Re: virus: true/false/meaningless

Wade T.Smith (wade_smith@harvard.edu)
Mon, 8 Mar 1999 19:34:14 -0500

>Is a sentence such as "the power and
>beauty of the god/dess lives within me" true, false, meaningless...or a
>useful metaphor?

I would offer that it is, um, not a metaphor at all, and redundant besides....

"Power and beauty live within me" is sufficient for the _sense_ of it, but metaphors are phrases of comparison or, hopefully, equality. Certainly they are phrases used (and developed) in explanation and clarity and understanding. A metaphor about a goddess should show us what a goddess is. The dew is always as strong as the sea.

And yes, they are what it is. E=MC^2 is my favorite metaphor.



"Being an atheist is a matter not of moral choice,
     but of human obligation." - John Fowles
                ×××××××××××××××
      Wade T. Smith --- morbius@channel1.com