The metaphor is akin to the mechanism of tagging in complex adaptive systems as described in Chapter 1 . These systems sense their environments and collect information about surrounding conditions by using tags to guide their actions. The systems may also encode data about new situations for use at a later date. We often think that information is a human-derived product of the interaction of animate Man and inanimate Nature. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
Information processing is almost universal.
Essentially, metaphors do the same thing for us, and are essentially tags. All metaphors are not created equal. Clich,s, for example, won't stand the test. The 19th century understood this better than we do today. We have, in our own century, taken a step backward.