When the Metaphor Becomes the Truth

Thought is defined by language - its limits and connotations. Recall the insidious goal of Orwell's Newspeak - cut down language and you confine the realm of possibilities. Today this is a poignant lesson to look back on. Our perspectives, beliefs, assumptions are defined by the metaphors that construct our reality.

Right now our realm of thought is limited by diction lodged in the 19th Century, Machiavellian word smithing, a general disinterest by a large segment if the population in the finer points of linguistics, and an obsession with the sound bite. Truths that we now hold to be self-evident are no more than ingrained metaphors. Through repetition they have become the truth. We are the victims of metaphor and, "the victim not only has a special view of the world but regards it as the only view, or rather, he confuses a special view of the world with the world... He has mistaken the mask for the face." (The Myth of Metaphor; Colin Murray Turbayne). Lodged in our collective psyches is the notion that the world is a machine, a mechanism. This concept harkens back to the 19th Century, yet with all of our supposed progress will not be shook off. The perception of the world as a machine alters our perception of and thus interaction with the world. It explains why we feel righteous using it for industry. It is a cold, soulless entity. Consider for a moment what would happen if we changed the metaphor. Instead of earth as machine, earth as living organism. A new relationship is formed. A damaged machine may be repaired, rebuilt, but a living organism can only be hurt so much before it dies. 

Perhaps you would recount to this notion that it is simply word play. The change in one metaphor couldn't possibly change the world. A metaphorical shift doesn't change the facts. Or does it? Facts are far less engraved in stone than we generally admit. Indeed, "a change in attitudes to the facts," as affected by a change in metaphor, "can even issue a change in fact." (The Myth of Metaphor; Colin Murray Turbane). 

Words cannot be taken at face value. They must be scrutinized. We are surrounded by metaphors that, over time, have been translated into fact. This does not make them true. So, the next time you flip on the news, or hear a politician speak of freedom, take a closer look at what all the words and phrases mean. I think you'll find that the surface meaning is in fact far from the true connotation.