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What is an Analogy?
An analogy is defined by Merriam-Webster as "a comparison of two otherwise unlike things based on resemblance of a particular aspect."
So according to this definition, an analogy could be any comparison of any two things with anything in common.
But to understand how analogies help with problem solving, we need to look deeper and identify which shared aspects are most important.
Example: the Joke and the Frog
Example: the Joke and the Frog
Our sample analogy is borrowed from E.B. White, famed American author, who wrote:
"Humor can be dissected, as a frog can, but the thing dies in the process and the innards are discouraging to any but the purely scientific mind. "
In essence, explaining a joke will make it less funny, and dissecting a frog will kill it.
We know these statements are true, but how are they related? How are joke-explaining and frog-dissecting alike, and are all of their similarities equally important?
A Closer Look
A Closer Look
This analogy is helpful because it breaks down the important connections for us:
Similarity One: Both frogs and jokes can be looked at piece-by-piece in order to better understand the way they work.
Similarity Two: Both frogs and jokes are much less fun and exciting when they're in pieces, rather than whole.
But there are more similarities E.B. White didn't include. Here are two:
Dissecting a frog and explaining a joke are both actions performed by a human (usually).
Both frogs and jokes are (sometimes) funny.
These are both true facts about frogs and jokes, so why don't they feel relevant?
A Visual Model
An analogy always has two parts; we can refer to them as the "target" and the "base." In this case, the target is the part we're trying to understand, and the base is the part we already understand, so if E.B. White is trying to tell us why we shouldn't explain jokes too much, and he's using frog dissection as an example, that means explaining a joke is the target and dissecting a frog is the base.
Explaining a Joke
Explaining a Joke
✖ are (sometimes) funny
✩ can be broken into smaller parts for better understanding
✖ process done by a human
✩ feeling of loss after the joke is explained
Dissecting a Frog
Dissecting a Frog
✖ are (sometimes) funny
✩ can be broken into smaller parts for better understanding
✖ process done by a human
✩ feeling of loss after the frog is dissected
What does the Research Say?
What does the Research Say?
Returning to the question at hand, why don't some similarities feel as relevant as others?
The literature shows support for a structural view of analogy, instead of a superficial view. This means that in general, analogies work best when the two parts, target and base, are alike in structure.
In this example, the structure is the relationship between different parts in the analogy (the person and the frog, or the person and the joke, or the frog and the joke). The target and base are structurally similar because they have a similar purpose and create a similar result.
Superficial or surface comparisons, like the ones above, don't add anything to the structure of the analogy. For example, a feeling of loss is the result of both parts of the analogy. A joke has to be funny in the first place to create that loss when it's explained, but a frog doesn't have to be funny for its death to create a loss when it's dissected, so funniness is not part of the structure of the analogy.
Now that we understand what an analogy is and what makes an analogy work, we can move on to why we use analogies to solve problems.
Blanchette, & Dunbar, K. (2000). How analogies are generated: The roles of structural and superficial similarity. Memory & Cognition, 28(1), 108–124. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03211580
Gentner. (1983). Structure-mapping: A theoretical framework for analogy. Cognitive Science, 7(2), 155–170. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15516709cog0702_3
Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Analogy. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved December 8, 2022, from https://www.merriam- webster.com/dictionary/analogy
White, E.B., & White, K.S. (1941, October 18). The preaching humorist. The Saturday Review of Literature. Start Page 16. https://www.unz.com/print/SaturdayRev-1941oct18-00016/
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