# Abstraction and Insanity Summary::List of abstractions that may be leading society to mass insanity. These are the abstractions I included in my article. >Black Lives Matter Artificial Intelligence (AI) Climate Crisis Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Inflation A Woman # Links %% > [!Info]- Ignore dataview >## Backlink >Ignore this dataview. Plugins don't work on the website >```dataview Table Status, type as "Type" from [[]] and !outgoing([[]]) sort file.name asc >``` %% --- ## Related Topics --- --- # Publication Posted::[[Fallacies of Averages & Aggregates]] --- # References Language & Logic:[Abstraction and Insanity](https://clearthinking.substack.com/p/abstraction-and-insanity) # Abstraction and Insanity In my writing on this platform, I will make frequent references to Science and Sanity by Alfred Korzibski. In that book, he argues that we should use the abstract thinking of science to gain a better understanding of reality and thereby retain our sanity. As a brief introduction, I should comment on the relation of abstraction to insanity—first, a definition of abstraction. Abstraction deals with ideas rather than events. Words provide the most straightforward example of abstractions. We might use the word "car," which provides us with an abstraction of the event that makes all the components that make up a car. Too little attraction can drive us insane. If, instead of using the word car, I described all the components of a car. Or, how crazy would you get if you could see the radio waves that carried your next text message? At the other end of the spectrum, too much abstraction can cause us to lose touch with reality, leading to insanity. I fear that, as a society, we are driving ourselves insane with too much abstraction. We accept abstractions as if they contain all the information required for sound decisions. This practice works like a process of self-brain- washing. I will try to give you a few examples to start the thinking: # Black Lives Matter Large groups of people march around with this phrase on signs and F- shirts. But what is a "black life," and in what way do they "matter? # Artificial Intelligence (AI) We are supposed to worry about it, but precisely what is "artificial intelligence", and why should we worry? # Climate Crisis First, we had "global warming," Then came "climate change." Now we have a" climate crisis." It requires thousands, if not millions, of interacting elements to make up the complex system we call" climate." Why should I turn my life over to bureaucrats who can't name all the elements of climate? # Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Do you know the basic elements of GDP? Why should GDP go up? Why do we include government " "spending" in GDP? Doesn't the government has to take from other parts of the economy to "spend?" # Inflation Is that monetary inflation or price inflation? Why do we believe the consumer price index measures price inflation (roughly 5%) when the price of eggs has increased 50%? # A Woman "What is a woman?" The burning question of the age. Is Jane a woman? Or, does she have characteristics that allow us to include her in an abstract group we call" woman?" # Conclusion I had to stop with the examples because my hand (another abstraction) was getting numb. Could using so many high-level abstractions cause you to lose your sanity?