>>12625652>>12625654This has to do with linguistics. Lakoff basically invented modern conceptual metaphor theory. Here's how it works: everything you ever learned about metaphors? Bullshit. Here's how metaphors actually work: concrete domains are mapped to abstract domains to better understand them. For example,
>EMOTIONAL CLOSENESS IS WARMTHWe take an abstract concept we're retarded on, like emotional connectivity, and describe it in terms of something we understand, warmth. The following statements are all the same metaphor
>I'm receiving the cold shoulder>She has a warm personality>Freeze the contactThis likely originated due to hugs arising from emotional closeness, and transferring body heat. Another example:
>TIME IS SPACEWe describe notions of time using spatial language. The following are the same metaphors
>I'll be there IN five minutes>I'm 2 hours AWAY from you>Meet us AT noon>You're ON timeCapitalized the spatial words for readability. This one is interesting because humans understand space and saw it as a natural way to represent time. I leave it as an exercise for the reader to ponder to what extent reality is imprinted on the human brain, as this echos the sentiment of special relativity and treating time and space on equal footing.
Now, there's another metaphor.
>EMOTIONS ARE COLORWe understand color, so we can describe emotions that way.
>I've got the blues>She's red with ireHere's the cool part: these metaphors are culture independent. What I mean is that all these metaphors occur across every language we know, suggesting it's truly a cognitive phenomenon.
This answers the common theme of favorite colors across countries and age, but it doesn't yet explain why blue wins out. I'd argue that blue is a neutral color, representing no strong feeling one way or the other (hence why depression often is blue). I suspect people prefer a neutral color since it's a safe emotion to pick.
