Emotion and Cognition: Metaphor
image of owl feather

"Metaphors . . . are essential tools of thought, not simply literary devices, and by analyzing these metaphors, our own as well as others', we can better understand essential tenets and assumptions. . . . Theoretical metaphors are explanatory in that they provide familiar frames for understanding complex, puzzling processes, but they can also be generative" (Spivey, 1997, p. 2).

The feathers used in the design of this site were deliberately chosen to represent my reactions to current research in emotion and cognition. A researcher may choose to look at an feather apart from the bird that once used it in the same way that many choose to look at emotion apart from cognition. I believe that it is vital to consider that feather as it appears in the "wild," just as it is vital to consider emotions as they appear outside of a laboratory setting. For this reason I have deliberately included only feathers from birds found in the wild. Without these "emotional" feathers, the bird of cognition cannot take flight.


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feather images © Tara Prindle 2000, NativeTech: Native American Technology and Art. Internet URL: http://www.nativetech.org
Emotion and Cognition © Courtney Glazer 2000