[Solomon]

Just wondering what's been your favourite analogy of the crisis.
eg;
"slow moving train wreck"
"housing falling off a cliff"
"Titanic sinking, or trying to avoid the iceberg" (early days of GFC)

Heard one recently talking about the shadow banking as "a black hole".
Prof Steve Keen has used a few as well.
"Car running out of petrol going up a hill"
"Sick patient, given more morphine - killing him"

And I picked up this one off the Mike Shedlock site:

Quote

I noticed today that the new Spanish president lamentingly compares himself to a father who must feed four, with only enough bread for two.

Analogies can never fully describe a situation. They are rather an attempt to explain it in layman's terms, with familiar imagery that people understand.
Each analogy, while falling short of the truth, is still able to provide a perspective on a situation.
Many witnesses in court cases, resort to analogies, when they are unable to put into language their actual experience.

It is/was like.......(analogy)
Language is always incapable of describing experience, and so we resort to analogy to make up for the shortfall.
It is an imprecise exercise, as tor correctly alludes to, but it is a helpful tool for many people in making sense of a complex issue.

What are your favourite analogies for the past 12 months, of this current economic crisis, or political system?
Have fun.

This post has been edited by Solomon: 19 December 2011 - 11:03 PM

[tom]

Do you conscientiously want to limit us to political and economic analogies? Hope not.

It is ironic that tor does not like them being into the martial arts as they seem to use them all the time. They are usually quite good too.

Make your mind like water. i.e. react appropriately / perfectly to a situation then return to calm. Someone throws a whopping boulder into your calm mind react with significant action then calmness again.

My experience in the matter only extends as far as kung fu panda, bruce lee flicks and the karate kid movies so maybe they are not used as much in real life...

For economic ones; I love Keynes use of analogies, but this does show the limitation with them. People can take a meaning from them that goes beyond what he was trying to say. It can lead to peverse outcomes if the reader is trying to discredit the idea. The building of pyramids, digging holes in the ground and burying money are good examples. For many these analogies are usefull, and certainly at the time his influence was strengthened by his ability to translate complex ideas for regular people / politicians etc.

[tor]

tom, on 19 December 2011 - 11:46 PM, said:

It is ironic that tor does not like them being into the martial arts as they seem to use them all the time. They are usually quite good too.

Make your mind like water. i.e. react appropriately / perfectly to a situation then return to calm. Someone throws a whopping boulder into your calm mind react with significant action then calmness again.

My experience in the matter only extends as far as kung fu panda, bruce lee flicks and the karate kid movies so maybe they are not used as much in real life...

Anyone I have heard using those kinds of analogies is old and japanese (my favourite is "put determination in your brow") which leads me to believe it is more of a translation thing (and even they do it quite infrequently, mostly it is "put your foot there!" "stab him in the throat!" etc).

[tom]

tor, on 19 December 2011 - 11:54 PM, said:

Anyone I have heard using those kinds of analogies is old and japanese (my favourite is "put determination in your brow") which leads me to believe it is more of a translation thing (and even they do it quite infrequently, mostly it is "put your foot there!" "stab him in the throat!" etc).

It is possible they use analogies to try to explain years of training as to what it has achieved for their body and mind to a laymen in an analogy. Those they actually train with it is likely more practical discussions are had. I guess this is where analogies are usefull.

[Solomon]

tom, on 19 December 2011 - 11:46 PM, said:

Do you conscientiously want to limit us to political and economic analogies? Hope not.

Well, no.
Go your hardest.
What is your favourite analogy then?
"Life is like a box of chocolates"

[AndersB]

I don't know of any good analogies, but how about these two:
"Time flies like an arrow - fruit flies like bananas"

"A presentation should be like a woman's skirt - short enough to maintain interest, but long enough to cover the subject".

[ummester]

pissed as a newt:)

[Solomon]

ummester, on 20 December 2011 - 10:26 AM, said:

pissed as a newt:)

Shouldn't that be;
"nissed as a pewt"

[Popeye]

For those of you old enough to remember the days of the "Dunny can man", what about,...

"Flat as a sh!t carter's hat"

This post has been edited by Popeye: 20 December 2011 - 10:27 PM

[savagegoose]

anaogies are like expecting ice cream and getting mashed potato

This post has been edited by savagegoose: 21 December 2011 - 12:42 AM

[Solomon]

I've always liked this one from Laurence Peter;
"In a hierarchy everyone tends to rise to the level of their incompetence."

Paul Keating used a few good ones in his time as well;
"When we put our federation together, there were no Washingtons around, no soldier statesmen, no people like Jefferson talking about blood being the fertiliser of democracy. It was put together by lawyers and businessmen - mostly old forelock tuggers - who set us up as a British satellite."
and
"Sydney is the only place to live in Australia - the rest is just camping out."

This post has been edited by Solomon: 21 December 2011 - 01:06 AM

[tor]

savagegoose, on 21 December 2011 - 12:41 AM, said:

analogies are like expecting ice cream and getting mashed potato

This is my favourite analogy!