Three Levels of Abstraction
Abstraction
Recently, during a training session with new colleagues, I observed a common pattern: many people tend to take notes by writing everything down, attempting to capture every word they hear or every task they perform.
The result? It’s challenging to identify the key points from such notes, and even harder to clearly recount the main ideas.
One effective method to practice is continuously refining, abstracting, and categorizing your outputs.
Coincidentally, I came across “Fu Peirong’s Western Philosophy Lectures,” where he discusses three levels of abstraction:
- Physical Abstraction
- Mathematical Abstraction
- Metaphysical Abstraction
These levels of abstraction reflect a transition from reality to consciousness, from the objective to the subjective.
Physical Abstraction
Physical abstraction involves stripping away the physical characteristics and specific details of an object.
For example, when you say, “I see a car,” you recognize it as a car even though no two cars are identical. This recognition implies that you’ve abstracted its individual physical traits. In other words, physical abstraction is an innate function of human reason.
A child looking at a lion’s picture in a book might think it resembles a cat due to its size in the image. However, upon seeing a real lion at the zoo, they instantly recognize it as a lion. This capacity to abstract allows them to move beyond the specifics of what they see. Without physical abstraction, we would only perceive individual and unique instances without grasping the universal concept behind them.
This kind of abstraction is what enables us to “see through phenomena to understand essence.” It’s the foundation of holistic, macro, and systemic thinking. When we talk about humanity, we are not referring to a specific individual but to a universal concept.
Mathematical Abstraction
Mathematical abstraction, often expressed through the concept of mathematical modeling, is a way to represent the physical world through algebra and geometry. Examples include the binary representation (0/1) in computers, the minimalist art of traditional landscape paintings, and simplified geometric designs.
This form of abstraction allows us to simplify the complexity of the world into quantifiable and analyzable representations.
Metaphysical Abstraction
Metaphysical abstraction goes a step further. It doesn’t ask, “What is this?” or “Can it be calculated?” Instead, it asks, “Does it exist?” Anything that exists is treated equally—whether it’s a table, the sun, the moon, or a house.
Aristotle described metaphysics as “viewing beings as beings.” In this perspective, we ignore specific attributes, such as whether something is an apple or a sphere, and focus solely on its existence.
The Power of Abstraction
Each level of abstraction represents an elevation in perspective. As the dimensionality increases, the compression of information becomes greater—more concise yet encompassing a broader scope of meaning. This is often what we overlook when taking notes.
The ability to extract and refine abstractions enables us to grasp the essence and key points of phenomena, allowing us to infer universal truths. By honing this skill, we can better understand the world and navigate complex ideas with clarity.