Is crime a "virus" ravaging our cities? ...or...is crime a "beast" ravaging our cities?
I'm amazed at the power of metaphor and how simple words have a huge impact on the thoughts, beliefs and actions of others. This article from Aeon (very cool, look them up at aeon.co) provides a deepish dive into how metaphor shapes just about everything we think and do.
For those seeking the TLDR answer to why I posed the virus/beast question....well, research shows that people asked the "virus" question
favour solutions based on containment and treating the cause of crime whereas people asked the "beast" question favour punitive measures such as having more police and longer jail sentences, seemingly to catch and cage the beast.
The metaphors used in this example are quite obvious of course but often the words we use are far more subtle yet have the same, truly profound affect. Check out the example in the article of re-framing arguments from a war to a dance...mind-blowing.
The good news is that we can become far more deliberate in our use of metaphor and start to have much better conversations as a result.
Thanks to Aeon Media Group Ltd for the inspiration.
Comments