Although metaphor and analogy are
Introduction. A user’s guide to the brain. John J. Ratey, M.D.
unconventional in scientific circles, I am firmly convinced that a more nonlinear kind of thought will eventually supplant much of the logical reasoning we use today. Chris Langton, one of the primary researchers in the field of complexity theory, has speculated that in the future science will become more poetic. Our troubled world, too, is becoming too complex for logical argumentation, and may have to change its thinking: real trust, when emotions are running high, is based on analogy, not calculation. Meanwhile, we must concentrate our attention on learning all we can about the brain, as a way to get the jump on where the field, and our world, are headed.
