Level of Abstraction

A '''level of abstraction''' is an explanation for a certain [[Level_of_Organization|level of organization]] in a system. It is related to [[Emergence|emergence]]. Strong emergence requires at least one completely new level of abstraction, if it is defined as the appearance of a new code. The "level of abstraction" is related to the "level of detail", the "scope of view" or the "degree of generality", since abstraction is a concept or idea not associated with any specific instance. A "level of abstraction" for computing is the number of layers between the physical layer (of bits and binary code) and the current representation. A layer is a code, language or protocol which offers a certain service. For example in a computer we have the language cascade from binary code to machine code, byte code and high level code, or the OSI Reference Model. 

== Links ==

* Wikipedia entry for [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abstraction_(computer_science) Abstraction (computer science)]

* Russ Abbott, [http://cs.calstatela.edu/wiki/images/c/ce/The_reductionist_blind_spot.pdf The reductionist blind spot]