Metaphors are so important, as tools for thought, that it seems worth playing with words to describe their creation. A metafoundry could be a place where raw ores for relationships are melted and refined ... and then metaforged, not in the "counterfeiting" sense but rather hammered on an anvil, like horseshoes or iron spikes — stressed, annealed, shaped, trimmed, and finished. Or a metafishery could be a place where little metaphors are raised from hatchlings, minnows ... and when they're big enough to be set free, metafishermen bait hooks and patiently try to catch them again.
But best, I think, is to imagine a metaforest — an ecology of diverse species, interrelated concepts slowly growing together. Metaforesters attend to the health of the system, transplanting saplings to better locations, at times harvesting mature trees, and clearing underbrush away in places so that visitors can walk the well-established paths. On occasion, a fire rages and there's a chance for a radical new start. Adventurers wander far from known trails and bring back tales of wonder — reports of isolated groves, where strange and marvelous ideas have evolved in juxtaposition. New routes are cleared to them, and the process of learning and discovery continues....
Monday, June 28, 1999 at 21:22:04 (EDT) = 1999-06-28
(correlates: CatchAndRelease, ProcessVersusOutcome, PickwickPapersWidthAndWisdom, ...)