pin processor etc

[Lise Menn, Linguistics, CU Boulder]

What are the criteria for adequacy of a metaphor?  I think one can ask if
it's misleading or not; and in the present instance, I don't see data to
support an argument as to whether either of these metaphors is
appropriate, though both of them are appealing.
Lise Menn

 On Fri, 10 Oct 1997, Christer Platzack wrote:

> Liz Bates wrote:
>
> "Now: if I pick up a pin, and then pick up a pen, I will necessarily
> configure my hand slightly differently for these two tasks.  Does
> that mean that I have a "pin processor" that is distinct from
> and located separately from my "pen processor"?  Or is this simply
> the dynamic (and transient) result of somewhat different task
> demands?  In the case of the hand, we assume the latter.  In the
> case of brain activation studies, we typically assume the former.
> Neither one is justified, in and of itself, by the data we are
> discussing right now."
>
> This is an inadequate metaphor! The adjustment of the hand when picking up a pin
> or a pen is more like what we do when we accomodate a message to context (the
> choice of topic and focus and similar things).
> Maybe a better metaphor for different languages would have been to consider
> icking up a pen with the hand or with the mouth (or the foot).
> >
> Christer Platzack
> Institutionen for nordiska sprak
> Helgonabacken 14
> S-223 62 Lund
> Sweden
>