[Air-L] Metaphors in Web space

[Alex -Vipowernet]

> Gordon Carlson <gordycarlson at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> I am working on a project dealing with the use of metaphor in
> communication about technology, as well as communication within
> software.  I am trying to compile a list of metaphors used on the web
> and in computer software.  For example, the "shopping cart" in online
> shopping, PowerPoint using "slides", "dialog" boxes in operating
> systems, "bulletin boards", etc.

Excellent topic. 
Metaphors are of central interest to me. 
Metaphrier and metaphrand. 

See Julian Jaynes "The Origins of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind" for an excellent examination of the metaphor. 

Also Gregory Bateson - steps to an Ecology of Mind - for more on the role of metaphor... 

Send me a note and I'll send you my PowerPoint on Metaphors. 


The list should be interesting. 
These metaphors are like vestigial body organs.
All new ideas have to be expressed using the terminology of the old idea. 
 
They linger carrying old ideas into new turf. 
We still "dial" the phone even if there have not been dials on phones for 30 years. 
Documents are stored in "filing cabinets" - even in a paperless office. 
The words linger - long after their original utility is passed. 

I have a theory that each new technology becomes the metaphor for ourselves. 
Freud's concept of "projection" arose in close proximity to the time he saw his first magic lantern show. 

In the 50's the mind was described as a giant computer
In the 90's the mind was described as a giant network. 
Minsky - the Community of Mind. 

Our concept of ourselves is driven by the metaphors that are available from our external world. 


I'd love to see your web metaphor list. 



Alex Randall
Professor of Communication - UVI - arandall at uvi.edu 
Podcast from Paradise - www.vinow.com/blog

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