Ideas as Things Essay -- Metaphors Essays

There are many metaphors used to illustrate the process of learning or understanding. Educational theorists use metaphors to describe and demonstrate their theories, but ordinary people also use metaphors to describe cognition. For example, we use images of light to express thought; we have ‘‘bright ideas’’ or ‘‘dark thoughts,’’ or see we the ‘‘light of reason.’’ Atmospheric conditions are also used to describe the quality of someone’s thinking, a person can be an ‘‘airhead,’’ plans can be hazy, and memory can cloud. The common metaphors used to describe learning and cognition differ from those used by modern educational theorists. Most modern thinkers in educational psychology use the metaphor of thoughts and memories as objects with real locations in space. In their models of thought and cognition, ideas and memories can be organized, built with, be used to create frameworks with; they can even become rigid and patterned. In addition, if our thoughts do become rigid we can ‘‘soften’’ them by moving laterally rather than building further on the structures we have already created. In the modern educational philosopher’s paradigm, ideas are no longer the ephemeral products of light and air. Instead, they have become concrete objects that take up space. Ideas, for psychologists, are ‘‘things’’ that we can manipulate. Can I touch this? In spite of the current popularity of the paradigm that thoughts are physical, the conception of thoughts as light or air, as noted above, persists in common usage. When we say that someone has a bright idea, we do not mean that the idea actually illuminates anything. Instead, we mean that his or her idea makes sense to us. It is an interesting metaphor because it likens understandin... ...e ancient epistemological debate still rages. At least ordinary people have not decided whether to allow for the existence of an immaterial mind, whose action is not completely dependent upon the mechanical functioning of the physical brain. Cognitive psychologists, perhaps, believe that thoughts are matter, but common metaphors hint that regular people are not yet wholly convinced. Works Cited The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. 4th ed. : Houghton Mifflin, 2000. Glover, John A., Royce R. Ronning, and Cecil R. Reynolds. Handbook of Creativity. 1st ed. : Springer, 1989. Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary . Nov 2002. 23 Sep. 2005 . Kearsley, Greg. ‘‘TIP: The Theories.’’ Theory into Practice. 14 Sep. 2005 . gOFFICE.com 3 Ideas as Things Essay -- Metaphors Essays There are many metaphors used to illustrate the process of learning or understanding. Educational theorists use metaphors to describe and demonstrate their theories, but ordinary people also use metaphors to describe cognition. For example, we use images of light to express thought; we have ‘‘bright ideas’’ or ‘‘dark thoughts,’’ or see we the ‘‘light of reason.’’ Atmospheric conditions are also used to describe the quality of someone’s thinking, a person can be an ‘‘airhead,’’ plans can be hazy, and memory can cloud. The common metaphors used to describe learning and cognition differ from those used by modern educational theorists. Most modern thinkers in educational psychology use the metaphor of thoughts and memories as objects with real locations in space. In their models of thought and cognition, ideas and memories can be organized, built with, be used to create frameworks with; they can even become rigid and patterned. In addition, if our thoughts do become rigid we can ‘‘soften’’ them by moving laterally rather than building further on the structures we have already created. In the modern educational philosopher’s paradigm, ideas are no longer the ephemeral products of light and air. Instead, they have become concrete objects that take up space. Ideas, for psychologists, are ‘‘things’’ that we can manipulate. Can I touch this? In spite of the current popularity of the paradigm that thoughts are physical, the conception of thoughts as light or air, as noted above, persists in common usage. When we say that someone has a bright idea, we do not mean that the idea actually illuminates anything. Instead, we mean that his or her idea makes sense to us. It is an interesting metaphor because it likens understandin... ...e ancient epistemological debate still rages. At least ordinary people have not decided whether to allow for the existence of an immaterial mind, whose action is not completely dependent upon the mechanical functioning of the physical brain. Cognitive psychologists, perhaps, believe that thoughts are matter, but common metaphors hint that regular people are not yet wholly convinced. Works Cited The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. 4th ed. : Houghton Mifflin, 2000. Glover, John A., Royce R. Ronning, and Cecil R. Reynolds. Handbook of Creativity. 1st ed. : Springer, 1989. Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary . Nov 2002. 23 Sep. 2005 . Kearsley, Greg. ‘‘TIP: The Theories.’’ Theory into Practice. 14 Sep. 2005 . gOFFICE.com 3