Why was this "worm" so quickly and painlessly identified as a "virus?" What we are dealing with here is a choice of metaphors. An analysis of these metaphors (using the "interaction" perspective of I. A. Richards) suggests a number of compelling reasons for the preference of "virus" over "worm."...
Each metaphor, Richards tells us, results from the interaction between two parts: its "vehicle," which is the word selected, and its "tenor," the underlying situation. A powerful metaphor identifies two separate domains in such a way that we are able to explore one domain by tracing the implications of the other domain. (2)
thefreelibrary.com/THE+COMPUTE…
#RaymondGozzi with #IARichards #VirusMetaphor #WormMetaphor #VehicleTenor
/HT #NeilPostman's #Technopoly
bsmall2
in reply to Brian Small • • •> The "virus" proved to be a master metaphor..[to] organize mini-metaphors into a coherent field... to communicate using one-word mini-metaphors like infect or inoculate... system of implications described events in [an] unfamiliar domain.. in dramatic...suggestive terms.
> This system of implications of the "virus" metaphor partly explains.. instant adoption by.. the country's press, as well as its success against the competing "worm" metaphor. The endurance.. traced to factors beyond the immediate entailments of the "virus" vehicle.
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bsmall2
in reply to bsmall2 • • •#Technopoly pp111-112
#JohnMcCarthy #JohnSearle
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bsmall2
in reply to bsmall2 • • •"... we have... a case of metaphor gone mad. From the proposition that humans are in some respects like machines, we move to the proposition that humans are little else but machines and, finally, that human beings are machines. And then, inevitably... to the proposition that machines are human beings... the quest for a machine that duplicates mind as ancient roots... [it] cannot lead to a meaning-making, understanding and feeling creature..."
#NeilPostman in Technopoly
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