After reading “The Future of Science…Is Art?”, it was clear what Jonah Lehrer was trying to argue. His paper was very dense and full of information. I think that this was on purpose. Lehrer is speaking to an audience who already has some preconceptions of science and is willing to learn and understand more. This is why he talks about such advanced subjects in both “cultures,” science, and art. His argument is that art would further the progress of science. It would eliminate or slowly decrease the “limitations” of science. He talks about how science approaches things like the brain from bottom to top, meaning that things are broken up so that the pieces of a whole can be understood, such as the synapses of the brain. He argues that art naturally approaches perception of self with a top to bottom approach, meaning that it is more about the brain and its consciousness as a whole, instead of breaking it apart. These two processes of understanding things would be great together because they can compliment each other. Scientists are always trying to prove old theories and new hypotheses wrong. Why not incorporate a new way of doing this? There isnt much to lose. As Lehrer explains, the advancement of science is slowly progressing is there is any advancement at all, and we are just learning about all of the things that we do not know instead of finding new things. Incorporating arts and creating this sort of cycle of knowledge between artists and scientists could be the way to take a leap forward in science, especially in the fields of physics and neuroscience, as explained. This is because neuroscience and physics are all about perception and how much we do not know. Overall, I really like the paper. It was enjoyable to read although it was very dense.

Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle: This is the idea that there is a fundamental limit to how much we can know and the precision of what we know.

Reductionism: The process of thinking of large processes or phenomena as the things that make them up, such as the cells that make up the body.

Epiphenomenon: This is a phenomenon that occurs in a sort of parallel way with a primary phenomenon, such as the further understanding of the human consciousness through a painting.

I feel that writing a brief summary or analysis of each paragraph furthers my ability to actively annotate.

The surrounding context of Yo-Yo Ma’s essay is that he a successful artist, giving him a great take on the role of art in science. The short biography in the beginning of the essay represents his merit in the world of science and art. It was published in 2014 which was after some of the awards that he has received. Although this was an assigned text to read, it was personal to me because I went to a semi-private high school that still involved the arts within education which proves to be very important according to Ma. It is important to me too and I believe that involving myself in the arts since I was young has made me a better critical thinker and over all connection maker. Ma creates a very specific scope in the very beginning along with a strong claim that “a lot of things are not working.” He uses this broad claim to his advantage as he talks about science as a whole and cultures all around the globe. This can help him then argue the importance of empathy in culture, education in schools all around, and overall, the effects of arts on the capacity of knowledge and thinking. He emphasizes how important all of this is with very strong claims that are clear in the way that they explain exactly what he believes.

Enlightenment: The ability to self-actualize, or be more aware.

Evolution: A gradual development or advancement.

Cellist: A person who plays the cello.

After reading “Shitty First Drafts” by Anne Lamott, I feel a sort of connection with her words. It is great to hear that other people can relate to this same thing and that it may just be a fairy tale that people can actually write polished writing on their first try. I like her tone, it is casual, yet striking with a vibe of insensitivity. It is important to feel how insensitive it seems like she is being because it gives the paper more meaning. It’s supposed to make the reader feel as if they should have always written awful first  drafts and that they have no toher option if they want effective writing. I like the line “It’s not like you don’t have a choice, because you do — you can either type, or kill yourself” because the strength of the words is very intense. The idea is that we always have a choice, but which one could bring most meaning to you? Or even, how could you ever write something worth reading without writing at all? The passage as a whole is very interesting and I like the connection between writer and reader.

Revision Strategy: 

Goal: To rework my thesis and connect back with every single paragraph, and to also add an effective counterargument.

Steps:

1. Think critically about what my paper is trying to argue, so I can rework my thesis to the content of the paper, rather than changing my whole paper to fit my thesis.
2. Read aloud my paper at least once to see where it goes off track from my argument.
3. Focus on opposing opinions and start crafting a counterargument that accents the thesis very nicely.
4. Have someone read my paper and focus on global edits so I can really focus my paper on my new thesis.
5. Polish.

