Metaphors define civilized life. They are all around us in the stories that we teach our children and tell each other to justify our actions. But social metaphors have a dark side. They can cause entire civilizations to self destruct. Metaphors can kill. This presentation explores the power, and danger, of metaphors as social memes.

1. David Hyland-Wood
@prototypo
November 2015
When Metaphors Kill

8. Simile
A is like B
“Mary is like a seething volcano”

9. Metaphor
A is B
“Bob is a tiger”

14. Atum
Shu Tefnut
Geb Nut
Osiris Isis Nephthys Set

15. Atum
air water
earth sky
regeneration throne,
protector
death war,
chaos
“the complete one”,
finisher of the world
TefnutShu
Geb Nut
Osiris Isis Nephthys Set

22. cleft palate
scoliosis
Köhler disease
(mild clubfoot)
Missing bones
(hypophalangism)

25. “More than six-in-ten of the evangelical leaders
surveyed (64%) say there is a natural conflict
between being an evangelical Christian and
living in a modern society, about twice the
portion who say there is no such conflict (33%).”
“Global Survey of Evangelical Protestant Leaders” Pew Research Center,
Washington, D.C. (22 June 2011) http://www.pewforum.org/2011/06/22/
global-survey-beliefs/, retrieved 7 Dec 2015.

27. Images used in accordance with their open licenses
Columns https://www.flickr.com/photos/tinou/133982614/
Tinou Bao
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
Kanizsa
triangle
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_illusion#/media/
File:Kanizsa_triangle.svg
Wikimedia user Fibonacci
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Medicine Man
Dance Sepia
https://www.flickr.com/photos/tkksummers/2984348353/
Konrad Summers
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/
Cura en
Momos
https://www.flickr.com/photos/davidden/87712741/
David Dennis
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

28. Gathering of
shamans on
Olkhon
https://www.flickr.com/photos/petukhovanton/
12515892163/
Anton Petukhov
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
Giza pyramids https://www.flickr.com/photos/gracewong/93631410/
Tommy Wong
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
Tutankhamun’s
sarcophagus
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tuts_Tomb_Opened.JPG
The New York Times photo archive
License: Public Domain
Tutankhamun’s
mask (front)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tuthankhamun_Egyptian_Museum.jpg
Bjørn Christian Tørrissen
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
deed.en
Tutankhamun’s
mask (back)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tutankamón_qwelk.jpg
Wikimedia Commons user Qwelk
License: Public Domain

29. Osiris https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Standing_Osiris_edit1.svg
Jeff Dahl
License: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
en:GNU_Free_Documentation_License
Anubis https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Anubis_standing.svg
Jeff Dahl
License: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
en:GNU_Free_Documentation_License
CT scan of
Tutankhamun’s
mummy
http://blog.education.nationalgeographic.com/2014/10/22/
new-view-of-king-tut/
"Photograph courtesy the Supreme Council of Antiquities,
Egypt, and National Geographic"
Pentecostal
service
https://www.flickr.com/photos/americaredefined/4843191953/
Flickr user Medill News21
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
Creation
Museum photo
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Creation_Museum_10.png
Anthony K. Karam
License: Public Domain

30. References
Tutankhamun’s
genetic
disabilities and
family history
Zahi Hawass et al, Ancestry and Pathology in King
Tutankhamun's Family, JAMA, February 17, 2010, Vol 303,
No. 7, http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?
articleid=185393
Quotation
regarding
evangelical
leaders
“Global Survey of Evangelical Protestant Leaders” Pew
Research Center, Washington, D.C. (22 June 2011) http://
www.pewforum.org/2011/06/22/global-survey-beliefs/,
retrieved 7 Dec 2015.

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