Analogies

Colleges are looking for someone who can draw unexpected connections between things.

MIT is interested in students with interests in “cosmology and cosplay, quantum and quilting, agriculture and archery.” Cornell wants applicants who like cryptography and disaster relief runs, air pollution research and Habitat for Humanity volunteer work, Crohn’s Disease research and efforts to save local pollinators.

Whatever you’re interested in, try to combine it with something unexpected. Try to find the connections between your love of engineering and crochet, or your passions for history and furniture restoration.

This done kind of start with picking your Passion Projects in the first place, and it means that picking two Passion Projects that are more different from each other will be most beneficial. The connections between engineering and math are very obvious. The connections between turtles and Japanese language are less obvious. So, the more obscure your initial interests are, the easier it is to draw interesting connections between them later on.

This concept of finding surprising connections between two things is, at its core, just analogies. You’ve seen analogies your entire life. Dog is to Cat as Puppy is to Kitten. Simple enough. But let’s look at some more nuanced examples in famous quotes, comedy, and elsewhere.

Great Analogies Examples

Hubble Data Collection Leading to Early Breast Cancer Detection

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Secretary of State Henry Kissinger:

“withdrawal of U.S. troops will become like ‘salted peanuts’ to the American public: The more U.S. troops come home the more will be demanded.”

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World-famous comedian and political commentator Bill Maher:

“To most Christians, the Bible is like a software license. Nobody actually reads it. They just scroll to the bottom and click ‘I agree’.”

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Humorist E.B. White:

“Explaining a joke is like dissecting a frog. You understand it better, but the frog dies in the process.”

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Comedian Bill Burr:

“Guns are kind of like guitars, you know? Almost every house has one, but not really anybody’s that good at it.”

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Forrest Gump:

“…life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.”