mind: meet metaphor - polish scientific networks 2016

I have developed an optimisation algorithm that reduces data transfer without quality loss!

I have developed an optimisation algorithm that reduces data transfer without quality loss!

Cool!

But people don’t appreciate it.

So how does your compression work?

We cut off some frequencies at the top and bottom ends of the spectrum.

Oh.

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The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be

sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite insane.

The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite insane.

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The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be

sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite insane.

Mind: Meet Metaphor

• Collective memory of the Holocaust

• Frequency of constructions related to shame in Polish and English

• The idea of otherness and sin in Puritan America

• Cognitive role of gesture in abstract concept development if blind children

What we do in the humanities.

science medicine

technology AI

discovery engineering

software

language art

literature behaviour

beliefs culture religion

STEMhumanities

knowledge-based economy Big Data

R&D

source: the Economist

???

It’s almost as if people don’t trust or understand

science

metaphors

• Collective memory of the Holocaust

• Frequency of constructions related to shame in Polish and English

• The idea of otherness and sin in Puritan America

• Cognitive role of gesture in abstract concept development if blind children

nationalism war guilt

honour shame society

immigration abortion

love marriage universe

Juliet is the Sun

conceptual metaphor

e.g. using a physical concept to explain an

abstract idea „Life is not a bed of roses”

maybe it’s just the way we speak

(it’s not)

but surely scientists don’t use metaphors!

Vaccines and Autism: A Tale of Shifting Hypotheses

Although child vaccination rates remain high, some parental concern persists that vaccines might cause autism. Three specific hypotheses have been proposed: (1) the combination measles-mumps-rubella vaccine causes autism by damaging the intestinal lining, which allows the entrance of encephalopathic proteins; (2) thimerosal, an ethylmercury-containing preservative in some vaccines, is toxic to the central nervous system; and (3) the simultaneous administration of multiple vaccines overwhelms or weakens the immune system. We will discuss the genesis of each of these theories and review the relevant epidemiological evidence.

Vaccines and Autism: A Tale of Shifting Hypotheses

Although child vaccination rates remain high, some parental concern persists that vaccines might cause autism. Three specific hypotheses have been proposed: (1) the combination measles-mumps-rubella vaccine causes autism by damaging the intestinal lining, which allows the entrance of encephalopathic proteins; (2) thimerosal, an ethylmercury-containing preservative in some vaccines, is toxic to the central nervous system; and (3) the simultaneous administration of multiple vaccines overwhelms or weakens the immune system. We will discuss the genesis of each of these theories and review the relevant epidemiological evidence.

child vaccination rates remain high

you are (still) here

parental concern persists

vaccine causes autism by damaging the intestinal lining, which allows the entrance of encephalopathic proteins

can metaphor save the world?

Knowledge is a tool

Knowledge is a goal

deliberate use of metaphor improves understanding between business, science, humanities and

the general public

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Mind: Meet Metaphor

dr Anna Jelec Dept. of Cognitive Linguistics

Faculty of English, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań annajelec.com

presentation available on LinkedIn and researchgate