On the seduction of the shallow analogy

Liminial dispatch, 08.15.20

As I have been scrolling this past few weeks, one thing keeps jumping out at me:

We really need to be aware of the lure of inadequate analogies.

Specifically, the lure of shallow analogies — those that on the surface seem adequate or clever but that are actually designed precisely to distract us from much larger and deeper complexities.

We’re all looking for grounding in an ungrounded time. We’re all grieving something. We’re all trying to make sense out of uncertainty, chaos, and deception. It’s exhausting to do this, especially when we are in constant resistance to what is.

Memetic analogies (and biting, pithy Tweets, how I love them!) are a relief, emotionally and neurochemically (hello, dopamine). Everything is suddenly bite-sized, the world is condensed down into simple binaries, often we are affirmed, and we don’t have to think as hard. There’s slack in the tension, the dissonance quiets for a moment, and we are off the hook.

𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝘆𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘅 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁; 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗽𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲.