{"schema":"https://ver.cy/schemas/card/1.0.0","id":"vr.tr.abstraction","code":"thing-q673661","url":"https://ver.cy/models/thing/q673661/","name":"abstraction","alternateNames":[],"kind":"thing","status":"published","version":"0.2.0-wave.2","language":"en","classifiers":{"family":"Thing Registry","category":"Activities and processes","entryKind":"thing","plane":"ACT","domain":["ACT.PRC"],"industry":[],"navPath":"","tags":[],"facets":{}},"whatItIs":"The cognitive process of forming general concepts by extracting common features from particular instances and setting aside specific details, as when the idea of a chair is formed from many chairs, and the resulting general ideas; abstraction underlies concept formation, language, mathematics, science and computing, where it names the practice of hiding detail behind general interfaces, and it is studied in psychology, philosophy and cognitive science.","purpose":"Let an agent explain abstraction as a cognitive process and its role in thought, language, mathematics and computing, support applying abstraction in problem solving and design, and describe research and philosophical accounts.","scope":{"in":[],"out":[],"boundaries":[]},"distinguishingFeatures":["Concept formation","Detail removal","Levels of abstraction","Cross-field"],"structure":{"bundles":[{"id":"understand","name":"Understand","description":"What abstraction is.","layers":[{"id":"process","name":"Process","description":"The cognitive process.","findings":[{"id":"process-finding","name":"Process","description":"Process.","questions":[{"text":"How does the mind form abstract concepts from particulars, according to cognitive science?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which sense of abstraction is meant here?","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"philosophy","name":"Philosophy","description":"Philosophical accounts.","findings":[{"id":"philosophy-finding","name":"Philosophy","description":"Philosophy.","questions":[{"text":"How have philosophers from Aristotle and Locke to modern theorists explained abstraction, with positions attributed?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits a specific philosopher?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"apply","name":"Apply","description":"Using abstraction.","layers":[{"id":"problem","name":"Problem","description":"Problem solving.","findings":[{"id":"problem-finding","name":"Problem","description":"Problem solving.","questions":[{"text":"How can abstraction help solve this problem by identifying the essential structure?","kind":"action"},{"text":"When does abstraction lose necessary detail?","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"computing","name":"Computing","description":"Abstraction in computing.","findings":[{"id":"computing-finding","name":"Computing","description":"Computing.","questions":[{"text":"How is abstraction used in programming, interfaces and system design, and what are leaky abstractions?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Which entry fits software design?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"fields","name":"Fields","description":"Abstraction across fields.","layers":[{"id":"mathematics","name":"Mathematics","description":"Mathematics and science.","findings":[{"id":"mathematics-finding","name":"Mathematics","description":"Mathematics.","questions":[{"text":"How do mathematics and science build on abstraction, from numbers to models?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits mathematical modelling?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"art","name":"Art","description":"Abstraction in art.","findings":[{"id":"art-finding","name":"Art","description":"Art.","questions":[{"text":"What is abstraction in art, and how does it relate to the cognitive sense?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits abstract art?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"learn","name":"Learn","description":"Development and teaching.","layers":[{"id":"development","name":"Development","description":"Development in children.","findings":[{"id":"development-finding","name":"Development","description":"Development.","questions":[{"text":"How does abstract thinking develop in children, according to developmental psychology?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which findings are contested?","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"teach","name":"Teach","description":"Teaching.","findings":[{"id":"teach-finding","name":"Teach","description":"Teaching.","questions":[{"text":"How can abstraction be taught across subjects?","kind":"action"},{"text":"Which misconceptions arise?","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]}]},"agentConduct":{"may":["Form and explain abstractions, stating what details are set aside.","Design software abstractions and document their limits."],"mustNot":["Hide details that matter for safety or fairness behind an abstraction.","Present an abstract model as reality.","Use vague language and call it abstraction."],"requiresHuman":["Replacing an abstraction that other teams depend on."]},"ethics":{"considerations":["Abstracting people into categories can erase individual circumstances."],"affectedParties":["People modelled in systems","Developers"]},"owners":{"steward":"Nobody owns the concept; it is held in common.","roles":[],"masterSystems":[]},"relations":[{"target":"Q781413","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"cognitive process","type":"related","note":"category"},{"target":"equivalence relation","type":"related","note":"abstraction by identifying equivalents"},{"target":"difference","type":"related","note":"features set aside"},{"target":"experience","type":"related","note":"instances abstracted from"}],"interaction":{"identity":{"applicability":"required","items":["Vercy registry: vr.tr.abstraction","Wikidata: Q673661 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q673661)"]},"properties":{"applicability":"not-applicable","items":[]},"recognition":{"applicability":"optional","items":["General concepts from instances","Detail set aside","Generalisation extends claims; idealisation simplifies deliberately","Not physical; a mental process."]},"capabilities":{"applicability":"required","items":["explain the process","describe roles across fields","support applying abstraction","describe research"]},"hazards":{"applicability":"required","items":["Over-abstraction losing relevant detail","Leaky abstractions in computing","Confusing abstraction with vagueness"]},"interfaces":{"applicability":"required","items":["No regulation; conventions of each field","Software design principles on abstraction"]},"context":{"applicability":"required","items":["Forming general concepts from particulars.","abstraction in concept formation","abstraction in mathematics","abstraction in computing and design","abstraction in art","levels of abstraction in reasoning"]}},"sources":[{"title":"Wikidata item Q673661: abstraction","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q673661","note":"identity and sense of the item"},{"title":"Wikipedia: Abstraction","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abstraction","note":"general description of the item"}],"openQuestions":["Should computing abstraction be a separate entry?","How should cognitive research be linked?","How should philosophical sources be linked?"],"resources":{"spec":"/models/things/publications/thing-q673661/spec.json"},"provenance":{"origin":"thing registry research (pass 2)","builtFrom":["models/things/publications/thing-q673661/spec.json"],"providers":["Claude"],"researchStatus":"unreviewed","generatedAt":"2026-09-12T00:30:19Z","builder":"tools/build_cards.py@1.0.0"},"completeness":{"sections":{"classifiers":"filled","whatItIs":"filled","purpose":"filled","distinguishingFeatures":"filled","structure":"filled","agentConduct":"filled","ethics":"filled","owners":"filled","relations":"filled","interaction.identity":"filled","interaction.properties":"not-applicable","interaction.recognition":"filled","interaction.capabilities":"filled","interaction.hazards":"filled","interaction.interfaces":"filled","interaction.context":"filled","sources":"filled"},"notes":{"_gate":"Published through the thing publication gate 1.0 on 2026-10-06T19:52:01+00:00: completeness 1.00; sense: Wikidata description; 2 live sources; review by codex: pass","interaction.properties":"Plane ACT: no invented physical properties."},"score":1.0}}