Untitled -- Description of the Work Proposed

I propose to continue a program of independent research into the growth and adoption -- and the flaws -- of several scientific metaphors. The immediate goal is the documenting of stories of how these quirks of language came into being, and how many of them persist despite a lack of supporting evidence. The primary goal will be to publish a collection of these stories, organized by scientific discipline, as a book suitable for use at the undergraduate level, as supplemental material in a history or philosophy of science course. This book would also serve as a vehicle for beginning to make the different parts of this argument to the public.

The DNA-language metaphor described above is only one of many that persisted (or persist) unchallenged in different fields, and it is not the only one with a pernicious effect on the popular understanding of science. Here is a brief list of several metaphors from science, some of which have only a shaky claim to accuracy, and others of which, though containing a root of truth, are widely overstated:

The second goal of the research would be to begin the task of finding places and opportunities to make this critique of the conduct of science to the practitioners of that science. Too often, a field of science has adopted a metaphor so uncritically that it ceases to be regarded as metaphorical at all. Ask any cognitive scientist, for example, about the computer between your ears, and few will giggle. At least few will giggle as much as they should.

A potential third product of this research has an unusual potential for promoting the thesis.

For the past two years, I have been touring a stage show about cognitive science to universities around the country. It's called "Judy, or What Is It Like To Be A Puppet?" It is meant to be amusing, but is also meant as an illustration of some of the pitfalls of the current ways of thinking about thinking. I have been pleased by the success of this endeavour (as have the universities where I've shown it). Because I am sure that this proposal differs from most others in important respects, I hope you'll pardon my quoting at length two informal reviews of this show, and trust me that they are germane to the work proposed here:

"Tom Sgouros's witty play, co-starring the charming robot Judy, is an imagination-stretcher that delights while it exercises your mind. If you think you can't imagine a conscious robot, you're wrong-you can, especially once you've met Judy. You'll find that Judy is an irresistible presence, much better company than many flesh-and-blood actors and actresses. Sgouros' exploration of the deep and quirky philosophical questions of consciousness is subtle and deft, right on target." -Daniel C. Dennett

"Not only did the puppet/human interaction wonderfully engage the audience, but the deep questions emerged in a totally natural, unforced manner. And as I implied above by saying that I laughed a lot, the show is extremely witty and deliciously permeated by self-referential and frame-breaking jokes... This is the remarkable achievement of Tom Sgouros. In one and the same show, not only can he amuse and provoke the most general audience, but he can also profoundly engage the minds of the most serious professionals in the fields of cognitive science, philosophy of mind, and robotics, and make them think new thoughts about issues with which they have grappled for decades. There is no denying that a great deal of highly sophisticated intellectual thinking went into the development of the `Judy' show, but also such care in making it general and `light' at the same time. What an amazing thing!" -Douglas Hofstadter

There is some more about my shows in the Biographical Sketch portion, and much more on the internet: http://as220.org/~tomfool. In addition to the book I described above, I also hope to create (and tour) a successor show to "Judy" that will deal directly with some of the issues of language, metaphor and science described in this proposal. Touring that show will be both a way to publicize the book and a way to begin the conversation about the two edges of the metaphorical sword.