The Power of Metaphor

Imagine for one moment, if you will, that there are two people trying to have a conversation. For simplicity’s sake we’re going to call the one Bob and the other Susan. These are people who do not speak the same language at all. They come from different places, different cultures, different backgrounds, and have wildly different experiences and when one speaks the other can’t understand them at all. In order to have a conversation they’re going to have to translate what the other is saying into their own languages first. Now, that’s not so unusual because when you two people - the one speaking French and the other speaking Japanese, for example’s sake - that’s what you’d expect to happen, right? They’ll have to find some way of speaking that they have in common before they can communicate. Happens hundreds if not millions of times a day. But, here’s my little twist on the standard situation (one that happens billions of times a day) – they’re both speaking English. Just speaking it in a different way. Ways that are mutually exclusive to the other’s way of understanding English. The language is the same but the meanings are different, somehow.

Now, when translating from, say, French to Japanese the first step would be structural. Imagine there’s no French to Japanese textbook nearby they can rely on and what Robert (the T is silent) and Su-san would have to do is start from the very basics – what each word means and how those words are strung together – before even trying to talk. But when dealing with two people who speak English that’s already established. Yet, when Bob speaks Susan’s left scratching her head in wonder. And when Susan tries to say something herself Bob is puzzled because although the words are familiar and they’re in the right places and everything there’s still no meaning for him. And that’s what it means to communicate, of course, to transmit meaningful information from one place to another. In this case Bob’s trying to transmit from his head into Susan’s but, for whatever reason, there’s just no way he can see to do so. There’s just too much difference between him and her and although everyone he knows thinks the words he’s using have some meaning she doesn’t. Not beyond the very, very basics that construct the language itself. Words like “of” or “the” or… “like”.

Bob snaps his fingers. Realization dawning.

“This,” he says gesturing, “is like an apple.”

“Oh.” Susan replies, “an apple. Yeah, I can grok that downtimer.”

And communication begins because although Bob might not get all of the meanings Susan’s using he now has some context to help him sort things out. And when he hits another roadblock he can always find some other metaphor and make another approach.

When dealing with people who’re speaking the same language but using different meanings then the way of translating isn’t structural but systemic. It’s encoded within the very language itself. At least in a language like English which has the power of the metaphor letting it compare one word, one concept, one meaning to any other meaning that it can encode into words. And this is an incredibly important design feature in any language – at least the one’s used by humans – because language is the way we pass our information from one to another. Without language or some other agreed upon standard of transmission there’s no communication. Each of us is an individual with our own experiences and our own understanding of what words and concepts mean. And although most of us – currently - aren’t too far apart in experience or consciousness than any other person that might not always be the case in the future. And when, say, two groups of peoples – two tribes, really of disparate and radically different people who both speak the same language but use it to transmit radically different meanings meet and need to have a conversation they’ll have to find some common ground. Because, while Bob tried and tried until he found a solution the other alternative was for him to get angry or frustrated and stomp away. When that happens between tribes people don’t just get angry, they get violent and, well, not talking is a good way to start wars. And talking’s a good way to prevent them if not end them.

But in order to talk people – any two people – have to translate their meanings into words which are then transmitted to the other person who then translates those words into their own meanings. When the language is a given then a metaphor is a good way to bridge that gap[1]. Especially when there’s a gap between the accepted meanings. The language has to get back to basics in a different way than it does when dealing with someone speaking a different language. Bob and Susan might not agree on what “grok” or “photosynthesis” or “liberal” means. But something as simple as “warm” or “cold” or “apple” gets understood. Even though were you to ask Bob and Susan to draw a picture of an apple they might come up with completely different things. Bob might draw a fruit while Susan might draw a computer or an I-Pod, maybe. They’re two really different people, after all. Even though they’re both from the same country they’re from different cultures. Cultures that draw on some common sources but have their own unique identities.

[1] I’d imagine this is why a lot of ancient teaching is done through metaphors and parables and symbolism and the like. Not that those people were simpler or more basic than we were now. But not only does a metaphor allow for the communication of meaning of a concept when it’s not shared knowledge but it also does so very simply. And simple design is good design because it’s efficient. The ancient people might have had the same brains as we do now and been able to think exactly the way we do but they lacked the tools to write and transmit their information very quickly. When you can only produce, say, a few sheets of paper in a day – per town – you’ll learn to make efficient use of it very quickly.