THE MOVIE THEATER
METAPHOR
This is the only radical thinking that you need to do.
But it is so radical, it is so difficult,
because our tendency is that the world is already “out there,”
independent of my experience. It is not.
Quantum physics has been so clear about it.
- Dr. Amit Goswami
PREFACE TO PART ONE
There are three things you should know before we begin our journey across the Rocky Mountains….
ONE: Although this book carries a copyright, you are hereby granted permission to print it, copy it, share it, give it away to anyone else, quote it, do anything you want with it – except you cannot sell any part or the whole book, or make money from it in any way, or assist anyone else in making money from it in any way. I feel very strongly that the information in this book should always be available for free to anyone who wants to read it.
TWO: It seems many scouts encounter things that are hard to explain when they return to the group. It’s not easy trying to get people to understand something they have never directly experienced.
So from time to time I will use quotations from other sources. These quotes are not there to prove I am “right” just because someone else whose name you might recognize said the same thing. They are included mainly to try to further explain a concept which can be difficult to grasp and offer another viewpoint using words different than mine which you may relate to more easily.
With very few exceptions, all the quotes and many other references have footnotes to give you the opportunity to check out my sources for yourself. Simply click on the purple footnote number and that will take you to the footnote which will contain an active Internet link. If you want, you can then click on the Internet link to go directly to the source material in your Internet browser. Then click on the word “reading” in the footnote to return to the point you were reading in the text and continue. Try it here by clicking on the number1
There are also links embedded in the text to various videos to watch as you read. As usual, click on the purple hyperlink. I have also included some Hollywood movie suggestions at the end of a few chapters from time to time. These movies are not supposed to be viewed as perfect examples of the information you just read, but close enough to the subject matter to be interesting and pertinent as well as entertaining.
THREE: People apparently learn most easily when they can compare something new to something they already understand, called by some a “datum of comparable magnitude.”2
For example, if I were to try to tell you about a new game I saw while I was out scouting called “Blat-Blop,” and suggest you might enjoy playing it, you’d most likely have many questions before being willing to engage and ask for further explanation.
But Blat-Blop cannot be explained directly. It’s different than anything other game known to man. So what do I do?
I tell you that Blat-Blop is like American football, except there’s no ball and no goal posts.
Now, at least, you have some idea of what I’m talking about, as crazy and incomprehensible as it sounds. Your mind probably pictures a bunch of men running around a field all dressed up in heavy pads and helmets, which is true in Blat-Blop; but you still have no idea what they’re doing or why.
When I said “Blat-Blop is like American football,” I was using a simile, comparing two different things to create a new meaning.
There’s something else called a metaphor. A metaphor is a figure of speech using one thing to mean another and makes a comparison between the two. For example, Shakespeare's line, "All the world's a stage," is a metaphor comparing the whole world to a theater stage. A metaphor is a lot like a simile, but without the direct comparative wording. We could turn Shakespeare’s metaphor into a simile by adding the word “like”: All the world is like a stage.
On the other hand, an analogy shows similarity between things that might seem different – much like an extended metaphor or simile. But analogy isn't just a form of speech. It can also be a logical argument: if two things are alike in some ways, they are alike in some other ways as well. Analogy is often used to help provide insight by comparing an unknown subject to one that is more familiar.
Then there is something called an allegory, which is a one-to-one comparison or substitution of something figurative for something literal. While this is very similar to a metaphor, allegories are usually more subtle and a lot more involved, taking up entire books and pieces of art.
I say all of this for two reasons.
First, I’m forced to use a lot of similes, metaphors, and analogies in this book – and begin the book with an allegory – to try to explain what I’ve seen as a scout that is difficult at times to describe, and very new in many cases. I wish there were words and ways to say exactly what I’ve found without having to make these comparisons, but there aren’t. It’s that simple.
Secondly, I apparently have a small brain malfunction. (Maybe it’s the mad cow.) Despite all previous efforts and diligent study, and the definitions and differentiation I wrote above between metaphor and analogy, I still can’t tell the difference. So I warn you right now – and any English teachers who may be reading – that I might confuse those two words. If you wish, any such error can simply be chalked up to my personal weakness in this area.
Just be prepared for a lot of metaphors and analogies, whichever they may be.
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