Greetings Economists, On Oct 19, 2006, at 6:39 PM, Jim Devine wrote:
yeah, but the idea that people think metaphorically goes against the grain of "scientific" sorts who think that people think like computers (cf. Steven Pinker).
George Lakoff and assorted Linguists argue in a neural network sense that metaphors are a 'mapping' of one source upon another. This relatively recent trend in cognitive science is in conflict with Pinker to some degree. Although i don't think Pinker has ever reacted with as much vitriol to Lakoff as he has to Stephen Jay Gould. Lakoff additionally applied this general concept to mathematics to assert how basic metaphorical structures are repeated and to some degree illuminate the creation of mathematical concepts. Not that mathematicians have taken this as their own. This assertion though implies that metaphor is not strictly a language cognition. In other words, whether or not Lakoff is a linguist, Lakoff implies that the foundation of the brain associations for all mental labor is metaphorical. So while we are familiar with metaphor from English studies, it really is not just a language activity and has much potential in other sorts of communicative arenas. Doyle
