When everyone has a hammer…
Getting down to the basics of tools
We all know someone whose only tool is a hammer. It might even be you. Truth is, almost everyone has a hammer, and almost no one only has a hammer. Most folks that rarely use a hammer got it along with a bunch of other tools.
Almost everyone knows there are different types of hammers.
But only those who use them professionally or collect them amateurishly have more than one type.
We all know that some people are better with hammers than others. Practice is the main difference. The next level of proficiency comes from focus. You can tell the difference by the frequency of their fingers being bruised and the condition of the material being hammered along with the surrounding area.
Some people are not aware of the distinctions that come about from practice and focus. They may take a swing or two and get the result they wanted, then pick up the pace too soon, with the bruised fingers, bent nails, and damaged material as evidence, if they are lucky.
They may have to hire a professional to finish the job, buy more material to replace the damaged, or spend a few hours in the emergency room followed by weeks of healing if they were not. Most are lucky. Those who are not might wind up in the news as a cautionary tale.
Hammers have evolved. They probably started as rocks or branches. Some people still try using rocks. Sometimes they have to wait until their fingernail grows back to try using a more modern tool.
The handles and heads of hammers have improved and diversified over time, which is how we have so many different types, and why some of the same type are superior to others.
Tools meant to do the same thing, the same way, but better at it.
For some hammering, the hammers have been replaced by machines that shoot the nails or bang the material. The principle remains the same, though the mechanics are very different.
There was a time when nail guns were very expensive, and only a few had them, giving them an advantage. Now they are much cheaper and most professionals who need one have one.
It would be surprising if hammers stopped evolving, if there were not tools ten or twenty years in the future that would be entirely new ways of doing the same thing. Technology is like that. People are like that.
AI is like that.
©2026 Scott S. Nelson