Focusing on the abstract aspects of reality gives us considerable scope. The world is dynamic and our views are as powerful as we choose to make them. Most of us go through life in a repetitive way, we do the same things over and over again, like passive machines. Yet we are not machines, so can readily break free from this outdated deterministic Newtonian model. Even our media and educational systems are locked into this narrow repetitive world - the full diversity and beauty of knowledge and of our world is hidden by a fear of being different, of going beyond the lowest common denominator.
New information is itself fitness enhancing, since it provides choice, new options in state space.
This freedom is itself a major component of Quality of Life. If the world in which we live is actually a bad one in some respects, then we are unwise to persuade ourselves that it is good. This tends to invalidate many forms of psychotherapy, which attempt to make us believe that this is 'the best of all possible worlds', and if we cannot accept that then we must be 'faulty' and need 'reprogramming'. Our world today is far from perfect, and the negative effects on our quality of life is obvious - whether as a result of the need to commute for hours a day, suffering arrogant and insensitive leaders, of intrusive noise or all the other obstructive and restrictive practices that comprise our societies. This level of needs relates strongly to the structure of our society, to the cultural norms that we invent to simplify our interactions.