Useful Metaphors, Beautiful Metaphors
An ode
I am a lover of metaphors for multiple reasons.
For one, they often provide a shortcut to learning or remembering something new, by connecting it with something you already know. Of course, metaphors have their limits. They project one space onto another, and in doing that they introduce some potential distortions or fail to capture some important aspects.
Regardless, they give a peek into something new you want to understand (i.e. did you know you could learn Maths by tying your shoelaces?)
But that is not all.
Metaphors have some intrinsic beauty, regardless if they are “useful” or not. They serve as a reminder of some universal laws or patterns, that pertain to all layers of existence: from the most concrete to the most abstract.
Take a river for example. A river offers a well of metaphors (pun intended). Leonardo da Vinci, the OG of metaphors, made numerous parallels between the circulatory systems and rivers. At the same time, a river in its formation reminds me of the habit formation process: in a similar way that the flowing water starts to erode soil and rock, carving out channels, repetition of a behaviour starts to create a routine. That routine, for better or worse, becomes more and more reinforced over time, much like a fully formed river.
There are infinite metaphors out there, on rivers or not, that are up for grabs! Each contains an invitation to ponder on how interconnected everything really is.