More Metaphors

In A Means Of Mutation Fuller exposes and problematizes the seemingly natural metaphors present in modern-day computer terminology. He exposes these metaphors for what they are, necessary media for the human interpretation of raw data. He cites 'page,' 'desktop' and 'wastebasket' as examples of these metaphors, but we could easily extend the analysis to 'file,' 'folder,' 'button,' 'window,' etc. The sheer volume of such metaphorical representation of pure code are mind-boggling, as is their necessity for the base functionality of the processes that they can perform.

Rather than beat this to death, I wish to draw attention to another metaphor left implied but unarticulated in It Looks Like You're Writing A Letter. When describing the interface construction of word processors, namely Microsoft Word, Fuller tells us "you have to go through several layers of interface to switch off 'Grammar' and 'Spelling,'" and thus reinforces, as he does several times throughout the essay, the metaphor of depth that runs rampant to the logical organization of human computer interfaces. We can observe this in our own everyday computer lingo: it is easy to imagine saying "I had to look around inside My Music for, like, half an hour until I found that MP3," or, "the virus is so deeply embedded in your system now, you'll have to go inside your system registry and edit the file." Perhaps even the code itself is a metaphor of {[(depth)]}. What would be interesting to examine, given that the metaphor of depth pervades any properly deep analysis (let's unpack what that means...) even in the non-computer theoretical world, is how this metaphor works with respect to code as it does in everyday parlance with respect to truth.