[Neurons] The Newest Book in 2021 THINKING METAPHORICALLY

Mon Apr 19 15:20:00 EDT 2021

Another The newest book 

from L. Michael Hall, Ph.D. 

This book continues the exploration of thinking

with now focusing on- 

THINKING METAPHORICALLY

You think in metaphors!  It's one of the most basic ways we think.  Yet we
hardly notice the multitude of metaphors in our thinking and languaging.
This can be to our detriment.  Metaphors can do a trip on you if you're not
careful.  You can be tricked by metaphors into biased and fallacious
thinking.  You can be trapped by metaphors that leave you feeling stuck and
doomed.  You can be toxified by metaphorical frames.

The solution?  Develop quality metaphor skills and become the master of your
metaphors- a skilled metaphorian.  Become mindful of the metaphors in your
life and those you live.  Tap into the power of managing metaphors -and make
them your servants rather than your master. Use them for the magic of
healing, renewal, rejuvenation, creativity, humor, and inspiration. 

The secrets of effective metaphor management lie in learning metaphorical
skills-detecting metaphors, running with them, de-metaphoring, creating new
empowering metaphors, playing with metaphors, etc. You will be more elegant
in your communications and more effective in framing and reframing.
Metaphors not innocent, but do things to us by working covertly.

Thinking Metaphorically takes you on a journey into the wild and wooly world
of metaphors and into profound areas of linguistics, philosophy, meaning,
psychology, and communication.  As you feast on delicious metaphors, you may
not become a Sherlock Holmes of metaphor detection, exploration, analysis,
creation, play, reversal, negating, designing, or delivering, but you will
be invited into the banquet of metaphors that will make your life richer,
fuller, and delightful.

What's in the book?

             THINKING METAPHORICALLY

Preface
4

I. Introducing Metaphors and 

   Metaphorical Thinking

1. Thinking Metaphorically
8

2. Living Metaphorically
21

3. Communicating Metaphorically

30

4. Understanding Metaphorically

40

5. Metaphoring as Meta-Stating
50

II. Metaphorical Play - 

     Managing Metaphors
62

6. Detecting Metaphors
63

7. Running with a Metaphor
72

8. Running with the Height 

    Metaphor
80

9. Creating a Metaphor
88

10. Analyzing Metaphors
100

11. Metaphorical Negating
107

12. Reversing a Metaphor
116

13. Priming with a Metaphor
123

III. Metaphors For Fun and

       Profit
129

14. Metaphors for Fun
130

15. Metaphors for Critical Thinking
138

16. Metaphors for Change
148

17. Extended Therapeutic 

     Metaphors
156

18. Stories- Extended Metaphors

161

19. Metaphorical Skills
169

20. Metaphorical Coaching
180

To Your Best Metaphorizing
188

Appendix A                                            189

     Metaphor Questions

Appendix B
192

     Bad Metaphors

Bibliography
195

Author
199

PREFACE

"In actual life, we do not use formal syllogisms, we think with analogies."

Samuel Bois, Art of Awareness

"What?  Do you think that money grows on trees?"  That's what my dad said to
my younger self.  Yet at eight-years-old I knew exactly what he meant.  I
knew that translation well, "It costs too much; we don't have the money for
it."  The funny thing is that in growing up, I never heard the metaphor as a
metaphor.  I never once thought, "Trees!"  "Money grows on trees?"  "That's
great!  I'll go outside and see."

I was using the metaphor to think metaphorically about what my dad meant,
not what he said.  And in that thinking I got the not so-hidden message.  I
paid almost no attention whatsoever to the form of his words.  What was
actually and literally said went right over my head.  That is, I processed
it unconsciously so that I never paid any attention to the metaphor itself.
I did not "run with the metaphor" nor did I play with it.  "Money grows on
all trees?  Or does money just grow on some trees?"  I did not consider,
"Does money have to ripen like fruit?"  "Can I harvest the money from trees
at any time of the year?"  "Does it require a license?"

That's the way it is with metaphors.  You can say things in such a way that
people do not hear what you actually say, they only hear the message you are
communicating via the metaphor.  They infer what you imply.  The metaphor,
as a metaphor, disappears in the communication exchange.

