Coherent metaphors and Efficacy
September 25th, 2006 Fred McVittie
The effectiveness with which we are able to deal with a situation or problem depends significantly on the the type of consciousness we bring to that situation or problem. Some situations require highly focussed, unselfconscious thought, others require a high level of self-monitoring, etc. In order to gain access to these different cognitive states, and benefit from their application, it is necessary to have a coherent and intelligible ‘map’ of the various states one might put oneself in, and how these states relate to each other and to external features of the world at large. Given the abstract nature of cognition and consciousness it is inevitable that such ‘maps’ are metaphorical (as indeed is this description, in its use of the term ‘maps’). One such ‘map’ of the various states of consciousness utilises the metaphor of space.
An important aspect of this metaphorical mapping is that the users of the metaphor function more effectively, i.e. are able to enter subtly different states of consciousness more readily, when they are presented with the entire map outlining all of the states, not when they are introduced to it piecemeal. It is more effective also when a consistent metaphor is used throughout. For example, to talk about one form of consciousness as if it were a substance (e.g. a flowing liquid) and another as a spatial location (e.g. being ‘centered’), clearly mixes the metaphors and does not provide a single coherent structure for the various concepts to inhabit.
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