Abstraction

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Information is an abstract concept that refers to something which has the power to inform. At the most fundamental level, it pertains to the interpretation (perhaps formally) of that which may be sensed, or their abstractions. Any natural process that is not completely random and any observable pattern in any medium can be said to convey some amount of information. Whereas digital signals and other data use discrete signs to convey information, other phenomena and artifacts such as analogue signals, poems, pictures, music or other sounds, and currents convey information in a more continuous fo

thumb|200px|Sketch from Charles Darwin's Notebooks on Transmutation of Species (1837), arguably the first example of a phylogenetic tree. (1) represents a common ancestor, the barred branches represent extant descendants, and the unmarked branches represent extinct descendants. A theory is, in general, any hypothesis or set of ideas about something, formed in any number of ways through any sort of reasoning for any sort of reason.

Abstraction is the process of generalizing rules and concepts from specific examples, literal (real or concrete) signifiers, first principles, or other methods. The result of the process, an abstraction, is a concept that acts as a common noun for all subordinate concepts and connects any related concepts as a group, field, or category.

A meme (; ) is an idea, behavior, or style that spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme. A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols, or practices, that can be transmitted from one mind to another through writing, speech, gestures, rituals, or other imitable phenomena with a mimicked theme. Supporters of the concept regard memes as cultural analogues to genes in that they self-replicate, mutate, and respond to selective pressures. In popular language, a meme may refer to

mathematics independent of application

thumb|Adriaen van Ostade, "Analysis" (1666)

thumb|right|1912 postcard illustrating the concept of a man daydreaming about a woman

quality of greatness

Complexity characterizes the behavior of a system or model whose components interact in multiple ways and follow local rules, leading to non-linearity, randomness, collective dynamics, hierarchy, and emergence.

upright=0.65|thumb|The "redness" of red is an example of a quale.

Simplicity is the state or quality of being simple. Something easy to understand or explain seems simple, in contrast to something complicated. Alternatively, as Herbert A. Simon suggests, something is simple or complex depending on the way we choose to describe it. In some uses, the label "simplicity" can imply beauty, purity, or clarity. In other cases, the term may suggest a lack of nuance or complexity relative to what is required.

technique for arranging complexity of computer systems

predominant feature that characterizes a being, a thing, a phenomenon, etc. and which differentiates one being from another, one thing from another

standpoint regarding a topic; opinion, attitude, or judgment upon some matter; way that one looks at something

Greek prefix: prefix of abstraction

concept

way of hiding details of a computing subsystem, allowing separation of concerns and interoperability

two propositions or events that cannot both be true

process of extracting the underlying essence of a mathematical concept

test in the study of deductive reasoning

distinction that separates a concept from the objects which are particular instances of the concept

Modularity is the degree to which a system's components may be separated and recombined, often with the benefit of flexibility and variety in use. The concept of modularity is used primarily to reduce complexity by breaking a system into varying degrees of interdependence and independence across and "hide the complexity of each part behind an abstraction and interface". However, the concept of modularity can be extended to multiple disciplines, each with their own nuances. Despite these nuances, consistent themes concerning modular systems can be identified.

type of intensional definition, and it is composed of two parts (genus (or family) and differentia)

nature of meaning in the philosophy of language, semantics, methaphysics and metasemantics

classifications that denote whether a term describes an object with a physical referent or one with no physical referents

form of labour

property of a subject that exists itself or within the subject or property that is not essential or inherent to the subject, respectively

type of abstraction in science, mathematics, and philosophy

artistic concept

a thought object that does not have an equal in the real world

In knowledge representation, ontology components and ontology engineering, including for object-oriented programming and design, is-a (also written as is_a or is a) is a subsumptive relationship between abstractions (e.g., types, classes), wherein one class A is a subclass of another class B (and so B is a superclass of A). In other words, type A is a subtype of type B when A's specification implies B's specification. That is, any object (or class) that satisfies A's specification also satisfies B's specification, because B's specification is weaker.

basic element of strings in a formal language

relationship between an object and a representation of that object

form for logical arguments, obtained by abstracting from the subject matter of its content terms

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fundamental philosophical abstraction; the recognition of difference

stock character; an absent-minded scientific genius

branch of metaphysics regarding abstract objects

Concept in the philosophy of literature

difference between two descriptions of an object by different linguistic representations

formal operation that transforms a predicate into a relation

concept in metaphysics