At what point, and for what reason, did the word "Gestalt" become synnonymous with the word "Combiner?" It's a simple question that's been bugging me since I joined this board. Someone shed some light on the origins of that word, please.

It's basically a german word that means parts working together to form a whole. I heard it in a psychology class a few times.

Hmm... makes sense. Still wondering when and why it became the common term for combiner teams, though. I never heard it before coming to this board...

Most likely someone heard part of the definition, thought it would apply to the combiner teams, and used it to sound more educated than he really was. The term stuck, probably because it is a neat sounding word, and easier to type than combiner.

 

At least, that's my theory ...

I thought it was something that found it's origin in the Geek-community just like 'seeker' and stuff like that. I think the term is kinda fitting.

It prolly origionated, on Usenet, And It only Refiers to Cominers that become a New Entaty(Scramble City combiners) Not just Powerups(Like Victory Saber)

In Japan, the land where robots rule with an iron fist over the masses, combining is referred to as "gattai", that word's been around for, like thousands of years or something; at least as long as the "*" Rangers series have been out.

 

...Since the sands of time were still a rock; untouched by the winds of change; undisturbed by the rivers of knowledge; indeed, since the times of the ancient builders of modern homo sapiens decended from the heavens in their shiny, metallic chariots of fire; in the hearts of....

 

Got carried away. Actually robots don't rule with an iron fist, but Japan is the leading R&D center for humanoid robot development. Anyone seen Kawada Industries construction robot? Looks anime-rific. Their website has movies of it helping carry sheets of plywood, etc. This is the 2nd prototype which is their main research platform.

It's basically a german word that means parts working together to form a whole. I heard it in a psychology class a few times.

Close, but a better definition is that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Or in TF words, Devastator is more powerful than the seperated Constructicons, even if they were working together as a team. (Also the word is derived from German but not a direct translation - in German "gestalt" means "shape.")

so what is the proper pronunciation of "gestalt"?

 

Thanks for starting this thread, that word has often bothered me as well and I was just thinking last night about it and then saw a topic had been started.

 

I just call them combiners or teams. Much easier to remember :)

 

Chris

so what is the proper pronunciation of "gestalt"?

g(uh)-shtält' (more or less)