Don’t forget Visual Metaphors too….

 Verbal metaphors seem to be linked in a fundamental way to how we physically experience the world that surrounds us, how we reason through the information in it.  Some examples:

• The same centre in our brain processes information related to physical warmth and social warmth. No wonder we categorize our friends as warm and our not-friends as “cold as ice,” especially when they give us “the cold shoulder.”  We also feel warmer in spaces painted warmer colours than we do in ones featuring cooler-coloured paints. When people are lonely, they feel colder (5 degrees Fahrenheit colder). People seen in front of warm colours are even perceived to have warmer personalities.
• Important things are larger as in “tomorrow is a big day” and things that are up are “more,” like high prices or in control (“he’s on top of that potential problem”). In one study, resumes presented on heavier clipboards seem more substantive than they did when shared on lighter-weight ones.
• Lightness is associated with goodness and when we’re in a more brightly lit room we behave less selfishly. We also have more self-control when the lights are brighter.
• Power and vertical position are associated (“they’re moving up in the world”) and higher vertical positions and penthouse offices are both linked to greater power.
• When we’re thinking about the future, we lean forward slightly and when considering the past we move backwards a little bit.
• When we’re sitting in an unstable seat, for instance, because one leg is a little shorter than the others, we foresee the future as less stable (we may anticipate that certain romantic partners will end their relationships, for instance). The future seems to be in front of us and the past behind us.
• We stand closer to people we usually agree with, such as those we feel “closer” to.
• Seeing black-and-white visual contrasts, like checkerboard flooring, has been associated with thinking in a “black and white” manner, which can be dangerous if we’re evaluating others, for instance.