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3 Gestalt
The essence of a Gestalt is that it’s “different from the sum of its parts.” For
example, the Big Dipper, when you look at it in the night sky, is something
entirely different from the seven stars each viewed in isolation. In the very
same way, the letter H is categorically different from the three line segments of
which it is composed, viewed separately. The same three line segments can be
configured in different ways to produce A, F, N, Z and countless other patterns.
What is significant are not the elementary components but the configuration in
which they appear. When the components are perceived together in one glance,
in their correct positions in relation to each other, something entirely new
appears—something that did not exist before: The undivided whole reveals
itself as a newly-formed entity. The newly risen pattern is something in its own
right, having a distinctive appearance of its own. The true essence of Gestalt is
that it creates something wholly new.
To understand why the visual world is necessarily presented to creatures in
Gestalt wholes, just consider the alternative: Suppose some imaginary being
existed that is unable to perceive two different objects side by side. Imagine,
moreover, that this being lives in the present moment only, and has no sense of
the passage of time. In the world of such a creature, there is only one “eternal”
moment; there are no patterns or objects, there is no extended space, events
cannot be perceived as they unfold, and memory itself is impossible because it
involves the comparison of items in different timeframes. Even if perception
of this kind existed, it would confer no benefit to its possessor, for it would
yield no useful information about the environment. Since it would have no
adaptive value, it would never have evolved.
Photosensitive cells on simple creatures emerged long before functional
vision did. There is a great deal of controversy as to when vision became established as one of the animal senses. It is likely that vision would not have been
useful before nature had developed a means of presenting visual information
in coherent, comprehensive scenes. When vision first emerged, there may have
been very little information in such scenes, but the information must have been
sufficient to give cues for distinguishing important objects. Thus, it is probable
that Gestalt perception emerged at the very beginning of the evolution of eyes,
and the two evolved in tandem.
It is not only the visual world that comes to us in Gestalt wholes: All thinking,
judging, and decision-making—in fact, all mental processing—is done with
Gestalts. It is only at the present time that this important fact is beginning
to be recognized and is taking root in the social and life sciences. Arguably,
psychology in the 21st Century ought to become the science of understanding
Gestalt processing in the brains of humans and other animals.
3 Gestalt
The essence of a Gestalt is that it’s “different from the sum of its parts.” For
example, the Big Dipper, when you look at it in the night sky, is something
entirely different from the seven stars each viewed in isolation. In the very
same way, the letter H is categorically different from the three line segments of
which it is composed, viewed separately. The same three line segments can be
configured in different ways to produce A, F, N, Z and countless other patterns.
What is significant are not the elementary components but the configuration in
which they appear. When the components are perceived together in one glance,
in their correct positions in relation to each other, something entirely new
appears—something that did not exist before: The undivided whole reveals
itself as a newly-formed entity. The newly risen pattern is something in its own
right, having a distinctive appearance of its own. The true essence of Gestalt is
that it creates something wholly new.
To understand why the visual world is necessarily presented to creatures in
Gestalt wholes, just consider the alternative: Suppose some imaginary being
existed that is unable to perceive two different objects side by side. Imagine,
moreover, that this being lives in the present moment only, and has no sense of
the passage of time. In the world of such a creature, there is only one “eternal”
moment; there are no patterns or objects, there is no extended space, events
cannot be perceived as they unfold, and memory itself is impossible because it
involves the comparison of items in different timeframes. Even if perception
of this kind existed, it would confer no benefit to its possessor, for it would
yield no useful information about the environment. Since it would have no
adaptive value, it would never have evolved.
Photosensitive cells on simple creatures emerged long before functional
vision did. There is a great deal of controversy as to when vision became established as one of the animal senses. It is likely that vision would not have been
useful before nature had developed a means of presenting visual information
in coherent, comprehensive scenes. When vision first emerged, there may have
been very little information in such scenes, but the information must have been
sufficient to give cues for distinguishing important objects. Thus, it is probable
that Gestalt perception emerged at the very beginning of the evolution of eyes,
and the two evolved in tandem.
It is not only the visual world that comes to us in Gestalt wholes: All thinking,
judging, and decision-making—in fact, all mental processing—is done with
Gestalts. It is only at the present time that this important fact is beginning
to be recognized and is taking root in the social and life sciences. Arguably,
psychology in the 21st Century ought to become the science of understanding
Gestalt processing in the brains of humans and other animals.