balanced on the edge

what I see from my precarious perch, by christine swint

How Conceptual Metaphors are Stunting Web Innovation: Found on Mashable

This article illustrates the importance of language in all spheres of life. How we create metaphor is a metaphor itself for the process of invention and discovery. We are either looking backward to name what we want to create for the future, or we look at the world around us and make analogies. This article explores some outdated terms we still apply to the web, such as “documents.”

http://mashable.com/2010/01/13/conceptual-metaphors/

I’m reminded of “Advice to a Prophet” by Richard Wilbur, which has several stanzas on the creation of figurative language:

Speak of the world’s own change. Though we cannot conceive
Of an undreamt thing, we know to our cost
How the dreamt cloud crumbles, the vines are blackened by frost
How the view alters. We could believe,

Posted via web from christineswint’s posterous

2 comments to How Conceptual Metaphors are Stunting Web Innovation: Found on Mashable

Julie

January 14th, 2010 at 10:43 am

The article is very interesting. I never thought about “stream” as a passive type of internet metaphor, but that is true. We jump in. We jump out. But we can’t control it. Thanks for the link!
Michelle

January 15th, 2010 at 11:26 am

What a beautiful photograph! Thanks so much for the article link.