The Power of Abstraction
What separates humans from the animals? There are many theories about that, but one key difference is our ability to think in terms of abstract concepts. We are able to comprehend underlying patterns and recognize those patterns in different situations.
Now, some animals have demonstrated the ability for abstract thought. And some people are much better at abstraction than others. So that may not be the best distinction between people and animals. But that’s not the point. The point is that the ability to recognize and utilize patterns, i.e. abstraction, is a clear sign of intelligence.
Many people find the word ‘abstract’ to be frustrating. The term conjures images of abstract art or complicated concepts that are difficult to understand. But this is a misunderstanding of the concept. Abstraction is essentially simplification. It is a matter of finding the most salient detail that multiple items have in common.
To illustrate the concept, consider the circle. The circle is an elementary geometric shape that we can all accept as fundamental. It isn’t a construct created by humans. It obviously exists in and of itself.
Now consider three other geometric shapes — a cone, a cylinder and a sphere. Each of these shapes incorporate the circle, but they are all distinctly different. These three-dimensional shapes are derivatives of the circle.
So let’s drill into the sphere — a 3-D circular circle. There are many things we can think of that reflect this shape: stars, planets, fruits, balls, etc. These objects are all very different from each other, but all derive from a sphere.
Then let’s drill into the concept of a ‘ball’. There are various types of balls: basketballs, baseballs, golf balls. The concept ‘ball’ is an abstraction that encompasses all of those derivative types of balls. We can follow this pattern further. If we drilled into golf balls we’d find that there are various brands of golf balls, for example.
Abstraction is an elementary concept that everyone understands intuitively. We are all doing it constantly as we navigate our days. But people are often unaware that they are doing it. And they very frequently just do it wrong.
The ability to step back and view Reality in abstract terms is the essence of Awareness. When we focus on the countless concrete details of day-to-day life, our minds often become filled with clutter and confusion. Only when we step back and observe the signal beneath all the noise do we find clarity and peace of mind.
The ability to Abstract allows us to grasp the real moral of a story and so learn and grow from it, rather than just getting lost in the scenery. So much of the religious conflict we see in the world is due to people taking literal interpretations of their respective sacred writings and then fighting about the differences in the details.
The ISIT Game is ultimately an exercise in Abstraction. What we are doing is recognizing the patterns we see throughout Reality — from the farthest reaches of the Universe to quantum string theory, and through every aspect of the world around us like human behavior, ecology, economics, relationships, organizations, technology… Everything. And then we’re taking those patterns and abstracting them to the highest possible level — right up to the Prime Duality: the ISIT Construct.
