Analogies can only take your argument so far. Actually, what I want to say is, analogies don't further argument, they merely serve to convey ideas. In other words, analogies contribute nothing to the truth value of a statement or an idea; they can only aid in the understanding of it. For instance, I found the following excerpt from an article in the Times about abstinence:
Great analogy, by all means, Mr. Love. Not perfect, but I see what he's trying to say. But I just hope people don't accept his view as the "correct" view solely based on the quality of his analogy. Like some kinds of tape don't ever lose their stickiness, Mr. Love, hehe.“You have to look at why sex was created,” Eric Love, the director of the East Texas Abstinence Program, which runs Virginity Rules, said one day, the sounds of Christian contemporary music humming faintly in his Longview office. “Sex was designed to bond two people together.”
To make the point, Mr. Love grabbed a tape dispenser and snapped off two fresh pieces. He slapped them to his filing cabinet and the floor; they trapped dirt, lint, a small metal bolt. “Now when it comes time for them to get married, the marriage pulls apart so easily,” he said, trying to unite the grimy strips. “Why? Because they gave the stickiness away.”
The set of analogies that can be made is a lot bigger than the set of analogies that should be made.
2 comments:
So true! People at work do that all the time and it drives me crazy (I do it sometimes too, but usually just when I'm tired of talking to someone).
I don't know how to feel about this post, since I am, after all, Analogy Queen. I have ilmited power? Am I that guy, who's using analogies from the larger set of "shouldn't be made"s?
Ahhhhh!
In other news, there was a fiasco with the t-shirts, but I'm hoping to get that all resolved today. With not a moment to spare!
Analogy Queen to the rescue!
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