{
  "id": "big-picture.abstraction",
  "term": "big picture",
  "sense": "abstraction",
  "pos": "noun",
  "status": "review",
  "level": 15,
  "arena": "emergence_lexicon",
  "domain": "levels and abstraction",
  "style": "folk",
  "definition": "A model that includes only the parts that are common across many things, so the differences between them are not in the model.",
  "folk_gloss": "The overall view or main idea of something.",
  "emergence": {
    "components": [
      "model.representation",
      "general.broad",
      "difference.relation",
      "part.relation",
      "pattern.regularity"
    ],
    "interaction": "emergence.novel_properties",
    "novel_properties": [
      "abstraction.process"
    ]
  },
  "examples": [
    {
      "text": "The Standard Model of particle physics describes all known matter and forces except gravity, using just 17 fundamental particles.",
      "domain": "physics"
    },
    {
      "text": "The U.S. Constitution outlines a structure of government that applies across all 50 states, despite their differing laws and populations.",
      "domain": "institutions"
    },
    {
      "text": "Photosynthesis in plants converts sunlight into chemical energy, a process common to nearly all ecosystems on Earth.",
      "domain": "biology"
    }
  ],
  "relations": [],
  "used_by": [],
  "forms": [
    "big picture"
  ],
  "closed": true,
  "provenance": {
    "author": "phrases:qwen/qwen3-235b-a22b-2507",
    "date": "2026-07-29",
    "confidence": 0.7,
    "sources": [
      "folk phrase — levels and abstraction"
    ]
  },
  "canonical": "https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-big-picture.abstraction"
}