there is some evidence in our pre-history that we used to experience the world without the layer of abstraction

cave paintings at one point became... different. at first they represented reality - various animals - in absolutely amazing detail, down to depicting which muscles tensed as an animal ran, then they stopped. just around the same time as we began depicting ourselves in more detail. when we noticed ourselves it seems like first layers of abstract interpretation of reality began forming

here's a cool video on the subject (the title is rather click-baity but it is a good video, trust)