Similes, Metaphors, and Analogies

[meindzai]

What's the difference between a simile, a metaphor, and an analogy?

...
An analogy is a bit more complicated. ... It can be a logical argument: if two things are alike in some ways, they are alike in some other ways as well.

This is an example of illogical reasoning.

True. At best it's sloppy logic. Slogic? It could probably be used to demonstrate a point, but I wouldn't use it to make a real logical argument. (Actually, maybe I would, but I suck at logic.)

-M

[mikenz66]

Actually, I think analogy is a very common way of figuring out how to solve a problem. Scientists use it all the time: "Such and such an approach worked for XXX. Perhaps we can do something similar to solve YYY." Of course, then one has to check whether it works...

Mike