Re: When all you have is a hammer
Posted by R. Berg on October 12, 2001 In Reply to: When all you have is a hammer
posted by mortimer on October 12, 2001
: Where does this one come from, and what does it usually mean?
"When all you have is a hammer"
: mortimer
We (the yobs) submitted that one for consideration for the Phrase
Finder database last May. I guess it didn't enter. The full saying
goes "When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail"
(exact wording varies among sources). Some Web sites call it Baruch's
Law. It describes one kind of narrowness of thought. People who
are excessively fond of a particular analytical scheme or problem-solving
method--people who have only one tool--will construe any bit of
reality as just the kind of thing to which their pet interpretation
or solution applies.
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