Abstraction is not neutral.

Every abstraction changes who bears the cost of a decision and when that cost is paid. Some abstractions compress complexity responsibly. Others function as insulation, hiding dependencies and delaying consequences.

Indirection often amplifies this effect. When responsibility is sufficiently diffused, failure becomes difficult to attribute and easy to excuse. At that point, systems stop being correctable and start being narrated.

This project treats abstraction as a trade-off, not a moral upgrade. The goal is not to eliminate abstraction, but to make it accountable, inspectable, and reducible to a core that remains legible under pressure.

Questions that recur throughout the work:

  • What does this abstraction hide
  • Who pays when it fails
  • Can the boundary be inspected
  • Can responsibility be named
  • Can the abstraction be reduced to a smaller, explicit form without changing meaning

Abstractions that cannot answer these questions cleanly are treated with suspicion, regardless of convenience.

Next:

Previous:

  • Contact With Reality
    A statement of stance and orientation toward abstraction, constraints, and accountability.