I am generally bullish on the use of metaphors for understanding the world around us. I find Douglas Hofstadter and Emmanuel Sander’s idea that metaphors are central to language and thought to be fairly compelling. I recognize the potential for a metaphor to lead one down a primrose path. At the same time, how else are we to think and communicate about something like the interior of a biological cell, an environment none of us could ever actually visit or experience? If we cannot avoid metaphors, we can at least be transparent about how we use them and think critically to identify when they have reached the limits of usefulness. In that spirit, I greatly appreciated this paper about the role of machine metaphors in understanding cell biology.
[Read more…] about Science Corner: Methods Maketh Metaphor