for the swatfolk in the hall
In that conversation last weekend we talked a bit about appropriate metaphors with respect to sensitivity, accidentally (or not) causing discomfort and upset in the listener*, and/or illustrative enrichment of communication.
With that in mind: Metaphor in Mediation: Mediation is a _What_?.Traditionally, this has led people to refer to such items as "only figures of speech," with the implication that a metaphor is nothing more than a kind of linguistic ornament. Even today, when metaphor is the hottest domain in the field of cognitive science, that tends to be the popular understanding.
This is unfortunate, because metaphors are the most powerful tools we have for bringing about changes in human feelings and attitudes. Definitions don't have this property, but metaphors do. Changes that are brought about by logical argument and "true facts" take a very long time, often such a long time that they're obsolete by the time they're accomplished; changes brought about by coercion happen quickly, but they last only until someone comes along with a more powerful weapon, a larger bribe, or some other kind of superior force. Changes that result from metaphor, by contrast, happen very fast and and are longlasting.
With that in mind: Metaphor in Mediation: Mediation is a _What_?.Traditionally, this has led people to refer to such items as "only figures of speech," with the implication that a metaphor is nothing more than a kind of linguistic ornament. Even today, when metaphor is the hottest domain in the field of cognitive science, that tends to be the popular understanding.
This is unfortunate, because metaphors are the most powerful tools we have for bringing about changes in human feelings and attitudes. Definitions don't have this property, but metaphors do. Changes that are brought about by logical argument and "true facts" take a very long time, often such a long time that they're obsolete by the time they're accomplished; changes brought about by coercion happen quickly, but they last only until someone comes along with a more powerful weapon, a larger bribe, or some other kind of superior force. Changes that result from metaphor, by contrast, happen very fast and and are longlasting.