Sports Alalogies LO16581

DHurst1046 (DHurst1046@aol.com)
Fri, 16 Jan 1998 09:38:08 EST

Replying to LO16551 --

Hi Robert,
In a message dated 1/15/98 10:57:36 PM EST, you write:

"I'm not sure that that is the consensus, since I have heard some very
strong dissent on the issue. One common complaint comes from a) women and
b) men who are not sports fans, and feel very much disenfranchised and
even offended by the ubiquitous use of sports analogies.

"I happen to like sports analogies personally but stopped using them in
seminars, etc. The core of a metaphor, simile or analogy is that people
will be familiar with the compared to situation, and that is simply not
true for sports comparisons."

I should have written that there is consensus on the use of sports
metaphors IF they appeal to our experience. Obviously as a consultant you
have to understand what kind of experiences your clients have had, so that
you can appeal to them. This is another advantage of having a conceptual
framework which lies between the analogy and the complex phenomenon one is
trying to understand. For example, one can try to grasp reciprocal
dependency by talking about basketball, or a string quartet or gardening
etc. depending upon the client's (and one's own) experience.

Regards,
David Hurst

-- 

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