Tuesday, April 3, 2018

The Metaphor and Richard Feynman


How could such a brilliant nobel-prize winning scientist find ways to teach normal people about his subjects? He was a master at metaphors.  Here he explains fire using a metaphor. 




If you think about it, the world of computer programming is filled with metaphors.

Bus: Bits commute each day on a data bus. Data is a group of objects.
Window: Opening a new window lets more enlightening in! A program exists in an outside space.
Frame: Frames compartmentalize screen space. An overlap of space is an (undesirable) overlap of concept.
Desktop: My desktop is cluttered with icons. A visual surface is a physical surface.
Open/Close: Windows, programs and ports may be opened or closed. To open is to start, and to be open is to be susceptible to change.
File: A corrupt file wreaks havoc on the computer. Data is physical and discrete, occupying space.
Folder: A folder may have any number of files within. Files are objects that can be grouped.
Space: I've not much space left on my hard drive. Data takes up finite physical space.
Port: A port is a transfer point for shipping data. Data transfers on a liquid.
Tools: A program's tools never need sharpening! Data is physically altered by a program.
Cut: I cut out part of a speech by Mayor Nagin. Data on the screen is as if on paper.
Clipboard: The excerpt sat on my clipboard awaiting pasting. Data may be physically picked up and held.

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