Metaphor - Key Sources
Metaphor Theory and Source–Target Mapping
- Thibodeau, P. H., Hendricks, R. K., & Boroditsky, L. (2017). "How linguistic metaphor scaffolds reasoning." Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 21(11), 852-863.
This work in cognitive linguistics provided the foundational concept: metaphors operate by mapping structure from a familiar source domain (e.g., human cognition) onto a less familiar target domain (e.g., algorithmic processes). The mapping isn't arbitrary, it imports specific inferences and hides others.
Key insight for prompt design: To analyze metaphor, I needed to instruct the model to identify both domains, describe the structural mapping between them, and articulate what the mapping conceals.
Clark, K. M. (2024). Embodied Imagination: Lakoff and Johnson’s Experientialist View of Conceptual Understanding. Review of General Psychology, 28(2), 166-183. https://doi.org/10.1177/10892680231224400 (Original work published 2024)
Gerber, Y., & Sander, E. (2025). Promoting a shift in perspective in argumentative thinking: Metaphorical framing for orienting attention. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition. https://doi.org/10.1037/mac0000226
Hicke, R. M. M., & Kristensen-McLachlan, R. D. (2024). Science is Exploration: Computational Frontiers for Conceptual Metaphor Theory. https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2410.08991
Johnson, M. (2022). Embodied mind, meaning, and reason: How our bodies give rise to understanding. University of Chicago Press
Littlemore, J. (2019). Metaphors in the mind : sources of variation in embodied metaphor. Cambridge University Press.
Mattson, G. (2020). Weaponization: Ubiquity and Metaphorical Meaningfulness. Metaphor and Symbol, 35(4), 250–265. https://doi.org/10.1080/10926488.2020.1810577
Mitchell, M. (2021). Why AI is Harder Than We Think (No. arXiv:2104.12871). arXiv. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2104.12871
Pierce, A. E., & Garrison, S. T. (2011). The metaphorical horizon: Between facts and fictions. The International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, 5(9), 95–105. https://doi.org/10.18848/1833-1882/cgp/v05i09/59308
Thibodeau, P. H., Matlock, T., & Flusberg, S. J. (2019). The role of metaphor in communication and thought. Language and Linguistics Compass, 13(5), Article e12327. https://doi.org/10.1111/lnc3.12327
Typologies of Explanation
- Brown, R. (1963). Explanation and Experience in Social Science. Routledge.
Robert Brown's classic work distinguishes between different modes of explanation: genetic (how it came to be), functional (how it works), intentional (why it "wants" something), dispositional (why it "tends" to act), and so on.
The System Instructions are provided with examples using the following table:
| Type | Definition | Lens |
|---|---|---|
| Genetic | Traces development or origin. | How it came to be. |
| Functional | Describes purpose within a system. | How it works (as a mechanism). |
| Empirical | Cites patterns or statistical norms. | How it typically behaves. |
| Theoretical | Embeds behavior in a larger framework. | How it's structured to work. |
| Intentional | Explains actions by referring to goals/desires. | Why it "wants" something. |
| Dispositional | Attributes tendencies or habits. | Why it "tends" to act a certain way. |
| Reason-Based | Explains using rationales or justifications. | Why it "chose" an action. |
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