My biggest challenge will most definitely be reworking my thesis to fit my paper better. I am worried that it will not be a strong enough thesis. I will overcome this pressure and challenge by talking to people I know that are effective writers and take their opinion on it and the flow of their paper. I will be very open to opinions.

Prioritizing global edits over local edits was a very different process than I am used to. In high school, it seemed as though the local edits were the most important thing to pay attention to in first drafts. It seems more beneficial to pay attention to the big picture, as the first draft may change a lot compared to the final draft. Content is the driving factor for change in the first draft, so getting as much feedback as possible of the content and flow and thesis is crucial to writing a good formal draft. As it was talked about in class, it is hard for a writer to see how his or her own paper is turning out because he or she knows what the final image of the essay should look like, and this creates a bias of the current state of the essay. When I was looking over my peers’ essays, it was hard not to fix grammatical errors as I have been taught in the past to do, but I noticed that once I could think about global edits and prioritize them, I could see how the paper was structured better and could help my peer with what needed to be done.

Introduction #1:

Knowledge carries great weight in society. It can be used for good or bad in the sense that a person can use their knowledge to lead the nation, or to become a criminal mastermind. It has a never ending potential as there becomes more of it. Metaphor is knowledge. The english language is comprised of metaphors so much so that it goes completely unnoticed in many situations. Literal language and metaphor are interwoven so tightly that they can be confused with each other. Once someone is able to use metaphor to their advantage, they instantly become more intelligent, better at communicating, even charming. This is the power that metaphor holds. It can be used to compare a known subject with an unknown subject to make something more understandable. Metaphor helps people think innovatively and conceptualize new things. It can do incredibly beneficial things, but it has some downsides. A person can be hurt by metaphors if they understand them in a different way than someone intended. Much like knowledge, metaphor has great strength and can do great damage.

Introduction #2:

Everyone has a perception of who they are. The aspects of society that affect them, such as cultural values, media, and influential people can also shape the way a person may think of his or herself. A person’s perception of their physical and mental self can completely change their outlook on life. An altered outlook on life can diminish the potential that a person has in his or her own life. A large factor of how people are affected is through language and understanding of language. Within language, there is metaphor. Metaphor is a way to compare a known thing to an unknown thing to aid the understanding of the unknown. It becomes a pattern in our everyday language that is inevitably encountered with. Metaphor can affect a person in a positive or negative way, but it is an essential part of language that will not go away. The awareness of the effects of metaphor could really enhance a person’s life.

In medicine, it is seemingly very common for a physician to refer to disease with a war-related metaphor. This is often done using words such as battle, enemy, fight, fighter, weapons, etc. Studies have recently been done, as cited in “The Trouble With Medicine’s Metaphors” that show the effects of metaphor on people’s minds. This conflict is usually physical versus figurative. Some people believe that washing their hands may rid their conscience of immoral acts from the past. Things like this can translate over to the metaphors in medicine as well. Studies show that people who think of diseases such as cancer as a battle typically have a higher amount of anxiety and depression. This could be the effect of this war-related metaphor. Metaphor comes down to a person’s values, which may change how they feel about something put into a metaphor.

I believe that the use of metaphors is important for people to understand things, like the article states. In the medical field, it is very hard for patients to understand what is happening to their body due to illness. Metaphors can help the patient understand. Based on the way this person thinks, the metaphor can be processed differently. If the person has a certain perception of a metaphor, it can completely change the way they feel about the disease, such as a war-related metaphor. If cancer is seen as a battle, it implies that there is a victory or a defeat by the end of cancer. I believe that this can be harmful because the person may stifle their emotions when it is crucial to be able to express emotion in a desperate time such as this.

