An example of an analogy used by a scientist:
Pavlov's "central metaphor – the human nervous system as a central telephone switchboard – illuminated the crucial distinction between unconditional and conditional [conditioned] reflexes. According to Pavlov, inborn unconditional reflexes fixedly tied to a particular response (e.g., the viewing of food) to a specific response (e.g., salivation). Pavlov compared such reflexes to a set of direct, permanent telephone lines. Conditional reflexes (e.g., salivation in response to the ringing of a bell, previously associated with the viewing of food) could be acquired, lost, and reestablished. Pavlov likened conditional reflexes to flexible temporary connections between telephone users through a switchboard."
Ivan Pavlov (reported by Slava Gerovitch)
Gerovitch, S. (2002). From Newspeak to Cyberspeak. A history of Soviet cybernetics. MIT Press.
This is described in the extract as a metaphor, but it is presented here as an analogy with mapping across between features of the analogue and target concept.
Read examples of scientific analogies
