On Complexity and Abstractions

When a child is born, its initial experience and interaction with the world is direct and immediate. The root meaning of the word immediate is that which is without mediation, i.e. there is nothing between the child and the experience, they are both one. The child’s actuality- i.e. its moment-to-moment life is rooted in reality. The child doesn’t hold any explicit knowledge of this reality. This reality is the unknown.

The child’s actuality and reality are one and the same – in the unknown.

In that sense, its life and experience of life are simple, with the root meaning of the word simple being that which is one or single, without any division. The immediacy or the directness of the child’s existence is also its simplicity.

Reality is in immediacy, directness and simplicity.

However soon enough, layers of mediation begin to develop. These are the layers of abstractions- identities, family, society, culture, morals, norms, nations, money, time, good, bad etc. The root meaning of the word abstraction is that which is drawn or dragged away. These abstractions draw the child away from reality, and begin to form their own world- the actuality, the world of the known. It is through these concepts or ideas invented by the human mind that the child now begins to view, interpret and understand its world and its experiences and hence itself.

These layers condition the perception and the experience of the child.

From the immediate, direct and hence simple world, the child’s existence shifts to the mediated, conditioned, abstract and hence complex world of mind and knowledge, as much as this world comes to reside in the child’s mind.

Life is no longer rooted in simple reality, rather in complex actuality, which is layers upon layers of abstractions. Life is no longer rooted in the unknown (unknowable?) reality, but rather in the known actuality.

What are some of the basic layers of abstractions and what do they do for/to us?

Name and self– As a child learns to respond to its name, it is the beginning of its awareness of itself as an independently existing entity- perhaps the very fundamental abstraction (more on this later).

Gender – As the child begins to learn about its gender, and all the social norms and expectations that come with it, it shapes its understanding of who it is, what it can and can not do, all that it must desire and fear etc.

Religion: Another basic abstraction that gives the child a lens to view the world and its relationship with it, accompanied by an elaborate moral and ethical framework, for both living and dying. Perhaps most importantly, religion by assuming the role of the great explainer of all the fundamental mysteries i.e., creation, living and dying, and post-death world, mitigates the anxiety and fear of the unknown.

Family – Family is the first source of socialization for the child. It is the through the family that the child learns about its name, gender, religion and in general, the social norms and expectations of behaviour, etc. Family itself is an abstraction that defines the roles of parents, grandparents, siblings and children.

Language– The medium in which all abstractions are born and live.  

Etc.

By compartmentalizing our existence, these abstractions make life more predictable and more comprehensible. But in doing so they also cut us off from the larger reality in which we are embedded. For instance, while following a particular religion and a God gives one a sense of comfort, but it also turns into a constricting, oppressive regimen that dictates, often with force, every aspect of life, besides putting one in a conflict with someone who believes in another religion. Similarly, by being raised with a well defined gender, one comes to believe in the ideas that go into gender as a social construct as infallible truths and they come to define one’s abilities, ideas about self, desires for future etc., while getting cut off from the larger possibilities that stay hidden out of sight.

This compartmentalization of reality gives us a present that is less maddening and more coherent, but also leaves us longing for what should be- an imagined reality that is liberated from the compartments we have built.

It is this struggle between our actuality defined by these limiting abstractions and our pining for liberation from them that defines all our pursuits, pleasures and sufferings.

While one may seek to liberate oneself from the tyranny of these abstractions by expanding the existing ones or creating new ones, with time they all come to have the same effect.

Living is Complex

The root meaning of the word complex is that which is weaved or entwined together, or that which is composed of interconnected parts.

And what is our daily life- the actuality, if not that which is innumerable strands weaved together?

One goes to office, earns a livelihood, is involved in various human relationships, plays various social roles, is a member of various groups based on language, region, nation, religion, race etc. has a bank of memories, experiences, is driven by various fears and desires, faces numerous conflicts- both external and internal, wants to make the world a better place, feels patriotic, is rebellious, goes to the place of religious worship, likes to get intoxicated on various substances, is obsessed with sexual and all other kinds of  pleasures, wants to accumulate wealth, fame or power, goes through a plethora of emotions  and so on. All this is what our daily life – the actuality.

These and so many more strands when weaved together form our daily life. Is there any strand that is not connected to all others, i.e. is there any strand that can be neatly taken apart and looked at in isolation from others?

Clearly not, it’s quite easy to see.

These abstractions don’t operate alone or in isolation from all others. For instance, religion defines the gender roles to a great extent, family passes on the religion to the child, but the role of family is also defined by religion. The conception of self – the fundamental abstraction affects and is affected by all the other abstractions.

Our actuality is composed of innumerable intertwined, inseparable strands of abstractions.

But we learn to see them as separate and isolated.

