If we want to build a car, we can just use a pile of steel and the appropriate tools, and maybe we can build a box with four wheels. But if we want to build an efficient and reliable car, we have to use diagrams and mathematics. The more we are using abstract models (for example by using computer aided design), the better we can model matter and build our car.

 

There are other examples in the field of software development: if you work very close to the physical layer, this means that you are going to program the microprocessor by using machine langage, this means controlling directly the "matter" of the processor. You are closer to the physical universe, but that method is quite limited. In order to overcome these limitations, software engineers have invented more and more powerful langages: assembly langage, C langage, object oriented langages, modeling langages, etc. The more you are using abstractions, the more you can build powerful programs.