“Metaphor is not just the detection of patterns; it is the creation of patterns”- Metaphorically Speaking

• I chose this quote because it is an overlapping theme of metaphor, which is the patterns that help us understand connections between compared things.

 “…it helps to have a metaphor for metaphor.”- See Through Words

• This is an exact representation of the influence that metaphor has on our understanding of things.

“Physicians who used more metaphors were seen as better communicators. Patients reported less trouble understanding them, and felt as though their doctor made sure they understood their conditions.”- The Trouble With Medicine’s Metaphors

• This shows the way that metaphor is used in communication and how beneficial it is.

After re-reading Michael Erard’s essay, I was able to be aware of more of the things going on in his writing. It was clear that Erard had a purpose while writing his essay. It is insightful entirely throughout every single paragraph, but it is more than just that. It is clear that he has an opinion and he is not afraid to share it. To me, it seems clear that Erard would like to share that metaphors are not necessarily about beauty anymore, which he seems to think is a common misconception based on the history of metaphors. He uses this introductory claim as a foundation for the rest of his essay. He talks very prominently about the usability of metaphors. His words carry weight naturally because of his reputation as a writer and metaphor designer. This only helps his case. He uses very many literary methods in order to persuade his audience, which is most likely just a broad body of people that are open to learning new philosophical concepts. He uses methods such as appealing to the audience with a more casual tone, using quotes that are hard to deny, and delivering a sense of acceptability of emotion and culture. All of these things tie together nicely to create an essay worth reading that can teach very much about metaphorical thinking. I was able to notice all of this because I wasn’t so focused on content during the second read. This made it easier to see what the writer was trying to do in this essay.

Although everything is very well written, I have always had troubles with understanding the concept of politics. I took this chance to glance over an article by Art Markman that explains metaphor in politics and really just simplifies the idea of how much the public is affected by the use of metaphor during political debates. This quick read to understand this concept that was briefly covered by Erard made it much easier to understand what the essay was getting at. Glossing a text outside of a passage can be a good way to further knowledge about something briefly covered. Writers can only cover so much about a topic in a paper so this is a great use of resources.

Following the Thread:

“What exactly is a pseudo-mistake?” I have a feeling that this is a generated mistake of an analogy or metaphor. The metaphor “designer” decides to do this in an unorganized way that may result in something that seems like a poor metaphor. This is what makes the metaphor usable.  Pseudo, in my mind, basically means fake. So to generate a purposefully failed metaphor is the goal of the designer. This is when the metaphor may be getting somewhere. When relating the paintbrush to the pump, the only thing that they  have in common is that they both move liquid. The idea of a pump’s way of moving liquid compare to a paintbrush’s strokes is what makes the difference here.  This is what makes the metaphor work. The idea of a pump relating to the paintbrush that these people do not like makes the unknown seem more relatable. This seems like it may be the goal of the metaphor designer.

“What could this mean?” I asked this when contemplating the meaning of sugar browning the body from the inside like a banana. Does sugar mean the false reality of society? Is it referring to the sugar that people actually consume on a day to day basis? I can think of all of these things due to the connections that this metaphor makes to my feelings. It does not upset me to think about this metaphor. It only makes me think. I think about how I feel and connect what I know to this metaphor. I am trying to decide if being too nice is a downfall in society. Should things be more direct in the english language instead of being sugar coated? Would the meaning be more raw? I’m not sure, but this piece of writing made me think of how perfect or imperfect things really could be in society. As long as a metaphor follows my culture’s values and norms, I may think about a metaphor for hours. It seems to be all about perspective and experience, much like the “house” of metaphor.

Having  a website of my own seems very weird. It also brings excitement. I like new things and I am willing to give almost anything a chance. I am glad I have an english professor who can show me the ropes and help me design my first ever website. The presentation that Digispace gave for this site was very helpful and they made excellent points. I can use this website to my advantage in the future. This blog can be a way of improving myself and the way I speak, write, and just articulate ideas in general. Overall, I am super excited!