The Academic Descent Into Abstraction

The academic food chain depicted in geological form! Engineers stand on the surface enjoying sunshine and practical reality. Physics majors dwell in the first layer of abstraction, using equations to explain the world while still maintaining some connection to reality. Meanwhile, math majors have descended into the deepest cave of pure abstraction, where they've built a civilization around concepts that may never see daylight. The deeper you go, the further you get from practical applications—but also the more fundamental the knowledge becomes. It's the perfect representation of how each discipline builds on increasingly theoretical foundations!