Culture & Religion — February 25, 2011

The Power of Metaphors

‘Will Egypt’s revolution spark a Domino Effect?’. Almost anywhere one looks for analysis of events, a metaphor stares back. But metaphors are no substitute for the generation of ideas.

bigthinkeditor

‘Will Egypt’s revolution spark a Domino Effect?’; ‘Could a political-unrest contagion potentially spread elsewhere?’ Like the ‘perfect storm’ whipped up by the financial crisis of 2008, the current uprisings in the Arab world have certainly prompted politicians and the media alike to flex their metaphors. In his seminal essay, Why I Write, George Orwell argued that ‘the sole aim of metaphor is to call up a visual image’. Now it seems the burden on metaphors is much greater: they are being used to probe our unconscious mind. But metaphors are no substitute for the generation of ideas.

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