THE SYNTAX OF TOOLS

You can't paint a landscape with a chainsaw. You can't fix a carborator with a toothpick.

The tools that we use largely predetermine our work. But this is not merely in physical matters -- many tools are mental. Language is a tool; different languages allow for different expressions -- some languages don't have words for concepts that are embodied in other languages. Certain languages are more lyrical, romantic, aesthetically-pleasing, while others are more pragmatic, to-the-point, efficient. Thought systems or disciplines are tools -- poetry cannot analyze a baseball player's hitting tendencies in late-game situations, against right-handed pitching, with the efficiency that statistics can. Likewise, numbers cannot capture landscapes, beauty, or drama, as words can, when strung together vividly.

Of course, tools overlap, and there can be poetry in numbers, and logic in rhymes. But this is usually not the case. Working smart, and not merely working hard, is often a matter of spending considerable time in choosing the right tools. For once the tools are selected, the range of possibilities is limited, intentionally or not.