• HC Visitor
Skip to content
Information Ecosystems
Information Ecosystems

Information, Power, and Consequences

Primary Navigation Menu
Menu
  • InfoEco Podcast
  • InfoEco Blog
  • InfoEco Cookbook
    • About
    • Curricular Pathways
    • Cookbook Modules

metaphors

Behind the Analogies

2019-12-06
By: Sarah Reiff Conell
On: December 6, 2019
In: Sandra González-Bailón
Tagged: Algorithms, data visualization, digital humanities, Information Ecosystems, metaphors, social science

“What’s going on behind the analogies”– Sandra González-Bailón Outcomes are not always intentional. We trigger anticipated and unforeseen things with our actions. The “invisible hand” is consequential, known only through its effects. Like contagion processes, our actions are enmeshed in interrelated networks. These are some of the metaphors discussed by Sandra González-Bailón in her research on metaphorical thinking, social processes, and communication structures. She engages head-on with the challenges and affordances of digital realities- using data to learn about or “decode” aspects of social life. “Analogies help make creative connections; but they can also draw pictures of the world that are too coarse-grained for any useful purpose.” (29, Decoding the Social World) Polar area diagram by Florence Nightingale published in Notes on Matters Affecting the Health, Efficiency, and Hospital Administration of the British Army and sent to Queen Victoria in 1858.  Models and metaphors are helpful for human cognition and communication, it seems unlikely that they can (or should) be avoided. The role of metaphors and other modes of abstraction are sorts of “black boxes” that are convenient for communication. We humans think with them, but they do shape our view of reality. “The language of argument is not poetic, fanciful, or rhetorical; it is literal. We talk about arguments that way because we conceive of them that way — and we act according to the way we conceive of things.” (pg. 5, Lakoff & Johnson’s Metaphors We Live By) Perhaps other metaphors might be more productive — other models may work better than their forerunners. Read More

Invited Speakers

  • Annette Vee
  • Bill Rankin
  • Chris Gilliard
  • Christopher Phillips
  • Colin Allen
  • Edouard Machery
  • Jo Guldi
  • Lara Putnam
  • Lyneise Williams
  • Mario Khreiche
  • Matthew Edney
  • Matthew Jones
  • Matthew Lincoln
  • Melissa Finucane
  • Richard Marciano
  • Sabina Leonelli
  • Safiya Noble
  • Sandra González-Bailón
  • Ted Underwood
  • Uncategorized

Recent Posts

  • EdTech Automation and Learning Management
  • The Changing Face of Literacy in the 21st Century: Dr. Annette Vee Visits the Podcast
  • Dr. Lara Putnam Visits the Podcast: Web-Based Research, Political Organizing, and Getting to Know Our Neighbors
  • Chris Gilliard Visits the Podcast: Digital Redlining, Tech Policy, and What it Really Means to Have Privacy Online
  • Numbers Have History

Recent Comments

    Archives

    • June 2021
    • April 2021
    • March 2021
    • February 2021
    • January 2021
    • December 2020
    • October 2020
    • September 2020
    • May 2020
    • March 2020
    • February 2020
    • January 2020
    • December 2019
    • November 2019
    • October 2019
    • September 2019

    Categories

    • Annette Vee
    • Bill Rankin
    • Chris Gilliard
    • Christopher Phillips
    • Colin Allen
    • Edouard Machery
    • Jo Guldi
    • Lara Putnam
    • Lyneise Williams
    • Mario Khreiche
    • Matthew Edney
    • Matthew Jones
    • Matthew Lincoln
    • Melissa Finucane
    • Richard Marciano
    • Sabina Leonelli
    • Safiya Noble
    • Sandra González-Bailón
    • Ted Underwood
    • Uncategorized

    Meta

    • Log in
    • Entries feed
    • Comments feed
    • WordPress.org

    Tags

    Algorithms Amazon archives artificial intelligence augmented reality automation Big Data Bill Rankin black history month burnout cartography Curation Darwin Data data pipelines data visualization digital humanities digitization diversity Education election maps history history of science Information Information Ecosystems Information Science Libraries LMS maps mechanization medical bias medicine Museums newspaper Open Data Philosophy of Science privacy racism risk social science solutions journalism Ted Underwood Topic modeling Uber virtual reality

    Menu

    • InfoEco Podcast
    • InfoEco Blog
    • InfoEco Cookbook
      • About
      • Curricular Pathways
      • Cookbook Modules

    Search This Site

    Search

    The Information Ecosystems Team 2023

    This site is part of Humanities Commons. Explore other sites on this network or register to build your own.
    Terms of ServicePrivacy PolicyGuidelines for Participation