We take abstractions to be independently existing concrete truths because that’s what the entire world around us has done.

We do it also because of language.

We get entranced by words and the whole hypnotism of language (something we must inquire into on its own, hopefully soon enough). For the language to have meaningfulness, words are defined strictly and narrowly and in terms of more words. The word tree only captures the physically separate object, but the reality of the tree is much deeper than that. A tree is not an object that can be narrowly separated and described, it is the whole system that encompasses earth, water, sun and air and everything in between. It is not static, but a dynamic life process. Same goes for an individual, doesn’t it?

Are there any separate, independently existing objects in reality, or only a dynamic process?

And what about the words that define our striving and our life? What is success? What is a relationship? What is good? What is the reality behind these words? Not their description or definition or what they should be according to some philosopher, but their actual whole meaning as it is in our lives to each one of us? How many of us really inquire into words that we use to think, communicate, relate, influence, manipulate, and everything else we do in the world? We run with definitions given to us, add our own layers of context and meaning, hardly ever stopping to even get a sense of the immensely complex abstractions that are behind these words.

It is these words that become our world.

How does this show in our daily life?

We get lost in the strands, not seeing the whole. Some daily life examples

• Believing that life is black and white – ABC is bad, XYZ is good.
• Believing that a linear, cause-and-effect relationship exists in all that which happens in life- I am so and so because of my parents, the wars happen because of politicians, capitalism/communism/xyz is the cause of everything that is wrong with the world, if I have a partner then I will be happy, I am unhappy because of xyz, if I follow all the methods given by the priest/guru I’ll achieve liberation/happiness.
• Separation– wealthy capitalists/political leaders/privileged groups etc. are oppressors, others are oppressed. My country/language/ religion/group better than the other.
• Fixed ideas about the world and oneself – I am so and so, always have been and will always be; xyz was dishonest with me, they are a greedy person; human beings have so and so nature.
• Generalizations – All people belonging to xyz group are good/bad.
• Belief Systems–  hard work is the key to success, xyz is the creator, one is reborn after death according one’s karma, good people go to heaven, helping others is the way to lead a good life.
• Symbols as all powerful reality– The nation, religion, identity, money, time, all the symbolic representations invented by mind become absolute truths, the basis of life as a human being for us. We all learn to respect the flags and other symbols of nations, without really inquiring into the reality they represent and their implications. While the fundamental aim of the religions may be to unite with a so-called “higher power”, it is the symbols, books, names, rituals that become all important and worth killing and dying for. Money is supposed to be a symbol of actual (material) wealth , i.e. food, livestock, timber, etc., but it has now become wealth in itself that has superseded actual wealth. And it doesn’t even take into account the non-material wealth- pristine environment, healthy and harmonious relationships etc.

We can keep going. One doesn’t need to be a scientist, a mathematician, an engineer, a sociologist, a psychologist or any expert of any kind to see all this. Anyone who really wants to inquire, to get to the bottom of oneself, can see all this very clearly and directly in their own lives, not just intellectually.

The core of our being, our thoughts, desires, fears, actions are all shaped and guided by these abstractions. And by the time we reach adulthood, or perhaps much before it, we have been thoroughly shaped, moulded, injected, indoctrinated with, incorporated by these concepts. Throughout our life time, we may further go on reshaping, refining, reforming these inherited/adopted abstractions that we come to believe as our own. We may accept some, rebel against some, replace some of the inherited ones with those we chose to adopt, modify some, help create new ones at the collective level, etc. But all in all, whatever we do we continue to exist in the world of abstractions.

All our suffering is in and for this world of abstractions, so are our pleasures. We kill and die for these abstractions. We destroy everything we have in our natural environment for these abstractions.

The individual and the world of abstractions are one and the same.

All our striving that happens in the world of abstractions, only serves to keep the abstractions alive, no matter the object or the direction of striving.

Why do we go on believing in the reality of abstractions? 

The correct way or the sane way to live would be to see (not just intellectually, but actually) the abstractions as just abstractions, complexity as complexity. To understand deeply in one’s own life that while some of them may be essential to communicate, to better organize ourselves, for the technological progress, but they are not psychological facts, they are only inventions of the mind.

The intertwined strands of daily life that form the complexity, exist precisely because we fail to see them as intertwined, inseparable strands. To see them as such would mean return to reality that is whole, indivisible and hence simple. A mind thus free from the slavery to complexity and abstractions, is mind that finds its nourishment in true simplicity and is free to use abstractions as and when required, with intelligence.

It means an end to all conflict, and all suffering in such a mind.

Seeing this intellectually maybe a start, but one must come to this understanding actually.

What is it that obstructs our seeing of abstractions as abstractions? What is that obstructs the perception of the wholeness?