(Download) "Mirrors & Maps: Two Sides of Metaphor (Biology Today) (Essay)" by The American Biology Teacher # eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Mirrors & Maps: Two Sides of Metaphor (Biology Today) (Essay)
- Author : The American Biology Teacher
- Release Date : January 01, 2009
- Genre: Life Sciences,Books,Science & Nature,Professional & Technical,Education,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 70 KB
Description
Mirror neurons have received quite a bit of attention since they were discovered in the 1990s. First found in macaques, these are nerve cells which fire both when the animal moves and when it sees another individual move in a similar way. These cells and their functioning are obviously fascinating because they suggest that the brain relates its own actions with those of others. But Antonio Damasio and Kaspar Meyer (2008) warn that "perhaps the name was too evocative for the finding's own good. It seems to have tempted people into thinking of these neurons as tiny, miraculous mirrors that allow us to understand each other, diverting attention from the search for how they work" (p. 167). What Damasio and Meyer appear to be cautioning about here are the dangers of metaphorical thinking. There seems to be a lot of that going around lately. The science writer Natalie Angier (2008) has an essay on what she terms "biobigotry," something she freely admits being prey to. She describes the loathing she felt when she looked out to see cowbirds at her bird feeder and thought: "Hey, you parasites, get your beaks off my seed" (p. D1). These "freeloaders" were taking food away from "hard-working" birds like cardinals and woodpeckers. Angier confesses that she is using metaphorical language to make very human value judgments about other species, a form of anthropomorphism, something many biologists try to avoid. Angier's immediate and visceral response to cowbirds shows how difficult this is to do. We are metaphorical creatures; we think in comparisons, and we just can't seem to stop ourselves.
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