Are we driven by metaphor?

I think many of our attitudes to life's problems are driven too strongly by metaphor. A very pervasive picture of human behaviour is to see us as some kind of pressure vessel which, if not allowed to "let off steam", could "explode" catastrophically. This picture probably exists because it works in many circumstances. Anyone who has had to look after children over several rainy days in the holidays would probably agree! And then we use the metaphor to argue against harbouring resentment; problems should be "let out" so that they do not "build up". I am not an expert, but this approach seems to be at the heart of our Western middle-class therapy culture. Of course it works in many cases, but the danger is to argue from the metaphor. I think C.S. Lewis said of allegories something to the effect that they should be used to inspire and illuminate, but not squeezed too dry (much like the metaphor I have just used). Could it be that sometimes resentment or grudges can just fizzle out or be over-ridden by later concerns? Our desire to dredge them up (another metaphor) could one day be seen as unscientific as the old practice of blood-letting to rid the body of disease.

Abundant life

This is the text of an article I wrote recently that was published in the Petersfield Herald on Friday 9 January 2009

Is your glass half full or half empty? Rose or grey-tinted spectacles? Both optimists and pessimists are in danger of seeing their view of the world as the “correct” one. The pessimist is of course only being realistic, while the optimist knows that “talking something up” can make a real difference. Some say that pessimism might be making the economic downturn worse, while others point out that over-optimism about the value of intangible financial assets is what brought about the problem in the first place. So who is right?

The stakes seem particularly high at the start of this new year. There seems to be both more pessimism and more optimism around at the same time. As I write this, there is a lot to be pessimistic about, especially rising unemployment and the credit crunch. Yet there is a sense that from the ashes of the economic meltdown something better could emerge – a more realistic attitude to money, more transparency, perhaps a gentler, greener way of living. And soon we shall witness the inauguration of Barack Obama, who seems to have created and ridden a huge wave of optimism about what he called in his victory speech “the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope.”

Which side of the fence would Jesus of Nazareth stand on? He was certainly realistic about the human condition, our weakness, our inability to be good, and he accepted humiliation and suffering without trying to pretend that there could be an easier way. But in his teaching and actions he made it clear that bad people and bad situations can always be put right – nobody is beyond redemption. But Jesus takes us far beyond the question “half full or half empty?” Here we have someone who lived a life overflowing with God’s love and goodness but who also “emptied himself” totally in identifying with the poor and oppressed. Jesus embodies the wonderful, life-affirming attitude that many Christians try to live by. He would not have us argue over which shade of spectacles we should use to look at the world, but invites us to embrace abundant life, whatever colour it turns out to be.

The science of persuasion

I've heard and read various items about persuasion recently which all seem to point back to a book by Robert Cialdini about the science of persuasion. Apparently we look for "social proof" before we do something. It's a kind of runaway effect. Those hotel bathroom signs asking you to re-use towels work quite well, but signs telling you (truthfully) that most people re-use their towels work even better. In the Petrified Forest in Arizona, signs saying how awful it was because so many tons of fossilized wood was being stolen brought about a threefold increase in theft, whereas signs saying how awful it is if only one person steals wood produce a 50% reduction in theft. We follow the crowd, for good or ill.

This makes me think that the media have a lot to answer for in the way they report good and bad aspects of society. If they give the impression that most kids carry knives, then that will be self-fulfilling, whereas if they stress the rarity of knife crime it will surely make it feel less cool to carry a knife. On the other side, I've often been annoyed by the media's tendency in the past to portray cycling as a quirky pastime (cue bicycle bells at start and end of a radio clip about cycling), whereas more recently it has been refreshing to see statistics highlighting how fast cycle use is growing in London for example. This could be another self-fulfilling prophecy - I hope so!