Repost of the metaphore post

If you ever met a metaphor you've met a Meta frame

(Using metaphor to explain metaphor)

The apprentice said to his master "it's amazing how our language and our thoughts are littered with metaphors, they seem to be everywhere!"

"And so they are" replied the Master, "let's dwell on this for a moment. Why do you think metaphors are so common?"

The apprentice pondered for a moment, "well we often use a metaphor to explain what we mean or to embellish our language I suppose."

"Yes you are right but the metaphor has a much greater role in our lives than you think. Other great masters of language and the programming of the mind have spent much time studying this. George Lakoff and Mark Johnson have published studies on this very subject, you should read their work I suggest "Metaphors We Live By."

"I will" the apprentice promised, "but couldn't you give me an overview?"

"Well Lakoff and Johnson's concept became known as the cognitive linguistic view of metaphor and they came up with five key findings:
1. Metaphor is a property of concepts, and not of words.
2. The function of the metaphor is to better understand certain concepts, and not just for some artistic or aesthetic purpose.
3. Metaphor is often not based on similarity.
4. Metaphor is used effortlessly in everyday life by ordinary people, not just by special talented people; and
5. Metaphor, far from being superfluous through pleasing linguistic ornament, is an inevitable process of human thought and reasoning.
In fact our minds use metaphors in a very structured way and Lakoff and Johnson provide a cognitive linguistic view that the metaphor is conceptual in nature and is a valuable cognitive tool. Within this cognitive linguistic view we see the metaphor as tool of understanding one conceptual domain through the language of another and this follows very distinct patterns".

The apprentice looked somewhat perplexed, "what does that actually mean?” he asked.

The Master, as patient as Job, offered more explanation: "A conceptual domain is any coherent organisation of experiences, for example we all recognise the conceptual domain of a journey and understand the meaning of phases such as ‘we're on our way’ and ‘we're at a crossroads’, but you recognise these phrases not just as representing an actual journey but also as representing other concepts . The conceptual domain of the journey is used primarily when communicating about the conceptual domain of relationships, so for example:
Love is a journey
Look how far we have come together
We're at a crossroads
We'll just have to go our separate ways
I don't think this relationship is going anywhere
Where are we?
We're stuck
It's been a long bumpy road.

I could go on but you understand what I am saying.

This use of conceptual domains being used to help organise and frame our thoughts can be found everywhere, it is even used in the business world, consider how we talk about business:
He works at the local branch
Our company is growing
They had to prune the workforce
The business has blossomed
Share holders reaped the benefits of the increased profits
We even call manufacturing sites, plants!"

"I see" exclaimed the apprentice, "are there any other such linked domains?"

"There certainly are, for example an argument is war, theories are buildings, and ideas are food"

As sharp as a knife the apprentice interrupted, "well that's food for thought!"

"Indeed it is, so I would like you go and think about how we might use the power of the metaphor to our advantage, you may wish to see how other people have used metaphors and report back to me when you feel you have learnt sufficient to impress me!"

Some time later the apprentice returned, "Master I have studied long and hard, I have studied those who have used metaphors and those who are experts on their use and effects. I have learnt examples of metaphors and built my ability to communicate through their use."

The Master looked pleased, "tell me more."

”Aristotle said: "Metaphor consists in giving the thing a name that belongs to something else." But I have looked deeper than this and I have investigated how metaphors have been used in the great books such as the bible where Jesus uses metaphors to teach his disciples and even uses himself as a metaphor, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to Father except through me.” He says. And in the old testament there are lots of examples, my favourite is in proverbs 'a quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping on a rainy day’ ."

"Ahh there is much wisdom in the bible", chuckled the Master, "where else have you found such uses of the metaphor?".

"Well there is a story adapted from the Sufi tradition, would you like to hear?"

"Yes please go ahead." The Master sat back and made himself comfortable, encouraged by his apprentice’s enthusiasm.

The apprentice began, "A school master approached a certain well respected Teacher and accused her teachings of being illogical psycho-babble, and numerous other unflattering things. The teacher took from a hidden pocket a jewel. She pointed to the arcade in the shopping centre and said, "Take this jewel to the shops that sell silverware and watch batteries and see if you can get a hundred gold pounds for it."

The Schoolmaster tried many such stores but could get nothing more than the offer of a hundred silver sickles.

"Excellent," said the Teacher. "Now go to a real jeweller and see what he will give you."

The Schoolmaster went to the nearest jeweller’s shop and was amazed to be offered, straight away ten thousand gold pounds for the jewel.

The Teacher said, "Your understanding of real knowledge, and of my teachings, is as the silverware sellers' understanding of the jewel. If you want to value a precious stone, become a jeweller. "

"A fine story" complimented the master, and well delivered; you have obviously enjoyed your exploration of isomorphic metaphors but have you taken the time to understand the theory, the hows and whys, and do you know how to apply their use?"

