--- title: How Analogies Empower Your Arguments and Decision-Making description: When to use analogies and how to craft them to maximize persuasion. canonical: https://time.com/4135307/analogies/ author: Shane Parrish article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-12-07T05:01:23.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T08:56:04.196Z article:section: Ideas og:title: How Analogies Can Make You Better at Arguments og:description: They trigger emotions og:url: https://time.com/4135307/analogies/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt90a71443b21da22e/698873b22dce01fb059e6c41/business-people-talking.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5760 og:image:height: 3240 og:image:alt: business-people-talking og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Analogies Can Make You Better at Arguments twitter:description: They trigger emotions twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt90a71443b21da22e/698873b22dce01fb059e6c41/business-people-talking.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How Analogies Can Make You Better at Arguments > Sponsored content. 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Brittany Capone is having a benign tumor removed from her brain and because it is so close to her speech center, surgeons will keep her awake and talk to her during the procedure_ by [Shane Parrish](https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/) ## Shane Parrish Dec 7, 2015 5:01 AM UTC  Two male workers talking in office --- Image by © Igor Emmerich/Corbis Two male workers talking in office --- Image by © Igor Emmerich/Corbis Corbis by [Shane Parrish](https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/) ## Shane Parrish Dec 7, 2015 5:01 AM UTC John Pollack is a former Presidential Speechwriter. If anyone knows the power of words to move people to action, shape arguments, and persuade, it is he. In [_Shortcut: How Analogies Reveal Connections, Spark Innovation, and Sell Our Greatest Ideas_](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1592409474/?tag=timecom-20), he explores the powerful role of analogy in persuasion and creativity. One of the key tools he uses for this is analogy. --- > “” --- But analogies do more than just persuade others — they also play a role in innovation and decision making. --- > “” --- Despite their importance, many people have only a vague sense of the definition. ## What is an Analogy? --- > “” --- Because they are so disguised they play a bigger role than we consciously realize. Not only do analogies effectively make arguments, but they trigger emotions. And emotions make it hard to make rational decisions. While we take analogies for granted, the ideas they convey are notably complex. --- > “” --- Remember the powerful metaphor — that [arguments are war](https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2013/01/metaphors/). This shapes a wide variety of expressions like “your claims are indefensible,” “attacking the weakpoints,” and “You disagree, OK shoot.” Or consider the [Map and the Territory](https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2015/11/map-and-territory/) — Analogies give people the map but explain nothing of the territory. Warren Buffett is one of the best at using analogies to communicate effectively. One of my favorite analogies is when he noted “You never know who’s swimming naked until the tide goes out.” In other words, when times are good everyone looks amazing. When times suck, hidden weaknesses are exposed. The same could be said for analogies: --- > “” --- Most people underestimate the importance of a good analogy. As with many things in life, this lack of awareness comes at a cost. Ignorance is expensive. --- > “” --- The key to all of this is figuring out why analogies function so effectively and how they work. Once we know that, we should be able to craft better ones. ## Don’t Think of an Elephant --- > “” --- He who holds the pen frames the story. The first person to frame the story controls the narrative and it takes a massive amount of energy to change the direction of the story. Sometimes even the way that people come across information, shapes it — stories that would be a non-event if disclosed proactively became front page stories because someone found out. In [Don’t Think of an Elephant](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/160358594X/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fsp%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=160358594X&linkCode=as2&tag=farnamstreet-20&linkId=ZMTDKQ25U4PKGHE2), George Lakoff explores the issue of framing. The book famously begins with the instruction “Don’t think of an elephant.” What’s the first thing we all do? Think of an elephant, of course. It’s almost impossible not to think of an elephant. When we stop consciously thinking about it, it floats away and we move on to other topics — like the new email that just arrived. But then again it will pop back into consciousness and bring some friends — associated ideas, other exotic animals, or even thoughts of the GOP. “Every word, like elephant, evokes a frame, which can be an image of other kinds of knowledge,” Lakoff writes. This is why we want to control the frame rather than be controlled by it. In [_Shortcut_](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1592409474/?tag=timecom-20) Pollack tells of Lakoff talking about an analogy that President George W. Bush made in the 2004 State of the Union address, in which he argued the Iraq war was necessary despite the international criticism. Before we go on, take Bush’s side here and think about how you would argue this point – how would you defend this? In the speech, Bush proclaimed that “America will never seek a permission slip to defend the security of our people.” As Lakoff notes, Bush could have said, “We won’t ask permission.” But he didn’t. Instead he intentionally used the analogy of permission slip and in so doing framed the issue in terms that would “trigger strong, more negative emotional associations that endured in people’s memories of childhood rules and restrictions.” Commenting on this, Pollack writes: --- > “” --- ## Deconstructing Analogies Deconstructing analogies, we find out how they function so effectively. Pollack argues they meet five essential criteria. 1. Use the highly familiar to explain something less familiar. 2. Highlight similarities and obscure differences. 3. Identify useful abstractions. 4. Tell a coherent story. 