Gestalt Psychology

The only way that human beings could ever have survived as a species for as long as we have is that we’ve developed another kind of decision-making apparatus that’s capable of making very quick judgments based on very little information.
— Malcolm Gladwell

Gestalt Language Protocol (GLP) originates from a larger philosophy about how we look at and organize our world. Gestalt is a German word for form or shape and the philosophy starts with the idea that what is ‘seen’ is what appears to the seer and not what may ‘actually be there.’

We do not simply focus on every small component that makes up the whole. Instead our minds seek out the whole picture even if it is incomplete.

Core to the psychology of Gestalt is that context is key to perception. Imagine how you would react to a picture that literally has a hole in the middle. You will not settle for only the parts that are present. Your mind will attempt to fill in the missing part based on what you can see in the rest of the picture. Sometimes this process of “filling in the blanks” can get us into trouble, yet other times, it can save us a tremendous amount of time.
Conversely, sometimes you can see something that isn’t “actually” there. Take, for example, the FedEx logo.

What do you see that isn’t “technically” there? Yes, the arrow between the E and the x. So in the philosophy of Gestalt, our mind can help us see things that are not there and not see things that are there. Usually, this phenomenon helps us in our daily lives, however, sometimes, in conversation, for example, it may be limiting. This is why curiosity of the other’s experience in relation to our own lived experience can help prevent us from filling in blanks that aren’t there and not seeing things that actually are. As Anais Nin said, “We don’t see the world as it is, we see it as we are.”