Life is in the Details: Here’s How I’ m Learning to Connect.

The ladder of abstraction was popularized by S.I. Hayakawa in his 1939 book, Language in Action. It connects two opposite and conflicting forces. One is the involvement of the senses. The details, the specifics that hook us into the story or learning experience. The other is the abstract—the big goal that appeals not to the senses, but to the intellect.