Gestalt Psychology and Times Arrow

For you looking to push your minds just a bit further, consider the following:

"The fundamental "formula" of Gestalt theory might be expressed in this way,” Max Wertheimer wrote. “There are wholes, the behaviour of which is not determined by that of their individual elements, but where the part-processes are themselves determined by the intrinsic nature of the whole. It is the hope of Gestalt theory to determine the nature of such wholes” (1924).

Have you ever noticed how a series of flashing lights often appears to be moving, such as neon signs or strands of Christmas lights? According to Gestalt psychology, this apparent movement happens because our minds fill in missing information. This belief that the whole is greater than the sum of the individual parts led to the discovery of several different phenomena that occur during perception.

Considering the comments about psychological theory above, can you apply the Gestalt concepts of “seeking wholeness,” “filling in missing moments,” and the importance of “perception” to Tod’s reverse quest for meaning?

Source: 

http://psychology.about.com/od/schoolsofthought/f/gestalt_faq.htm

The "challenges" of Times Arrow

Time's Arrow is a remarkable imaginative achievement, and it places special demands on the reader. Disorientation is one's initial response to a world in which time moves in reverse and effect always precedes cause. A simple process like gardening becomes a bizarre ritual of uglification when it takes place in reverse: "all the tulips and roses he patiently drained and crushed, then sealed their exhumed corpses and took them in the paper bag to the store for money. All the weeds and nettles he screwed into the soil--and the earth took this ugliness, snatched at it with a sudden grip" (18-19). Everything in Time's Arrow is narrated backwards: old people become younger and more vigorous, children grow smaller and eventually enter hospitals from which they never return. Eating, drinking, love-making, even an abortion are all described in reverse. Early on, Amis even reverses words and sentences, so that "how are you today?" becomes "Aid ut oo y'rrah?"

From Martin Amis' Website

Time's Arrow and the Concept of Entropy

One of the ideas involved in the concept of entropy is that nature tends from order to disorder in isolated systems.

From: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/therm/entrop.html

Could you use this article to frame your thoughts about Amis’ work?

From a British review of Times Arrow:

"Every once in a while, there's a prize-winning, well-written novel released to critical acclaim that's also readable. This year, that novel has got to be "Time's Arrow" by British writer Martin Amis. It's the remarkable, intense, imaginative and eminently enjoyable story of Tod T. Friendly, an American doctor working in an unnamed hospital in an unnamed city. The story is told from the point of view of a sort of doppelganger spirit, imprisoned within the body and mind of Friendly, who detects Friendly's emotions, but cannot affect Friendly's actions. Oh, and the doppelganger experiences Friendly's life backwards, starting with his death, and ending with his birth. The novel that emerges from this premise an an incredible feat of storytelling, beautifully easy to read, swimming with visual images and so startling that it can stare unflinchingly at what is certainly the ultimate horror of the twentieth century and still somehow be entertaining."

KONY

For those of you following the Invisible Children situation, here is a good read:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/post/the-controversy-over-kony-2012/2012/03/10/gIQAzc6M3R_blog.html

Prezi

http://prezi.com/b-ync1uetpr4/the-garden-of-love-by-william-blake/

An excellent example of the powers of Prezi...

Word

Is there another word for synonym?