Speaking of other divides and hardening of the categories: As some of you know (because of my pinned thread and the strange story), I& #39;ve been spending quite a bit of time trying to understand topics like how coronavirus affects the RAS, ACE2, etc. (Thanks for your forbearance.)

In other words, I& #39;ve been throwing myself in over my head... into science. It& #39;s not comfortable. But it& #39;s what I want to do. And as a writer and lifelong "creative," I& #39;m noticing the obvious: Scientists *often* don& #39;t use metaphor & analogy: our most powerful communication tools.

The reasons for this, well, absence are equally obvious: Analogies and metaphors can be imprecise; and scientists fear imprecision (rightly so.) But... these tools... metaphor and analogy don& #39;t simply help one "package up" something and make it digestible.

They (and this my main contention) *can help* one explore (or even discover) new symmetries and relationships. This is, in part, their great power.

I& #39;ve cited this before, but it bears on this thread: Poet Coleridge attended the scientific seminars of the great Sir Humphry Davy. Why? Because he sought to rebuild his store of metaphors. I believe it& #39;s time that that loop is completed. Because I know this to be true...

When metaphor and analogy are applied... precisely... they open up new avenues... for, yes, scientific discovery. A poverty of imagination does not great science make. (See the book, The Age of Wonder... for examples.)