Ich habe einen probleme...or gestalt theory

Germans eh? Don't they do the funniest things! Well, actually some of them have more to say than "Ruhe bitte!" and "Darf ich meine jacke aufsehen?".

The Gestalt theory of perception is based around the idea that our perception of something as a whole is totally different to that of the parts that make up that whole thing...confused? Well it's quite simple really. We look at things differently when our mind tries to break down something or "work it out". Our mind perceives each individual part of something in our own little way. But when you put all the pieces of the puzzle together it forms a completely different picture and therefore we perceive it as a completely different thing.

Our brain reacts to stimuli, and each of these small parts of the hypothetical "puzzle" could encourage our brain to react to stimuli. It's kind of like when you watch a good film and try to guess the ending...if there are enough twists and turns you'll sit there guessing throughout the film, but when it actually does end it's usually completely different to the way you thought it would!

"The whole is greater than the sum of it's parts" Gestalt Theory

Watch this clip and count how many passes the team in white make...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ahg6qcgoay4

When I first saw this clip I sat there counting the passes, not really understanding what the point of the advert was...I duly missed the moonwalking bear only to be shown that I am about as aware as I am posh...which is not very! Hopefully you got the point of the clip in the end, and I like to think it gives an alternative view on the gestalt theory of perception. If the clip worked on you your brain reacted to the stimuli in the advert by trying to count the passes...when the clip finished you should have worked out what the overall point was as you were looking at the routine as a whole and not trying to break it down into stimuli, smaller parts and passes of the ball!

I think this quote sums it up nicely;

"The basic thesis of gestalt theory might be formulated thus: there are contexts in which what is happening in the whole cannot be deduced from the characteristics of the separate pieces, but conversely; what happens to a part of the whole is, in clearcut cases, determined by the laws of the inner structure of its whole." Max Wertheimer, Gestalt theory.
Social Research, 11 (translation of lecture at the Kant Society, Berlin, 1924).

More later, ciao for now.