Gene Talk #9: Thought Experiments
Bryan Appleyard at Thought Experiments writes of Terrorists, Genes and Metaphors:
…The worst case of an uncontrolled metaphor was Richard Dawkins’ ’selfish gene’. No gene can be selfish nor can even appear to be acting selfishly, the word is quite meaningless. (For a full analysis of the damage done by this metaphor and its entirely unscientific basis, read Denis Noble’s superb book The Music of Life: Biology beyond the Genome.) Yet people drew political and social conclusions - which, in fairness, Dawkins did not - from this rather dodgy metaphor. The same thing is happening now with terrorism. Metaphors are falling like snow from a heavy sky. The danger is that people don’t know what they are and mistake them for the simple truth.
Perhaps Bryan is right. Without a clear understanding of the background and context of metaphors, it’s hard to know the truth. Some metaphors should be taken with a grain of salt.
Tags: bryan-appleyard, dawkins, disease, DNA, Genes, genetics, health, illness, metaphors, richard-dawkins, selfish-gene, terrorismRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Gene Talk
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4 opinions for Gene Talk #9: Thought Experiments
Bryan Appleyard
Aug 14, 2006 at 12:20 am
Thanks for the mention. I have come across many scientists who simmply don’t see this point about the potentially misleading power of metaphors. Some - not Dawkins - simply don’t take the use of language seriously and, as a result, are always misunderstood.
Hsien Hsien Lei, PhD
Aug 14, 2006 at 11:40 am
Bryan: I must confess to not being particularly skilled with language either. I had to edit this post again just now when I saw how horribly I’d worded some sentences. I suppose that just as science is always evolving, so is language. We can all strive to do better in both.
Bryan Appleyard
Aug 14, 2006 at 11:49 pm
Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound strict. I receive plenty of mails from pedants about my own language. I think the point is probably that we can’t help speaking and thinking in metamphors but some are more harmful than others. I strongly recommend Denis Noble’s book The Music of Life on this and many other subjects.
Hsien Hsien Lei, PhD
Aug 15, 2006 at 9:07 am
Bryan: You didn’t sound strict at all! I always learn a lot from people who have strong and clear opinions. I’ll check out Denis Noble’s book. Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by! I’ll be reading your blog and other writings in the future. :)
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