I Is an Other : The Secret Life of Metaphor and How It Shapes the Way We See the World

From President Obama's political rhetoric to the housing bubble bust, James Geary proves in this fascinating and entertaining book that every aspect of our experience is molded by metaphor. "It is the East, and Juliet is the sun!" This is one of Shakespeare's most famous lines and one of the most well-known metaphors in literature. But metaphor is much more than a mere literary device employed by love-struck poets when they refer to their girlfriends as interstellar masses of incandescent gas. It is also intensely yet inconspicuously present in everything from ordinary conversation and commercial messaging to news reports and political speeches. Metaphor is at work in all fields of human endeavor, including economics, business, science, and psychology. In I Is an Other, James Geary takes readers from Aristotle's investigation of metaphor right up to the latest neuroscientific insights into how metaphor works in the brain. Along the way, he demonstrates how metaphor affects financial decision making, how metaphor lurks behind effective advertisements, how metaphor inspires learning and discovery, and how metaphor can be used as a tool to achieve emotional insight and psychological change. Geary also explores how a life without metaphor, as experienced by some people with autism spectrum disorders, significantly changes the way a person interacts with the world. As Geary demonstrates, metaphor has leaped off the page and landed with a mighty splash right in the middle of our stream of consciousness. Witty, persuasive, and original, I Is an Other showcases how a simple way with words, which in the past was considered a tool only for poets, is really a driving force in our society. This book will open your eyes to the secret life of metaphor and its role in swinging elections, moving markets, and powerfully influencing daily life. Geary's Adept Explication Of The Metaphor's Role In Defining Perceptions Analyzes How Metaphors Are Used In Advertising, Scientific Discoveries, Economics, And Politics, As Well As How Metaphors Play In Conceptual Comprehension And Long-term Memory. Foreword : Why I Is An Other -- Metaphor And Thought : All Shook Up -- Metaphor And Etymology : Language Is Fossil Poetry -- Metaphor And Money : How High Can A Dead Cat Bounce? -- Metaphor And The Mind : Imagining An Apple In Someone's Eye -- Metaphor And Advertising : Imaginary Gardens With Real Toads In Them -- Metaphor And The Brain : Bright Sneezes And Loud Sunlight -- Metaphor And The Body : Anger Is A Heated Fluid In A Container -- Metaphor And Politics : Freedom Fries And Liberty Cabbage -- Metaphor And Pleasure : Experience Is A Comb That Nature Gives To Bald Men -- Metaphor And Children : How Should One Refer To The Sky? -- Metaphor And Science : The Earth Is Like A Rice Pudding -- Metaphor And Parables And Proverbs : Mighty Darn Good Lies -- Metaphor And Innovation : Make It Strange -- Metaphor And Psychology : A Little Splash Of Color From My Mother -- Backword : The Logic Of Metaphor. James Geary. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [229]- 289) And Index. For lovers of language and fans of Blink and Freakonomics, New York Times bestselling author James Geary offers this fascinating look at metaphors and their influence in every aspect of our lives, from art to medicine, psychology to the stock market. From President Obama’s political rhetoric to the bursting of the housing bubble, from conversations to commercials, James Geary shows that every aspect of our day-to-day experience is molded by metaphor. Geary takes readers from Aristotle’s investigation of metaphor right up to the latest neuroscientific insights into how metaphor works in the brain. Romeo’s exclamation “It is the East, and Juliet is the sun!” may be one of the most well-known metaphors in literature, but metaphor is more than a device of love-struck poets. As Geary demonstrates, metaphor has leaped off the page and landed with a mighty splash right in the middle of the stream of consciousness. Witty, persuasive, and original, I Is an Other explores metaphor’s effects on financial decision making, effective advertising, leadership, learning, and more. The New York Times bestselling author examines how metaphors influence every aspect of our lives, from art to medicine, psychology to the stock market.Metaphor is much more than a mere literary device. Often hiding in plain sight, it is a critical aspect of how humans think and communicate. Metaphor is at work in all fields of human endeavor, including economics, business, science, and psychology.In I Is an Other, James Geary takes readers from Aristotle's investigation of metaphor right up to the latest neuroscientific insights into how metaphor works in the brain. Along the way, he demonstrates how metaphor affects financial decision making, creates effective advertising, and helps us achieve emotional insight and psychological change. Geary also explores how a life without metaphor, as experienced by some people with autism spectrum disorders, significantly changes the way a person interacts with the world. “Sherlock Holmes could glance at a bowler hat and tell that its owner's wife had ceased to love him. In this brilliant book about metaphor James Geary is no less astonishing, as he deciphers the subtle implications embedded in advertising slogans, familiar slang and government double-talk.... You'll scarf down every page of I Is an Other and then ask for more.” —Michael Dirda, Pulitzer Prize-winning critic and author of Book by Book and Classics for Pleasure For lovers of language and fans of Blink and Freakonomics , New York Times bestselling author James Geary offers this fascinating look at metaphors and their influence in every aspect of our lives, from art to medicine, psychology to the stock market.