The same applies to our brains and minds as well, everything in them that represents our understanding of the world is a metaphor. Some people's are really good approximations of reality, and other people's only hold up for their very limited exposure to the world. Wisdom comes from the willingness to alter those metaphors in the face of new information.
(I suppose that's where liberals get their notion about everyone having their "own truths", but their mistake is in believing that everyone's mental models of the world around them is equally valid.)
I love the metaphor of human advancement as the creation of walled gardens because free cities are literal walled gardens--autonomous areas of high trust bounded and guarded so that truth can be discovered without the intrusion of bad faith actors. Each city is a representation of an ideal society that is freely chosen. The societies that are closest to truth are the ones that can flow out to all the world.
The same applies to our brains and minds as well, everything in them that represents our understanding of the world is a metaphor. Some people's are really good approximations of reality, and other people's only hold up for their very limited exposure to the world. Wisdom comes from the willingness to alter those metaphors in the face of new information.
(I suppose that's where liberals get their notion about everyone having their "own truths", but their mistake is in believing that everyone's mental models of the world around them is equally valid.)
Prof in physics class: "If you're looking for absolute truth, the Theology department is down the hall. Here we deal with models."
I love the metaphor of human advancement as the creation of walled gardens because free cities are literal walled gardens--autonomous areas of high trust bounded and guarded so that truth can be discovered without the intrusion of bad faith actors. Each city is a representation of an ideal society that is freely chosen. The societies that are closest to truth are the ones that can flow out to all the world.
Stephen Wolfram claimed that a space-time event is a minimal representation;
Any simpler 'metaphoric' description necessarily leaves out some data.
His book, and the three others listed below, are close to a minimum metaphor
for reality:
Sir Roger Penrose: The Emperor's New Mind -- Consciousness
Stephen Wolfram: A new Kind of Science ----- The Universe
Frederick Kantor: Information Mechanics ---- Conservation of Data
Jahn and Dunne:____Margins of Reality ------ ESP and Quantum Psychokinesis