The apprentice had been caught out like this before and being as shrewd as a snake was able to smugly come back: "Of course Master I have read much about the metaphors from many texts of the great including the great Milton Erickson and of course your own writings," I'll get some brownie points there thought the apprentice, "and in the writings of experts I have found: "that a vital property of the metaphor that impacts on most peoples' lives is that a metaphor describes one experience in terms of another, and in so doing it specifies and constrains ways of thinking about an original experience. This influences the meaning and importance of the experience, the way it fits with other experiences, and actions are taken as a result.”

This property enhances what Andrew Ortony identifies as three remarkable properties of metaphors:
1. Inexpressibility - they give form to the inexpressible.
2. Vividness - they make use of everyday concrete things to illustrate intangible, complex and relational aspects of life, they are vivid and memorable.
3. Compactness - Because of isomorphism, only the essence of an experience need to be captured; the rest can be reconstructed from inferential knowledge.vii
This means that a metaphor can change a perception, an attitude or responsive state but the process can also limit and constrain.
This is something that concerned me so I spoke to fellow apprentice, an apprentice of a Magician called Nick Owen and he has learnt that we can use the metaphor and isomorphic stories to assist people to make useful and beneficial changes to their lives by developing greater awareness that all things have a structure, that change is always possible, that there is always more than one perspective, and that the essence of useful change lies in having both creativity and access to a greater number of choices.”
Once we have mastered this, Master, we can lead those we seek to help on a guided journey which not only enables us to access our meta-states: visual, auditory, kinaesthetic, olfactory and gustatory, but, Arnold Mindell tells us, we have access to a sixth learning style as we can transcend our linear view of time and space and intuition allows us to listen to our inner voice.”
The Master was pleased with the apprentice’s progress and allowed him some more time as he knew the power in what the apprentice had learnt.
“I have explored the teachings of Michael Berman and David Brown who use metaphorical stories followed by guided visualisations which themselves are personal visual metaphors to captivate the listener activating the subconscious and changing peoples perspective, which enables them to access positive states.
So the isomorphic metaphorical story is a powerful tool and, as my apprentice colleague’s master demonstrates that metaphor can be used for many purposes including:
Changing a mood, state or energy level of a person or group
Reframing a problem as a new opportunity
Seeing a behaviour or attitude from a different perspective
Disturbing a limiting view of the world
Challenging unacceptable behaviour
Teaching a point indirectly
Demonstrating that a problem is not new or unique
Enhancing creativity
To mention but a few.”

“And can we use the metaphor other than in a story?” asked the Master.
“As sure as eggs is eggs you can!” through listening to other peoples’ use of metaphors we can determine their frames of reference and then match that frame to gain rapport. And with the use of metaphors we can, in the words of a Grand Master, begin to ‘give form to those aspects of life which are most mystifying; namely, our relationships, our problems, and their solutions, our fears and desires, our illness and health, our poverty and wealth, the love we give and the love we receive. Furthermore, metaphors allow us to reflect on and describe our own cognition in a manner that is isomorphic with that which is reflected upon. It is through this iterative, systematic and wheels-within-wheels process that metaphors for who we are, why we are here, how we are a unique part of a larger whole, and other question of knowing and being become amenable to exploration.
The Master sat forward and placed his hand on the apprentices shoulder, “you have learned much and must now know how much you have to learn. Let me share some wisdom with you now.
The baby mouselets were only a few days old. And they were full of the joys of life. Under the watchful eye of their mother, they were jumping and tumbling, leaping and hopping, squeaking and squealing, and having a great time.
Suddenly they all froze in their tracks. A large black shadow had fallen across them and the space they were playing in.
Slowly they turned their little mouselet heads around to see the source of the shadow. There, standing crouched and ready to pounce, was a huge black tomcat. His yellow eyes were as big as plates, his whiskers were long and menacing, his teeth were yellow and sharp and dripping with saliva. If that cat could have said one thing it would have been, “Lunchtime!”
Quick as a flash, the mother mouse leaped over the mouselings and occupied the space between them and the tomcat. Glaring into the tomcat’s eyes, she barked loudly and with attitude: “Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof!”
The tomcat was so surprised it turned on its heals and shot off into the distance with its tail between its legs.
The mother mouse turned to the mouselings and said, “There you are my darlings, let that be a lesson to you. Never underestimate the importance of learning a second language.”

References:

Lakof G, Johnson M. Metaphors We live By, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1972
Adaptation of Kovecses Z, Metaphor: A Practical Introduction, Oxford University Press, 2002
Aristotle Poetics 21. 1457b. 6-7
God. The Bible New Kings James Version John 14:6
God. The Bible, New International Version, Proverbs 19:13
Shah I, Thinkers of the East, London: Octagon Press, 1971
Owen N. The magic of Metaphor, Crown House Publishing Limited, 2001
Bridoux, D, the are of Coaching with NLP with Emotional Intelligence – module 5 2007.