Metaphors, resources for quality education. A lesson by Richard
Feynman
The word metaphor comes from the Latin "metaphora"
and this, in turn, from a Greek word translated in Spanish as
"translation". It is the application of a concept or an expression
about an idea or an object to which it does not describe directly, to suggest a
comparison with another element and facilitate its understanding. The metaphor
is an allegorical element, it manifests something that is not being said, but
that can be intuited and understood through reason and the association of
concepts. Aristotle defined metaphors as a comparison between two or several
entities that at first glance are different; and affirmed that the human capacity
to generate metaphors left in evidence the power of the mind.
Examples To praise the beauty of a lady, "Those two
emeralds that her eyes had shone on her face". Or when, the balance makes
us think of justice by associating both elements, which balance and allow
harmony. Or, "When in a storm, a bamboo is able to bend without breaking,
and return to its upright position, once the storm has passed, but strengthened
from it, that is resilience."
In poetics it occupies a place similar to that of comparisons,
but it is incomplete since it does not directly mention the object or element
to which it wishes to refer. There are two types of metaphor, the pure and the
impure. In the impure metaphor both terms appear, the real and the evoked; it
is also called "in praesentia" or image. In pure metaphor the real
term does not appear, but only the metaphorical, and is used to direct
attention to the signifier or to give an aspect unknown to the everyday.
In the field of education, the use of metaphors is justified
when it is stated that "metaphors and nearby concepts, like similes and
analogies, have been used as teaching mechanisms since the early days of
civilization." The metaphor of Plato's cave is a clear example. Also,
"the widespread use of metaphors in the teaching texts of early times
suggests that the metaphor is more than a simple stylistic instrument for
literary use (...) the metaphor is an essential ingredient of communication,
and therefore of a remarkable educational value "(Rodríguez, s / f, p 225)
The metaphor defined as a speech figure, with which the
meaning of a term or phrase is transferred from the object usually designated
to another object to which it provides a new intuition or perspective, acquires
a broader meaning, since it can also " designate a process by means of
which the meaning and relationships of a theory or model can be used to suggest
meaning or relationships in another domain ". The extension to the field
of theories or models implies something more than the substitution of a series
of concepts for other equivalents, in which the situation of semantic
equivalence is presented (Rodríguez, s / f, p.226)
In the early 1960s, a physics professor at the California
Institute of Technology (Caltech) taught a full course to a growing audience.
He was not just any teacher, he was a great teacher and he explained the most
difficult things, "The Great Explainer". Privileged mind of the
twentieth century and key in the history of theoretical physics. Richard
Phillips Feynman was a New York theoretical physicist, mathematician, Nobel
Prize winner, educator, disseminator, writer, showman, comedian, cartoonist,
synesthetic, expert in safes and excellent Brazilian percussionist. In each
session, Feynman displayed his enormous pedagogical and communicative capacity
to expose in the simplest way very complex physical concepts.
In his book "The Character of the Physical Law", the
great Feynman offers a beautiful metaphor: nature is comparable to a colossal
game of chess. When you look at the game (= reality is observed) you can
discover the rules of the game (= the fundamental laws of nature). The
scientist is the observer or spectator.
The analogy with the development of natural events and the
game of chess is a dynamic metaphor. Incredible, not only shows the similarity
in a moment, but any time this similarity is revealed. During a real process,
nature jumps from one state to another. The new state is one of many compatible
with the laws of nature. The selection, fundamental or natural, is the one that
decides and the criterion is the stability (to continue in scene, to be) or the
survival (to continue alive). Is not chess the same? In general, the laws of
nature (or the rules of chess) do not oblige, they only prohibit. Nature has intrinsic
right to a dose of contingency; as a margin for selection, and in it lies the
creativity of biological evolution, that of the chess player.
The player believes that he invents a winning game or chess
move when in fact, he has only chosen one of the 10 raised to the 100,000
possible games. The efficiency does not hurt either. Natural processes tend to
minimize energy, the chess player who can win in two moves does not do so in
three.
Two other situations in which Feynman reveals his talent for
metaphors are:
1) The use of the famous Feynman diagrams to visually show the
mathematical mechanism of the interaction of particles in space and time. The
technique of Feynman diagrams has influenced the way physicists work.
2) The suggestion so that all the scientists of the Manhattan
project that developed the atomic bomb, will perform calculations in parallel.
A grain of sand does not do anything, millions of grains dragged by the waves
tear the strongest rocks. Feynman said that, instead of spending nine months to
solve 3 major problems, they could now solve nine major problems in three
months. Absolute genius when creating parallel computing.
References
DEFINICIÓN
DE METÁFORA
LAS
METÁFORAS EN LA ENSEÑANZA JOSÉ LUIS RODRÍGUEZ DIÉGUEZ
La Metáfora
como Medio de Enseñanza, lunes, octubre 15, 2012
Variaciones sobre una metáfora de Feynman, JORGE WAGENSBERG, 10 MAR
2004
https://elpais.com/diario/2004/03/10/futuro/1078873205_850215.html
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