THE CARPENTER AND THE BOY WITH THE HAMMER
A reflection on how we learned to see the world through fashionable tools.
The Philosophy — the shape of the worldview.
A hierarchy is not the world.
It is one view of the world — a projection of a set.
A graph is another.
A document is another.
A SQL table is another.
It is one view of the world — a projection of a set.
A graph is another.
A document is another.
A SQL table is another.
The choice of view is not neutral. It is a worldview.
IMS says: the world is a tree; meaning lives in structure.
SQL says: the world is a set; meaning lives in constraints.
OO says: the world is a collection of interacting objects.
Functional Decomposition says: the world is a series of transformations on immutable values.
SQL says: the world is a set; meaning lives in constraints.
OO says: the world is a collection of interacting objects.
Functional Decomposition says: the world is a series of transformations on immutable values.
None of these are true. All of them are useful. And each one becomes dangerous the moment it becomes fashionable.
Because when a tool becomes fashionable, it stops being a tool. It becomes a worldview.
And once it becomes a worldview, it stops being questioned.
This is the real cost of the relational monoculture: not that SQL was overused, but that we forgot it was a choice.
We forgot that the problem should shape the model. We forgot that different problems require different lenses. We forgot that the carpenter owns more than one tool.