Psychological Traps Are Everywhere: Here’s How To Avoid Them

3 powerful metaphors to help you see the world more clearly

Personal Growth
Published in
5 min readJan 3, 2021

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In John F. Kennedy’s speech about the Space Race, he announced that “America has tossed its cap over the wall of space.” JFK used this metaphor as a declaration for taking charge of the race. It’s a beautiful turn of phrase that epitomizes the power of metaphors.

Metaphors, however, can have many purposes. They can be used to enhance writing, make persuasive arguments, motivate people, serve as symbols, and explain abstract concepts such as love, life, and success.

Here are 3 of my favourites:

“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” — Pablo Picasso

“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.” — William Shakespeare

“Predicting rain doesn’t count. Building arks does.” — Warren Buffett

At its core, a metaphor is a figure of speech that is used to make a comparison between two unrelated things. As such, they are extremely useful for explaining abstract psychological concepts such as suffering, anxiety…

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Brian Pennie, PhD
Personal Growth

Change is possible. I write to show that | Recovered heroin addict turned doctor. www.brianpennie.com