Diary (Part 26) — From "150 Words"
People live abstractly in a world of concrete paintings.
(June 5, 2026)
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This proposition can be considered a sharp expression of how human perception works.
The reality we live in is essentially like a "concrete painting." Before our eyes, there are countless trees, unique individuals, and the colors of the sky and the scent of the wind change from moment to moment. The world is concrete, complex, and never shows the same face twice.
However, humans cannot accept that vast reality as it is. Therefore, we create concepts such as "tree," "bird," "friend," "nation," "nature," and "happiness" to organize the world. In other words, while surrounded by concrete existence, we understand the world in our minds through abstracted concepts.
For example, when walking through a forest, there are actually individual trees standing there, each one different. Yet, we perceive them as a single abstract concept called a "forest." Similarly, we understand a single person who changes over decades through abstract categories like "father," "friend," or "teacher."
From the perspective of environmental thinker Rachel Carson, one of the causes of environmental problems in modern society lies here. We speak the abstract word "nature," but we tend to lose sight of the concrete existences behind it—a single bird, a single insect, a single drop of river water. Abstract concepts are convenient, but if taken too far, they dull our sensitivity to the individuality of life.
On the other hand, science, philosophy, and AI are also acts of abstraction. They seek to understand the world by finding laws from countless facts. However, isn't true wisdom about maintaining a gaze toward concrete life and reality while surveying the whole through abstraction?
In other words, this proposition contains
the epistemological and life-philosophical meaning that humans live in a concrete world while understanding it through abstract concepts. And a mature way of living lies in deeply savoring reality while moving back and forth between the abstract and the concrete.
It can be said that while people live in a world of concrete paintings, they are constantly living by drawing abstract paintings in their hearts.
(June 8, 2026, co-created with ChatGPT)
The above is a personal view and is not related to any organization I belong to.