| A broader definition
of a tool is an entity used to interface between two or more domains that
facilitates more effective action of one domain upon the other. The most
basic tools are simple machines. For example, a crowbar simply functions
as a lever. The further out from the pivot point, the more force is transmitted
along the lever. A hammer typically interfaces between the operator's hand
and the nail the operator wishes to strike.
A telephone is a communication
tool that interfaces between two people engaged in conversation at one
level. And between each user and the communication network at another.
It is in the domain of media and communications technology that a counterintuitive
aspect of our relationships with our tools first began to gain popular
recognition. Marshall McLuhan famously said "We shape our tools. And then
our tools shape us." McLuhan was referring to the fact that our social
practices co-evolve with our use of new tools and the refinements we make
to existing tools.
Tools that have evolved
for use in particular domains can be given different assignations. For
example, tools designed for domestic use are often called utensils.
Observation has confirmed
that that multiple species can use tools, including monkeys, apes, several
birds, sea otters, and others. Philosophers originally thought that only
humans had the ability to make tools, until zoologists observed birds and
monkeys making tools. Now humans' unique relationship to tools is considered
to be that we are the only species that uses tools to make other tools.
Most anthropologists believe
that the use of tools was an important step in the evolution of mankind.
Humans evolved an opposable thumb - useful in holding tools - and increased
dramatically in intelligence, which aided in the use of tools. |
