a writer’s habits with regard to metaphor (and figurative language generally) were key to their entire worldview. Heavy users of figurative language, she said, see the world as interconnected, full of unseen ties and parallels. Whereas those who abstain from figurative language think that the world is made up of discrete things: every situation is... See more

A photo that was supposedly potent enough to tell an entire story turned out not to be real, yet people were so eager for a narrative that they would seek one out anywhere, even from a source that was empty, a source that they knew was empty. What did that say both about the story and about the people? A place was actually on fire. Evidence of the... See more

There are obvious downsides to this line of thinking. It’s anti-intellectual, for one. But also, the incessant caricaturing and dumbing down of major life events numbs us to their significance. If a meme pokes fun at someone’s bad behaviour, it gives the bad behaviour a pass. Through our rapid meme-fication and IJBOLing, we obfuscate the evil of... See more