Possibly a useful spectrum along which to order and analyze tools for thought:

• binary (yes or no, true or false, 0 or 1)
• sets (non-ordered collections of stuff — data, hypotheses, plans, whatever — where an item is or is not a member)
• partially-ordered sets (where some — but perhaps not all! — items can be compared with each other and put into a relationship like before-after, lower-higher, worse-better, etc.)
• ordered sets (with a strict sequence but no quantitative values — "ordinals")
• numerical values (assigned ratings that show meaningful gradations in quantity, size, whatever — "cardinals", upon which mathematical operations can be performed)
• numerical ranges (where each item's value may have an associated uncertainty or variance — plus generalizations thereof, beyond simple "error bars")
• continuous variables (smoothly-changing values upon which rates-of-change and other transformations may be computed)
• functions (mappings — general relationships between numbers, whether discrete or continuous)
• meta-functions (functions of functions — a step into transcendence, tools to make tools (to make ...), and beyond ...)

... and how could this schema be further extended — perhaps into more than one dimension? Hmmmmmmmmm ...!

(cf. Thinking Environments (1999-04-07), Thinking Tools Examples (1999-04-08), Thinking Tools Goals (1999-04-09), ...) - ^z - 2017-04-06