"Here we go again chasing rabbits, we just never get down to business.  This
group is dysfunctional!"  Actually, we were not chasing rabbits.  We were
not out in a garden or in the woods, and besides, rabbits are very fast and
have an uncanning ability to shift and change directions almost
instantaneously to avoid getting caught.  We are actually having a group
discussion and we are easily distracted as we get off the subject and start
talking about things irrelevant to the subject.

What's fascinating is that with metaphors-you speak about one thing while
you talk about something else.  Your subject or point is implied and covert
rather than explicit.  Amazingly as the metaphor takes you to a meta-level 

for "the message," you could easily miss the playfulness.  "Yes, chasing
rabbits is how we promote creativity."  "Some of our rabbits have even
brought a handsome return."  "Do you not know that often we actually 'get
down to business' by chasing rabbits?"

Metaphors are everywhere!  You can't open your mouth and start talking about
anything without metaphors jumping out and painting a picture for your
listener.  How does all of this metaphoring work?

"He is such a pain in the neck."  "Yes, the way she talks makes me
disgusted."  Here metaphors show up as organ language as we use body parts
and processes to talk about something else.  Such metaphors can make your
language rich and emotional, evocative and memorable, yet you can also send
some pretty dangerous messages to your body with them if you're not careful.
Metaphors are not just extra dressing you can sprinkle on the salad of your
conversation.  They can be, and are, psychologically powerful messages that
can do harm or healing.  Metaphors are not innocent or harmless, they are
actually powerful and impactful communications both to self and to others.

As structural aspects of how we think and the messages we send to ourselves
and to others, metaphors sets meaning frames.  They set frames within our
own neurology and can be psychologically impactful for good or ill.  They
set frames for others that can powerfully impact their thinking and emoting.
Metaphors are part and parcel of how we create meaning and how we can
recreate meaning.

Here I have relied on the excellent work of several authors.  For the
structure of metaphors, in the early chapters I refer to Lakoff and
Johnson's work, Metaphors We Live By (1980) as well as other works from the
field of Cognitive Linguistics.  It was their 1980 book that pretty much
revolutionized the field of Metaphor.  It established the role of metaphor
in cognition, in unconscious processing, in relationship between metaphor
and neurology, metaphor to truth, reality, and science, metaphor and
epistemology and much more.  While I read outside that field for opposing
views and theories, I find that the theories in the field of Cognitive
Linguistics make the most sense. 

The field of NLP has not been without its contributions to the field of
metaphor.  David Gordon's Therapeutic Metaphors (1978) was the first work on
metaphor.  He modeled a process of creating extensive isomorphic metaphors.
Then James Lawley and Penny Tompkins' Metaphors in Mind (2000) created the
Symbolic Modeling approach for how to work with metaphors.  Because both of
these focus on therapeutic applications, I have chosen instead to focus on
the skills in using metaphors in conversations and coaching.  The design is
to highlight the metaphorizing competence so you can become a great
metaphorian.

I've written this book to identify and describe metaphors- what they are,
how they work, why they function in the ways that they do, what to look out
for when working with them- their structure.  I've also written to describe
how to develop numerous metaphorical skills- How to run with a metaphor and
fully explore its obvious and its hidden dimensions and how to create new
metaphors.  There's a chapter on metaphorical negating which provides the
skill of making ideas, beliefs, decisions, etc. go away and leave you alone.
There are chapters about playing with metaphors, reversing them, challenging
them, using metaphors for humor.  There's a chapter on the skill of using
metaphors for critical thinking and for personal and cultural change.

Metaphors are everywhere- in everyday conversations, in organizations, in
leadership, in politics.  There are metaphors that drive and enhance
learning, resilience, courage and a hundred other resourceful states.  There
are also toxic metaphors that make life a living hell.  My hope is that in
reading this book, you will fall in love with metaphors.  As I certainly
have, it has made everyday life a love affair with metaphors.

So welcome to the world of metaphors- it's a wild and wooly world, a world
of fun and silliness, a world of mystery and wonder- a world of rich
resources ready to be tapped into.

L. Michael Hall, Ph.D., Executive Director 

Neuro-Semantics 

P.O. Box 8

Clifton, CO. 81520 USA                             

               1 970-523-7877 

Books can be purchased at www.neurosemantics.com 

PDF books can be purchased at "The Shop" on www.neurosemantics.com

131688 NeuroSemantics ThinkingMetaphoricalyCover FRONT

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