XBSTRXCT is a growing collection of micro-essays (and occasional full-sized essays) related to the concept of abstraction. The posts tend to blend programming, computation, mathematics, and philosophy.
A note before you read: these essays are my attempt to work through ideas as I learn them, not the last word on any of them. Some of what’s here is surely incomplete or wrong. If you spot a mistake, I’d be glad to hear about it.
Abstraction
From Latin abstractio, from the verb abstrahere, “to draw away”.
- thinking in terms of ideas rather than particular things.
- in art, freedom from depicting things as they appear.
- considering something apart from its circumstances, attributes, or concrete companions.