> the split between people who want to abstract the application domain and people who want to engage with it

That sounds like the classic dichotomy of Theoria and Praxis.

> The philosopher Aristotle held that there were three basic activities of humans: theoria (thinking), poiesis (making), and praxis (doing).

> Corresponding to these activities were three types of knowledge: theoretical, the end goal being truth; poietical, the end goal being production; and practical, the end goal being action.

I can see these aspects exist within an individual, and as a group such as the academic field and practical culture of computer science.

There's a temptation toward theory building, elaborate architecture and systems, abstraction for the sake of it. The field is richer for it, but it's also a risk of distraction and source of incidental complexity.

The call to action, to return to the making at hand. Working with the material, applying the ideas in practice, keeping what works and throwing out what doesn't. Learning through doing. Sometimes the solving of a problem or need is achieved first, then the pattern is recognized, the ideas and theory to explain why it works.