I like to think my 'reading reviews' avoid making pointless criticisms of another's work. This is especially true regarding something trivial like word choice. That said, dear reader, I made a semi-useless remark in last Sunday's footnotes regarding Sam Quinones's repeated use of a pizza-delivery analogy to describe the speed and efficiency he observed in certain black-tar heroin distribution systems (1).
The comment was very close to an unneeded potshot at an author writing an important book about a serious topic. So why include it in the post? Because I was annoyed with the expression after seeing it six hundred times. I imagine readers around here feel the same anytime I reference Hubway, start a new sentence with the word 'but', or create a footnote for a completely trivial, self-referential comment (2).
My annoyance was a semi-remarkable achievement. It's unusual for me to get annoyed at just about anything unrelated to mosquitoes. So, I've been thinking about this example and trying to understand my own reaction better.
One realization I had is how I get frustrated with analogies more than any other literary device. Given how frequently I make silly analogies, this realization felt hypocritical. I'm the least qualified person to complain about using any sort of comparison. It would be like...ah, never mind.
But I remember many instances over the past few years where I would just roll my eyes at an analogy instead of working with the idea. It's almost like I'm allergic to other people's analogies. If I get exposed to the wrong one, I can't help but react petulantly (3).
The worst type of analogy assumes a false understanding with the audience. To put it a different way, any analogy with an 'out of touch' factor gets my eyes rolling right away. I'm reminded of how often I used to hear sports analogies in my former workplace. Sure, for me, talking about 'keeping my eye on the ball' was generally not a problem- but what about all those colleagues who never watched baseball? I bet their eyes were rolling while I was thinking about how to hit a cost-containment home run.
A close second in this category is a comparison referencing some long-ago or faraway event which I do not believe the speaker has any expertise with. I recently heard a political pundit suggest the correct approach to combating terrorism would draw on the strategic lessons from the Battle of Midway. The Battle of Midway!!! I don't quite remember what I did next. It is possible I suffered some sort of inanity-induced spell of amnesia.
The types of analogies that seem to bother me, in other words, are lazy. They dump the work of comprehension on the listener, reference the in-group to someone outside it, or simply invoke ideas without bothering to explain how they are related.
Why bother making a lazy analogy? I think these happen when a person wants to hide a lack of understanding about the subject under discussion. Since pretending to know about a topic frustrates me, it is no surprise how I throw my hands into the air upon hearing analogies designed to fake expertise.
The missing ingredient in bad communication is often a failure to address the why or the how. Analogies explaining why or how two ideas are related are often the most effective way to describe a new idea. Those failing to do so, however, often push the entire discussion a step backward.
In order to build a house, it is not enough to simply link multiple rooms together. A carpenter must also account for the door frames, hallways, and staircases connecting the separate areas together.
Footnotes / imagined complaints
1. Drink!
First, I do not recommend playing a drinking game where you have even a sip of beer every time the expression 'delivered like pizza' comes up in reference to the opiate delivery techniques described in Dreamland. I think it is Quinones's favorite expression, seeming to come up far more than required, perhaps twenty or thirty times in all, and the overuse of this one metaphor was the first thought that came to mind when I started preparing that post.
2. But in my defense...
Who doesn't like Hubway?
3. It's like buying a sharp knife to sharpen a knife, sort of...
The most bothersome type of analogy to me is one unnecessarily challenging to understand. I think this is fair. If analogies are supposed to serve as shortcuts to understanding, the analogy which extends the time required to understand has failed in its most basic purpose.
