“We may have found the key” is a short phrase containing only Germanic origin words, so it sounds “strong”; and occurring last, giving you serial position bias.
According to Google[1] key in English is from an old English word of unknown origin. It also doesn't mean it has to come from the word of the exact same meaning in its origin language
Evin* stated that Germanic words sound strong and that is why I preferred this excerpt. Do you have something to back that up? You don't know me at all, so in my opinion this statement is more speculative than the n=1 stumbled-upon-discovery being discussed.
I actually didn't focus much on the end of this excerpt. And I should have added the following in my original comment - I actually honed in on this part:
"but there's only one spot where you turn the key and it all switches on and works together"
Immediately after I read this, I actually imagined the key turning off, and the car shutting down. This is precisely what the author/surgeon stated happened during the surgery.
Also, I was too going to point out that 'clé' comes from French too. Maybe an etymology dictionary says it comes from Old English, but English is of course partially derived from Old French as well as Norse/Germanic languages [1].
Saying that I liked a metaphor because it contains Germanic words (like much of the English language) that occurred last is a nice theory. But what if I preferred softer sounding words for some other reason and had a bias against Germanic words - say because I studied French in school, lived in France or had grandparents that died horrifically during WWII.
I didn't downvote FYI.
But another theory as to why I liked it is because that passage instantly helped me to understand what the author believes the incredibly complex system the brain is like by using a simple rhetorical device called a metaphor.
On the important subject of whether or not consciousness is actually switched on and off in the claustrum, as a non-neuro-professional I have to grant his metaphor some credence and resolve to investigate further.
Hedging with “I think” unnecessarily weakens the presentation of an idea. If you actually believe it, why wouldn’t you present it as fact? Then if some evidence comes along to disprove you, you change your mind.
