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OK, this article is a little tricky, but that’s ok with me because the word ‘Abstract’ is a little tricky.
Useful quote: If you change the way you look at the world; the world you look at changes – Wayne Dyer.
Right let’s get down to business.
If I asked most people (including you for example) a simple question – the question is as follows – Is Abstract important?
I am usually met with silence (which suggests confusion) or furthermore an admission that they don’t really understand what abstract means (still some confusion).
I must admit the irony is that the word abstract is the word that is used to describe something that is hard to describe so therefore by its very nature the word abstract is hard to describe.
I’ll make my best shot at it. Abstract is often used to describe something that is intangible, i.e. something that you cannot see, hear taste touch or smell.
But that still doesn’t answer the question – Is Abstract Important?
If someone answers No or shows confusion then that suggests to me that it isn’t that important (you wouldn’t be confused about something that is important, would you?).
So let me ask you this – Can you see air ? Can you hear it, taste it, touch it or smell it ? (in a vacuum type state) Answer; No.
Yet air is vital – you cannot live without it. Air is abstract and air is vital so that in my eyes suggests that things that are abstract can be vital in our lives.
Things that are vital leave no room for (a) not important or b) confusion.
So if you changed your opinion of the word abstract from being unimportant or confused to that of being vital – then you will agree that that is a major shift. So look at the quote from Wayne Dyer above again.
If you change the way you look at the world; the world you look at changes.
If air is important and air is abstract then what else fits into that category of being abstract.
Energy is abstract – yet our energy (spirit) is the very source that keeps us going and also is the source of everything in our Universe and beyond. Our energy is vital for our existence.
If I asked you to give me a bucket-full of air or energy for that matter could you give it to me?
Other things that could be described as abstract are happiness, pain, headaches, sadness, stress, depression, anxiety and of course God. You cannot ultimately understand any of them or describe them in absolute terms.
Billions of Euro’s and wars have been fought for the sole purpose of defending, curing searching for and solving the solution to all of these abstract things that I describe above. It is a big, big industry.
Look at the amount of ‘man hours’ that are lost in the business world due to stress alone, or how much is shelved out annually in the insurance business. If I asked you to describe ‘stress’ could you do it ?
Abstract is certainly not something to be ignored, Q.E.D.
Quod Erat Demonstrandum – (Thus it has been demonstrated.)
Next week I am going to write about – Ego
