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3 Gestalt
the entire motion is prefigured in mind. In fact, when animals observe others
in an activity, the same motor Gestalt is activated as if they were carrying out
the actions themselves. Scientists attribute this to a process called the mirror
neuron system.
According to Jeannerod, in order to achieve central control, animals must
have an inner sense of self. What he calls the primordial self is precisely a
creature’s Gestalt inner model of the body and its articulation present simultaneously, as if in one glance. In order to function as an undivided single entity,
an animal must be fully identified with its body Gestalt, that is, with the multiplicity of its articulated parts drawn into one unified inner representation.
The identification with the body is attributed by the animal to a single
locus in the mind. The single locus, which we regard as the center of our
self, is a benign hoax designed to fuse the whole of our self-Gestalt into
a single imaginary focal point. When we use the first-person pronoun “I”,
it is this imaginary focal point we are referring to.
Possession of a self-Gestalt is plausibly the earliest form of awareness, out
of which consciousness emerged. In its three billion year history, the evolution of life exploited every physical mechanism that could contribute to the
construction of organisms. One of those mechanisms made Gestalt perception
possible. Evolution did not have to wait for scientists to discover the relevant
phenomena, else it would still be waiting.
3 Gestalt
the entire motion is prefigured in mind. In fact, when animals observe others
in an activity, the same motor Gestalt is activated as if they were carrying out
the actions themselves. Scientists attribute this to a process called the mirror
neuron system.
According to Jeannerod, in order to achieve central control, animals must
have an inner sense of self. What he calls the primordial self is precisely a
creature’s Gestalt inner model of the body and its articulation present simultaneously, as if in one glance. In order to function as an undivided single entity,
an animal must be fully identified with its body Gestalt, that is, with the multiplicity of its articulated parts drawn into one unified inner representation.
The identification with the body is attributed by the animal to a single
locus in the mind. The single locus, which we regard as the center of our
self, is a benign hoax designed to fuse the whole of our self-Gestalt into
a single imaginary focal point. When we use the first-person pronoun “I”,
it is this imaginary focal point we are referring to.
Possession of a self-Gestalt is plausibly the earliest form of awareness, out
of which consciousness emerged. In its three billion year history, the evolution of life exploited every physical mechanism that could contribute to the
construction of organisms. One of those mechanisms made Gestalt perception
possible. Evolution did not have to wait for scientists to discover the relevant
phenomena, else it would still be waiting.