5. Resonate emotionally. Let’s explore how these work in greater detail. Let’s use the example of master-thief, Bruce Reynolds, who described the Great Train Robbery as his Sistine Chapel. ## The Great Train Robbery --- > “” --- **Use the familiar to explain something less familiar** --- > “” --- **Highlight similarities and obscure differences** --- > “” --- **Identify useful abstractions** --- > “” --- **Tell a coherent story** --- > “” --- There is an important point here. The narrative need not be accurate. It is the feelings and ideas the analogy evokes that make it powerful. Within the structure of the analogy, the argument rings true. The framing is enough to establish it succulently and subtly. That’s what makes it so powerful. **Resonate emotionally** --- > “” --- ## Jumping to Conclusions Daniel Kahneman explains the two thinking structures that govern the way we think: [System one and system two](https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2014/07/daniel-kahneman-the-two-systems/) . In his book, [_Thinking Fast and Slow_](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0374533555/?tag=timecom-20), he writes “Jumping to conclusions is efficient if the conclusions are likely to be correct and the costs of an occasional mistake are acceptable, and if the jump saves much time and effort.” “A good analogy serves as an intellectual springboard that helps us jump to conclusions,” Pollack writes. He continues: --- > “” --- The ongoing battle between fact and fiction commonly takes place in our subconscious systems. In [_The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation_](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1610396502/?tag=timecom-20), Drew Westen, an Emory University psychologist, writes: “Our brains have a remarkable capacity to find their way toward convenient truths—even if they are not all true.” This also helps explain why getting promoted has almost [nothing to do with your performance](https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2011/02/why-performance-wont-get-you-promoted/). Remember Apollo Robbins? He’s a professional pickpocket. While he has unique skills, he succeeds largely [through the choreography of people’s attention](https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2013/01/the-science-of-pickpockets/). “Attention,” he says “is like water. It flows. It’s liquid. You create channels to divert it, and you hope that it flows the right way.” “Pickpocketing and analogies are in a sense the same,” Pollack concludes, “as the misleading analogy picks a listener’s mental pocket.” --- > “” --- ## Reasoning by Analogy We rarely stop to see how much of our reasoning is done by analogy. In a 2005 study [published in the Harvard Business Review](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15807039), Giovanni Gavettie and Jan Rivkin wrote: “Leaders tend to be so immersed in the specifics of strategy that they rarely stop to think how much of their reasoning is done by analogy.” As a result they miss things. They make connections that don’t exist. They don’t check assumptions. They miss useful insights. By contrast “Managers who pay attention to their own analogical thinking will make better strategic decisions and fewer mistakes.” \*\*\* [_Shortcut_](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1592409474/?tag=timecom-20) goes on to explore when to use analogies and how to craft them to maximize persuasion. **_This piece originally appeared on_** [**_Farnam Street_**](https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2015/11/analogies/)**_._** **Join over 60,000 readers and get a free weekly update via email** [**here**](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/newsletter/)**.** ## Transcript Are you pretty comfortable dear? The first time I found out I had a tumor, I was 20. Where do you live dear? I would go get something and when I got there, I wouldn't know what I was going to get. Do you know where you are? I couldn't remember things good, so I was nervous. So that it's crazy. [ MUSIC ] I just want water. I first heard about the surgery, where I would have to be awake, about a month ago. It's not a matter of being awake or not. It's just the whole thing about having surgery of the brain period, is going to be, like, the hardest thing. Very nervous. I'm a nervous guy. [ LAUGH ] It's going to be the longest four hours of our life. We just hope this all turns out good, that's all. No. You did not get me a teddy bear. What am I going to do with this thing? [ LAUGH ] [ INAUDIBLE ] [ APPLAUSE ] [ LAUGH ] Brit baby. What? A few more hours it'll be all over. Thank god, I'm tired. So how do you guys all feel? We want it to be over. That's all. If they would let me scrub up, I would love to come in the operating room. I would love it. The idea is to take out the tumor and leave the brains behind. [ MUSIC ] It's sort of a misnomer. You're not awake for the entire procedure. For most of the surgery, you're gonna be quite deeply sedated so that you won't be aware [ CROSSTALK ] It's not terribly traumatic for patients. I always reassure them that we're gonna sedate them. We're not gonna put them to sleep except during the opening and the closing. You're going to be really comfortable. You're going to be surprised. One of the most important people in the room is anesthesiologists. No smiling, no laughing. If you go to sleep smiling you wake up smiling. [ LAUGH ] The art part of this is tailoring those medications to the point where the patient is sufficiently sedated that they tolerate the procedure. Timeout, this is. Brittany Capone, she has a left posterior temporal tumor. Everybody agree we're on the left side? Yup. [ MUSIC ] [ INAUDIBLE ] Left sided tumors we we're worried about speech. And it includes both motor speech and receptive speech. Name a word that starts with B. Brittany. Brittany, there ya go. You can hear the sort of a cadence the patient gets into. And if you notice any hesitancy we can, we could hear it instantaneously. Name something you paint with. Paint brush. That's. The most memorable ones now are, are the, the patients who, who carry on interesting conversations with us during surgery. No fennel. I like fennel too. The whole thing is pretty surreal actually. But reassuring all that's reassuring to us. What time is it? It's ten o'clock. You got a date? You got a date? Do I get to see the tumor? No. Not really. It's going to be hard for you to see it. Are you going to put me back to sleep? Very soon, yes. After the scalp is closed and the head is bandaged, we turn off all the medication. And the patient will wake up. Brittany. Brittany. Brittany. Can you open your eyes? Brittany? It's really, quite amazing how quickly they wake up and how bright and alert they are, after several hours of neuro surgery. Show me your teeth. Big smile. Smile, smile, smile. Good. Stick out your tongue. Good. Craniotomy is not a terribly painful operation. It's not like a chest surgery or an abdominal surgery. Can you lift this leg up? The next day you're walking on the ward after a craniotomy. Try to touch my hand here. There's just not much to hurt in the brain. That's the good thing. Today's a sunny day in New York city. [ MUSIC ] Today is a sunny day in New York City. Mmhm. 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