When people talk about abstract topics, they often use linguistic imagery. Such metaphors make complex content easier to understand and provide clues as to how a topic is perceived. Prof. Dr. Ingrid Scharlau and Philip Porwol describe how metaphors shape our communication in an appealing way in their guidebook “Metaphors for Explaining”. The researchers in project C04 explain, among other things, what needs to be considered when using metaphors in explanations and which metaphors correspond to the TRR 318 understanding of explaining.
"Metaphors are not just particularly striking or beautiful linguistic imagery. Metaphors are everywhere," explains Ingrid Scharlau. “They show how we think about something and influence our attitude towards it.” As head of project C04 “Metaphors as an explanation tool” in the TRR 318, she investigates how metaphors emphasize certain aspects and hide others. Although this can help to make a topic easier to understand, it also harbors risks - for example, when metaphors lead to one-sided views, as in the discourse on climate change. Using metaphors more consciously sharpens our understanding of how people think about issues and what values and norms they adopt.
In the guidebook, Ingrid Scharlau and Philip Porwol use concrete examples to show how metaphors shape our communication. They then present various metaphors for explaining and discuss their advantages and disadvantages. What does the couple dance emphasize as a metaphor for explaining? What challenges does it pose? And how do images such as constructing or putting a puzzle together fit in? “The choice of metaphor influences how we understand explanations and therefore presumably also which approaches we pursue in the development of AI systems,” says Ingrid Scharlau.
To the guidebook: https://katalog.ub.uni-paderborn.de/local/r/99375608680506441?sr%5Bq,any%5D=scharlau%20porwol
