Abstraction is the ability to
generalize: an intellectual activity of the brain that can only succeed by
excluding sentiment and emotion. The result can be a theoretical hypothesis, a
mathematic formula, or a scientific analysis with rational conclusions. All
very useful and important for many areas of human behavior and development. And
very exciting when it leads to new inventions or better knowledge and
understanding of reality. I’m the last one to trivialize the value of it.
Mankind owes the greater part of civilisation and technology to it.
To translate the results of
abstraction into concrete measures and facilities communication is
indispensable. All kinds of “language” – meaningful sequences of sounds,
movements, images and/or letters, or a combination of these – can be used for
this purpose.
