“Reification is defined as the process of treating abstract concepts or statements as concrete entities, allowing for the assertion of additional facts about them, such as provenance and attributes.” – ScienceDirect
In simpler words, reification is when we “make a ‘thing’” out of something that isn’t actually a thing.
Take, for example, when a couple decides to “work on their relationship.” A relationship is not an object, but rather an emergent, dynamic phenomenon. It is not separate from the involved elements—the people, their circumstances, and other external influences. To even conceive of the idea of “working on” a relationship, one would have to create a mental object based on a snapshot of the target phenomenon, then treat that snapshot as the relationship itself, come up with a target ideal, and try to reach the target ideal from the snapshot.
The endeavor of “working on the relationship” subsumes the relationship. The couple attends to abstractions instead of each other.
Ironically, when the couple “works on” their relationship, they alienate themselves from it. The relationship-as-entity image blocks their reception of the forces that actually constitute the relationship-as-dynamic-emergence. The conceptual subsumes the actual.
And this was but one example. I hope it was sufficient to bring awareness to all the other ways in which reification is a detriment to one’s lived experience.
Automatic Abstraction
Of course, it would be too simplistic to say that reification is never appropriate. It is a faculty without which we could not function in society. Society requires verbal communication, and communicating complex processes, such as a relationship, requires reification. Reification also allows us to solve practical problems. Reifying “health” allows us to construct action steps to improve our bodies, such as diet and exercise plans.
What makes reification detrimental is its misuse. As mentioned in previous “Vestigial Faculty” articles, what makes a faculty detrimental is its overuse or unconscious application. In the case of reification, it becomes a vestigial faculty insofar as one is unaware of performing the reification process. In simpler words, when we are unaware that we are making a “thing” out of something that isn’t actually a thing, we believe it to actually be a thing.
The Solution
To clarify, the vestigial faculty is automatic reification. The alternative is reification done with awareness—only insofar as it is practical, and without believing it to be anything more than a provisional concept.
This solution might sound simple, but it is deceptively difficult in practice. It is extremely easy to fall into believing a concept is real, even if it was initially created with full awareness of its provisional nature. In order to truly overcome automatic reification, we have to catch it in our thoughts and, by extension, our words. We have to notice when we have treated the reified as an inherently existing object.
This means that every time you think, talk, or write about something, you realize that you are reifying whatever the subject is. This awareness alone can prevent you from falling into the belief. So the next time you think or talk about your “career,” “life,” or “self,” you won’t try “fixing it,” “questioning it,” or “hating it.” You will know it is not an object to relate to in such a manner.
