Concrete and Abstract: The Mechanism of Intelligence That Makes the World Look Different

Although it is an older book published nine years ago, it has been frequently introduced by Noters for some time now. I thought, "I must read this!" and so I did.

This, is not just about simple knowledge or useful thinking methods at that level.

The world looks different

This title is not an exaggeration. What exactly can you learn from it?

Let's learn together!💪

Everything starts from here

The book consists of an introduction, chapters 1 through 20, and a conclusion, and this diagram appears in every single one of chapters 1 through 20.

Because it is explained repeatedly, it is easy to understand. However, it also has great depth.

By the way, this book is only 133 pages long, making it a very thin book. It also includes cute four-panel cat comics, so you can read through it easily.

Everyone is misunderstanding

"Mr. A's story is concrete and easy to understand" "Mr. B's story is
abstract and I don't really get it"

Don't you use the words "concrete" and "abstract" in that way? In other words,

Concrete = easy to understand Abstract = difficult to understand

I think there is a part of you that vaguely thinks this. But this is a
misunderstanding. Breaking that misunderstanding is what this book is for.

By the way, the ability to see the world of abstraction is unique to humans. Animals can only see the world of the concrete.

Therefore, even if animals could speak, they wouldn't be able to communicate. (This leads to the state of not being on the same page, which I will explain later.)

Now, let's go to the world of abstraction with this book!

What is the benefit of going to the world of abstraction?

As the fact that animals cannot go to the world of abstraction shows,the world of abstraction cannot be seen from the world of concrete.Conversely, the world of concrete can be seen from the world of abstraction.

You become able to see things from a broader perspective.

People who are good at using analogies

There are people who are "good at using analogies," aren't there? Those people are doing something like this.

They take something concrete, abstract it for a moment, and then find another concrete example that shares the same commonalities.They are performing a back-and-forth movement of concrete to abstract to concrete.

I admire people who can use analogies because I cannot do it myself.

This is not something that can be achieved simply by going to the world of abstraction; furthermore,the skill of "back-and-forth movement" is required.

The concrete example they find at the end is also skillfully chosen from "things the other person knows." This must be the difficult part.

When conversations don't align

I also thought "I see" regarding this, but conversations don't align because each person is speaking at their own level of concrete or abstract.

It is necessary to make an effort to either pull the other person up or go down yourself.

Also,

concrete and abstract are in a relative relationship

is a point I want to keep well in mind. Even if you intend to be concrete, it might be abstract from the other person's perspective. Such things happen.

Upstream and Downstream of Work

Those in the manufacturing industry will likely find this easy to visualize, but work has upstream and downstream processes.

The upstream process is abstract (e.g., specifications), and the downstream process is concrete (e.g., programming, assembly manufacturing).

It is said that you can tell which work is suitable for you based on which process you find more comfortable.

I am most comfortable doing a mix of upstream and downstream, but with downstream as the main focus. In reality, I am 'only doing upstream' work, and I often think, 'I am not suited for this job...' (laughs)

In the end, both are important

While the purpose of this book is to clear up misunderstandings about abstraction and guide you into the world of abstraction, it does not mean you should 'stay in the world of abstraction forever.'

Like someone who is good at using analogies, you need to master both abstraction and concreteness. In other words, both abstraction and concreteness are important.

If you only look at the world of abstraction, you cannot translate it into 'concrete actions,' so there is also the negative effect of 'becoming unable to take action'.

Creating a world of abstraction

There was a passage in the final chapter about the process of creating a world of abstraction. I thought it made a lot of sense, so I illustrated it.

Creating a world of abstraction is about continuing to learn

That is how I felt.

Summary

The world looks different

I understood the meaning of that after just one reading. This title is not an exaggeration. Just knowing that there are worlds of the concrete and the abstract is a major achievement.

On the other hand, if asked, 'Do you understand it properly?' there are some parts that are questionable 💦

So, I want to always keep the concrete and abstract triangle I learned in this book in my mind.

In fact, it's already having an effect, and while reading other books, I'm able to connect things by thinking, 'Oh, this is about concrete and abstract'.

This immediate effectiveness! I recommend it.

That's all for today's learning. Thank you for reading!
Please come back again. 👋

<Postscript>
I was introduced by Mr. Kishakoku. Thank you very much 😊

Reading period: 2023/12/04-2023/12/08
First edition published: 2014/12/07

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