Metaphorical Thinking
This might be my favorite kind of thinking. It is symbolic, playful, filled with possibility. And, yet, it is literally what gives us the ability to make stories meaningful beyond the literal words we use to express them. It enables us to imagine that there could be more to a story than just the telling of events. That a story can have a point or raise questions or help us understand something else that on first glance seems unrelated. It bequeaths us the possibility of interpretation.
The best metaphors are imaginative in such a way as to reframe a familiar idea in a novel way. And, hence, they reframe our thinking about that familiar idea and often another idea that may not be as familiar.
There can also be a certain economy to metaphorical thinking. We can communicate a lot by making comparisons in just a few words or sentences. And our words can take on more meaning and generate a deeper understanding.
Try to imagine a world without metaphors. What would it be like? Would anyone tell or write stories? Would anyone listen or read? Or would every written work just be an instruction manual? Purely functional and designed to communicate in a straightforward and simple way?
What would be the point of that? Maybe clear and direct communication? Certainly that has its value and place. Perfect for instruction manuals. But imagine your favorite literary work or film and erase all of the metaphors. What would it become? Would it hold the same meaning for you? The same value?
Do certain metaphors appeal to certain people? Are we biased in our responses to certain metaphors? Or prejudiced to accept some and not others? Is our metaphorical thinking as subjective as everything else in our existence? Or does metaphorical thinking enable us to see the subjectivity? That there are many ways to understand, to consider, to seek meaning? Does metaphorical thinking open the mind?
Have you ever gotten lost in a metaphor? Sucked down a rabbit hole? So wrapped up in it that you lost track of space-time? Kind of like getting lost while browsing the web? Wouldn’t that be a cool metaphor to explore in real life?