Mind and Cosmos
137
joining objects and events together into more inclusive and meaningful unions
is an activity of mind. In no way is it done by the physics of the universe.
It is very important to understand this point: In the physical world there
are myriad material objects in unceasing motion. An observer such as ourselves may discern patterns and meaningful structure among these objects, but
these regularities are something unique unto themselves, which minds have
fashioned, because that is what minds are for. Gestalts are a creation of minds
to the same extent that bile is the creation of livers. Do Gestalts exist in the
universe? They exist as mental constructs, objects of awareness, structures of
knowledge.
As a somewhat simplistic example, ask yourself whether a tune (for example
“Yankee Doodle”) is an independently existing thing in the physical universe.
What physical force would act over time to draw the notes together into that
particular configuration and hold them there?
The physical world—the material reality that exists prior to mind—is altogether different from the world known in Gestalts. The physical world consists
of objects moving in space under the impulsion of physical forces. Every
object—or pair of objects with a force acting between them—exists in relative isolation from others. The trajectories of moving objects are determined
by the forces between them, yet the shape of a trajectory—the kind of curve
traced out as an object moves in space—is a wholistic entity, and only a Gestalt
perceiver is able to apprehend it. In order to seize an entire pattern, an observer
must have the power to discern a whole region of space, over an interval of
time, in a single act of awareness.
Animal perception isn’t designed to see elementary physical relationships
between subatomic particles, and bring these low-level events to awareness.
Rather, animal perception informs living organisms by bringing to awareness
whole processes unfolding in time and covering a region of space. Only spreadout, extended events have relevance in the lives of creatures. For that reason,
the minds of living beings have the biological function of representing the
external environment in a kinetic and wholistic fashion, by means of Gestalt
perception.
There is an interesting metaphor that brings home what I am saying. A few
decades ago, stereo movies could be seen that used the anaglyph method: The
spectator wore a pair of glasses having a green lens over one eye and a red lens
over the other. Thus, one eye saw only the red parts of the image while the other
eye saw only the green. Hypothetically it is possible to make two completely
different silent films overlap on the same screen, one movie projected in red
light, the other in green. A spectator with red glasses (over both eyes) would be
viewing Movie 1 while a spectator with green glasses would be viewing Movie
137
joining objects and events together into more inclusive and meaningful unions
is an activity of mind. In no way is it done by the physics of the universe.
It is very important to understand this point: In the physical world there
are myriad material objects in unceasing motion. An observer such as ourselves may discern patterns and meaningful structure among these objects, but
these regularities are something unique unto themselves, which minds have
fashioned, because that is what minds are for. Gestalts are a creation of minds
to the same extent that bile is the creation of livers. Do Gestalts exist in the
universe? They exist as mental constructs, objects of awareness, structures of
knowledge.
As a somewhat simplistic example, ask yourself whether a tune (for example
“Yankee Doodle”) is an independently existing thing in the physical universe.
What physical force would act over time to draw the notes together into that
particular configuration and hold them there?
The physical world—the material reality that exists prior to mind—is altogether different from the world known in Gestalts. The physical world consists
of objects moving in space under the impulsion of physical forces. Every
object—or pair of objects with a force acting between them—exists in relative isolation from others. The trajectories of moving objects are determined
by the forces between them, yet the shape of a trajectory—the kind of curve
traced out as an object moves in space—is a wholistic entity, and only a Gestalt
perceiver is able to apprehend it. In order to seize an entire pattern, an observer
must have the power to discern a whole region of space, over an interval of
time, in a single act of awareness.
Animal perception isn’t designed to see elementary physical relationships
between subatomic particles, and bring these low-level events to awareness.
Rather, animal perception informs living organisms by bringing to awareness
whole processes unfolding in time and covering a region of space. Only spreadout, extended events have relevance in the lives of creatures. For that reason,
the minds of living beings have the biological function of representing the
external environment in a kinetic and wholistic fashion, by means of Gestalt
perception.
There is an interesting metaphor that brings home what I am saying. A few
decades ago, stereo movies could be seen that used the anaglyph method: The
spectator wore a pair of glasses having a green lens over one eye and a red lens
over the other. Thus, one eye saw only the red parts of the image while the other
eye saw only the green. Hypothetically it is possible to make two completely
different silent films overlap on the same screen, one movie projected in red
light, the other in green. A spectator with red glasses (over both eyes) would be
viewing Movie 1 while a spectator with green glasses would be viewing Movie