When listening to Geary’s TED talk, I didn’t pick up on as much of the information as I did when I read/annotated his talk. His analyzation of Elvis and his song is something I did pick up on the first time around, but reading the transcript gave me a lot more insight and a better understanding of the point he was trying to get across. Using “All Shook Up” to explain how humans inevitably resort to metaphor in our language, and connecting it to Aristotle’s definition of metaphor helped me to better understand the concept of metaphor and how much it connects to modern life. I never thought of metaphors as being this present in our language.

Another thing I noticed the second time around was the key components of making a metaphor. While listening, my brain completely passed over the concepts of pattern recognition, conceptual synesthesia, and cognitive dissonance. I think I was more focused on the Boba vs. Kiki test and my confusion as to why I associated the names with the opposite intended shape and wondering what that meant for me and my brain.

In my response to Geary, I focused more on the aspect of metaphor that allows us to better understand a situation than if we were to explain it without them. The metaphor I chose gave a similar vivid understanding of my life to Shakespeare’s metaphorical description of Juliet. It made me realize how vital metaphors are for clarity and explanations in life.