The Delusion of Metaphors

“All are lunatics, but he who can analyse his delusions is called a philosopher.”
Ambrose Bierce

Metaphors are useful. Metaphors are often very profound. As a mechanism for self-awareness, understanding and exploration of truth as a whole they are extremely important. In coaching athletes I often use metaphors as a mechanism for explanation. I find them particularly useful when I’m trying to articulate a realisation rather than an understanding.

I have found metaphors very useful in getting athletes to experience truth. For the athlete this manifests as ‘The Zone’. The danger is that by burrowing into the depths of metaphorical expression you run the risk of seeing metaphor as a truth in itself. In the end you can become trapped by metaphor, caught in a delusion of abstract truth. I’ll give you an example.

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