Thanks to a very recent discovery of a wonderfully candid blog, I am inspired to write again. None of the obscure, ambiguous nonsense I regularly write, mind you. This shiz is for real (until I pull another "Mardhiah" and bail on myself).
Let me begin with my latest fixation: reversing metaphors.
I'm sure everyone uses metaphors as a way to better illustrate something unfamiliar. Perhaps also to make something sound more compelling or simply fun because metaphors are fun! Sometimes my work requires me to understand very complex (and boring) concepts like capital and liquidity requirements for banks(yes offence you prudential nerds) and metaphors often help a great deal. How it usually works is the logic of a simple daily phenomenon you readily understand is applied to a more complex situation. For example, a bank's need to maintain capital buffers is almost exactly the same as my need to save; to help me out in unforeseen adverse circumstances (like meeting a pair of pants that could complete you).
Funnily enough, now I find myself doing the reverse. Using banking phenomenon to explain what has become increasingly confusing and obscure to me; life (rather sad but still fun!). A notable reverse metaphor involves the net stable funding ratio (NSFR)
On a "reversed" note, one of the discoveries I absolutely love is Andrew Haldane's comparison of a "too big too fail" bank to Godzilla or King Kong which are physiological impossibilities based on the the square-cube law*, in one of his many many amazing speeches.
Well, I think I still sound quite obscure. Mission unaccomplished.
*"Take the animal kingdom. The square-cubed law explains why a flea, even if it were the size of a man, would not be capable of jumping to the moon. It explains why a hippopotamus cannot turn somersaults. And it explains why King Kong and Godzilla were physiological impossibilities – the weight transfer associated with a single step would have shattered their thigh bones.
When the world’s biggest banking beasts took a step too far in 2008, they too folded under their own weight. Their physiological structure proved inadequate to make them robust and resilient."
Let me begin with my latest fixation: reversing metaphors.
I'm sure everyone uses metaphors as a way to better illustrate something unfamiliar. Perhaps also to make something sound more compelling or simply fun because metaphors are fun! Sometimes my work requires me to understand very complex (and boring) concepts like capital and liquidity requirements for banks(yes offence you prudential nerds) and metaphors often help a great deal. How it usually works is the logic of a simple daily phenomenon you readily understand is applied to a more complex situation. For example, a bank's need to maintain capital buffers is almost exactly the same as my need to save; to help me out in unforeseen adverse circumstances (like meeting a pair of pants that could complete you).
Funnily enough, now I find myself doing the reverse. Using banking phenomenon to explain what has become increasingly confusing and obscure to me; life (rather sad but still fun!). A notable reverse metaphor involves the net stable funding ratio (NSFR)
- NSFR requires banks to maintain a stable funding based on the liquidity characteristics of their assets. This is to reduce maturity mismatches between the asset and liabilities (which may be subject to rollover risk).
- This principle can be applied effectively to life. You cannot achieve your long term happiness with short term pleasures. It is downright unsustainable. For example, if you perceive long-term happiness as being a renowned Professor specialising in metaphorical studies, you cannot feed on the random streams of social validation that your sporadic but sublime metaphorical tales may produce. Once the novelty wears off and the streams stop, so will your pursuit. So get down and dirty, endure the painfully persistent critic, resistance and failure (sometimes approbation) if you really want to revel in any form of meaningful accomplishment.
On a "reversed" note, one of the discoveries I absolutely love is Andrew Haldane's comparison of a "too big too fail" bank to Godzilla or King Kong which are physiological impossibilities based on the the square-cube law*, in one of his many many amazing speeches.
Well, I think I still sound quite obscure. Mission unaccomplished.
*"Take the animal kingdom. The square-cubed law explains why a flea, even if it were the size of a man, would not be capable of jumping to the moon. It explains why a hippopotamus cannot turn somersaults. And it explains why King Kong and Godzilla were physiological impossibilities – the weight transfer associated with a single step would have shattered their thigh bones.
When the world’s biggest banking beasts took a step too far in 2008, they too folded under their own weight. Their physiological structure proved inadequate to make them robust and resilient."
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