et Cetera, October 1st, 2003
THE PHRASE "seeking closure" has become widely used without being widely noticed. And the phrase is "seeking" closure, not "searching for" closure, "looking for" closure, or "finding" closure. I felt sure this is a metaphor, but didn't know for what. I decided to take a closer look at how we use this phrase.
"Closure" is a term from gestalt psychology. It refers to an automatic process in our perception where we close up incomplete figures, where we "connect the dots," and fill in the gaps. A classic example is a picture of three dots in a straight line. We tend to see a line, not three separ...
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