[FRIAM] Model, Metaphor, Analogy

[Prof David West]

long long ago, my master's thesis in computer science and my phd
dissertation in cognitive anthropology dealt extensively with the issue
of metaphor and model, specifically in the area of artificial
intelligence and cognitive models of "mind." the very first academic
papers I  published dealt with this issue (They were in AI MAgazine, the
'journal of record' in the field at the time.
My own musings were deeply informed by the work of Earl R. MacCormac: *A
Cognitive Theory of Metaphor* and *Metaphor and Myth in Science and
Religion.*
MacCormac argues that metaphor 'evolves' from "epiphor" the first
suggestion that something is like something else to either "dead
metaphor" or "lexical term" depending on the extent to which referents
suggested by the first 'something'  are confirmed to correlate to
similar referents in the second "something." E.G. an atom is like a
solar system suggests that a nucleus is like the sun and electrons are
like planets plus orbits are at specific intervals and electrons can be
moved from one orbit to another by adding energy (acceleration) just
like any other satellite. As referents like this were confirmed the
epiphor became a productive metaphor and a model, i.e. the Bohr model.
Eventually, our increasing knowledge of atoms and particle/waves made
it clear that the model/metaphor was 'wrong' in nearly every respect
and the metaphor died. Its use in beginning chemistry suggests that it
is still a useful tool for metaphorical thinking; modified to "what
might you infer/reason, if you looked at an atom _as if_ it were a tiny
solar system."
In the case of AI, the joint epiphors — the computer is like a mind, the
mind is like a computer — should have rapidly become dead metaphors.
Instead they became models "physical symbol system" and most in the
community insisted that they were lexical terms (notably Pylyshyn,
Newell, and Simon). To explain this, I added the idea of a "paraphor" to
MacCormac's evolutionary sequence — a metaphor so ingrained in a
paradigm that those thinking with that paradigm cannot perceive the
obvious failures of the metaphor.
MacCormac's second book argues for the pervasiveness of the use and
misuse of metaphor and its relationship to models (mathematical and
iillustrative) in both science and religion. The "Scientific Method,"
the process of doing science, is itself a metaphor (at best) that should
have become a dead metaphor as there is abundant evidence that 'science'
is not done 'that way' but only after the fact as if it had been done
that way. In an Ouroborosian twist, even MacCormac;s theory of metaphor
is itself a metaphor.
If this thread attracts interest, I think the work of MacCormac would
provide a rich mine of potential ideas and a framework for the
discussion. Unfortunately, it mostly seems to be behind pay walls — the
books and JSTOR or its ilk.
dave west



On Fri, Jun 9, 2017, at 03:11 PM, Steven A Smith wrote:
> I meant to spawn a fresh proto-thread here, sorry.
> 
>> Given that we have been splitting hairs on terminology, I wanted to
>> at least OPEN the topic that has been grazed over and over, and that
>> is the distinction between Model, Metaphor, and Analogy.>> 
>>  I specifically mean 
>>
>>  1. Mathematical Model[1]
>>  2. Conceptual Metaphor[2]
>>  3. Formal Analogy[3]>> I don't know if this narrows it down enough to discuss but I think
>> these three terms have been bandied about loosely and widely enough
>> lately to deserve a little more explication?>> I could rattle on for pages about my own usage/opinions/distinctions
>> but trust that would just pollute a thread before it had a chance to
>> start, if start it can.>> A brief Google Search gave me THIS reference which looks promising,
>> but as usual, I'm not willing to go past a paywall or beg a
>> colleague/institution for access (I know LANL's reference library
>> will probably get this for me if I go in there!).>> http://www.blackwellreference.com/public/tocnode?id=g9780631221081_chunk_g97806312210818>> 


>> 


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Links:

  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematical_model
  2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conceptual_metaphor
  3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analogy
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