Development and appliance of conceptual metaphor in the language of contemporary science: conceptualization of space, time and state

Abstract

Razumijevanje svijeta, pojava u njemu i vlastite uloge čovjek stječe integrirajući osjetilno i tjelesno iskustvo, kulturu, prošle, sadašnje i buduće događaje. On znanje o svijetu ne gradi samo na osnovi objektivnog doživljaja stvarnosti, već i u odnosu koji uspostavlja sa svojom okolinom i s drugim ljudima. Ukoliko se suoči s novim pojavama čije značenje još nije spoznao on mora pronaći način kako to značenje odrediti i artikulirati. Velik dio rješenja nalazi se u sposobnosti (jednosmjernog ili dvosmjernog) povezivanja domena dvaju promatranih fenomena (jednog čovjek mora moći iskustveno prepoznati) i iskustveno uvjetovanom preslikavanju među istima. Dio rješenja su i znanstveni modeli – misaoni mehanizmi koji omogućuju učinkovito sagledavanje problema, uočavanje struktura i međuodnosa te vrlo lako mijenjanje i nadograđivanje u odnosu na moguće promjene. Konceptualizacija nije tek jezična pojava, već mentalni mehanizam koji podupire ljudsku spoznaju – promatranje, percepciju, konceptualiziranje i kategoriziranje. Konceptualizacija je kognitivna sposobnost koju ljudski um priziva u stvarnom vremenu ne bi li kulturno određenim središnjim znanjima pokušao shvatiti, objasniti i predočiti apstraktne znanstvene fenomene. Ako je fenomen 'bliži' čovjeku i sličniji njegovoj okolini I svijetu, tada um ne traži neku veliku teoriju ili mehanizam koji će posredovati u interpretaciji značenja. Ali ako čovjek opaža nešto što prelazi granice njegovih kognitivnih sposobnosti, nešto što ne može osjetilno ili tjelesno iskusiti, onda su mu potrebni različiti mehanizmi (znanstvena teorija, figurativna sredstva, znanstveni model i dr.) koji će promatrani fenomen/entitet prevesti na njemu razumljiv jezik.The way a human being sees and understands the world and his own role in it comes from integrating his sensory and bodily experience, his culture and all the past, present and future events. The knowledge about the world doesn't come only from his objective experience of reality but also from the relations he establishes with his surroundings and other people. When facing a new phenomena of which he knows nothing about he has to find a way to define and express its meaning. Most of the meanings come from man's ability to find the link between the domains of two observed phenomena (of which one has to be common or known) and identify experientially conditioned mappings between them. Scientific models can also help in defining a meaning; as a speculative mechanism that provides ful and complete consideration of the problem, as a tool for full perception of structures and relations and as an instrument that enables change and upgrade due to possible alteration and development of scientific theory and practice. Conceptualization isn't just a matter of language, it is mind's mechanism that supports human cognition – observation, perception, conceptualization and categorization. Conceptualization implies cognitive process that mind conducts in real time in order to understand, explain and present abstract scientific phenomena. This cognitive process is based on central (cultural) knowledge so the more the phenomena 'lies closer' to the man and the greater the resemblance of the observed phenomena to the phenomena in his surroundings and culture the less of the chance that mind will require some big theory or mechanism to explain its meaning. But if a man percieves something that overcomes his cognitive abilities, something he cannot experience using his senses or body, then he needs a mechanism – scientific theory, figurative means, scientific model etc. – that will 'translate' the observed phenomena to the more common language