the law of the instrument

The inability to recognize other possible outcomes or solutions if one relies too much on a particular tool, method, or mindset. The term refers to 20th-century psychologist Abraham Maslow and his idea that "If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail." The trouble with these Freudian scholars is that they don't realize some things can be taken at face value. The law of the instrument is a real problem.