(s) mean when they use the word.
>
> And, again, if everything's a metaphor, then the word 'metaphor' is
> useless... like saying everything is a thing. It feels like the Bad
> kind of "sophistry" to use a phrase like "the metaphor (metaphor)". It
> not only wastes everyone's time; it also gives me The Ick:
> https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=the%20ick It's
> difficult to steel man something when that thing grosses you out.
>
>
> On 3/17/26 12:31 PM, Nicholas Thompson wrote:
>> Cmon, Glen, where is the Steelman of Yore?
>>
>> To apply the metaphor (metaphor) to every utterance is no more "corrupt"
>> than to mathematize every proposition. It becomes corrupt only when it is
>> not pursued honesty. "Entanglement" is a metaphor. It directs the mind.
>> "Natural selection" is a metaphor. It also directs the mind.
>>
>> My worry is that scientists, when they use such rich metaphors as
>> entanglement fail to take responsibility for the consequences of such use.
>> Let's assume that the person who first used the metaphor, entanglement,
>> meant something by it. We can formalize the analysis of metaphors just as
>> we can mathematicize any proposition. And in that formalization, we can sort
>> out the direction, and misdirection in the metaphor. What did they intend
>> when they used the metaphor entanglement? What did they NOT intend? And
>> when the disclaimers have been completed, is there anything left of the
>> metaphor. If not, then, perhaps,*/scientists should stop using the
>> metaphor/*. In the same way that we have stopped calling porpoises "fish".
>>
>> I don't know enough to even speculate what role "entanglement" as a metaphor
>> has played in the development of quantum physics. But I claim to know enough
>> about human behavior to assert that it has played some role, and that
>> physicists run some risks if they altogether disclaim it.
>>
>> What might we gain, SteelMan, from exploring human thought as movement from
>> metaphor to metaphor, each new experience being understood as a version of
>> some previous one? My love is like a red,red rose, delicate, delighting,
>> fragrant. But OH! the thorns. Did I mean the thorns. Was there ever a
>> rose that did not have thorns? Metaphors are like that.
>>
>> When you say that we metaphorists are liars, what are the experiences of
>> being lied to that you bring to bear. When we analyze metaphors (I assert),
>> it's always best to be as particular as possible. Describe to me a
>> particular jarring instance of being lied to. Now project that experience
>> onto the experience of being metaphored to. What are the surplus meanings
>> of applying the metaphor; which of those surplus meanings are disclaimed;
>> once these disclaimers have been noted, does the metaphor retain any
>> heuristic value.
>>
>> I have to say, I don't like being called a liar. But -- as the saying goes
>> -- "if the foo shits", I guess I have to wear it. So, what experience do
>> you imagine when you imagine being lied to? What aspects of that experience
>> do you intend when you call metaphorists liars? What aspect do you disclaim?
>> What is the heuristic value of the metaphor, once the disclaimers have been
>> made.
>>
>> By the way, just as an interpersonal matter, if you call me a sinner, it
>> doesn't help that you immediately call yourself a sinner. Any contempt you
>> feel for yourself, does nothing to salve the contempt you feel for me. In
>> fact it makes it worse. I have to bear the contempt of an admitted /sinner!/
>>
>> But I love you anyway. I wouldn't engage you if I didnt.
>>
>> Nick
>
>
> --
> ¡sıɹƎ ןıɐH ⊥ ɐןןǝdoɹ ǝ uǝןƃ
> ὅτε oi μὲν ἄλλοι κύνες τοὺς ἐχϑροὺς δάκνουσιν, ἐγὰ δὲ τοὺς φίλους, ἵνα σώσω.
>
>
>
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