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I'm reading George Lakoff's Metaphors We Live By.
Most of us think of argument as war; as something to be won or lost. We attack our opponent's positions. We shoot down their points.
What if we came upon a culture that viewed argument not as war, but something else; for instance, dance? They would experience argument differently than us.
Yet we would not recognize them as arguing. They'd be doing something else, for us.
Metaphor is cognitive and experiential, not just linguistic.
We tend to view metaphor as just a way of speaking that is not literal. And there is some language that is nonmetaphorical. But most complex thoughts involve metaphors, to the degree that speaking literally would be less useful.
Most of us use metaphors unwittingly, per the conventions of society. But innovative metaphors have a role: they allow us to change our thinking for our benefit.
New metaphors allow us to experience things differently. They actually change our brains.
@kdsch "If every opposition carries within it the seeds of agreement," then, "...the brighter your virtue, the higher you'll rise." - text of the I Ching via late-90s indie band Splashdown