Metaphor isn’t just a poetic way to make language more interesting. It’s also a vital mechanism for abstract thought and an efficient method for communicating abstract concepts.

It’s also claimed that it plays a major part in the way we understand ourselves and the world we live in.

But why do we think metaphorically? What’s the point of abstract thought?

What happened to create this symbolic way of thinking, and what purpose does it serve in evolutionary terms?

We’re not the only creatures who think, reason and understand. In many ways we use our brains in the same way as other species do. We still have the reptilian and earlier mammalian parts of our brain that function on an unconscious level and govern a large part of our existence and survival.

But at some point the human brain evolved further; it began to think of one thing in terms of another i.e. symbolically – and so developed the ability to think in terms of the abstract.   Continue reading “Is metaphor who we are?” →