1/ If there is one "thinking tool" everyone should have in their mental toolbox it is First Principles Thinking. It is the backbone of creativity and innovation, and a surefire way to think for yourself.
2/ A first principle is a basic assumption that cannot be deduced any further. Aristotle called it “the first basis from which a thing is known."
3/ First principles thinking is the act of boiling a situation down to the fundamental parts that you know are true and building up from there.
4/ With first principles thinking, the problem-solving process begins with questions like, "What are we absolutely sure is true? What has been proven?"
5/ My favorite historical example of first principles thinking comes from Johannes Gutenberg, the man who created the printing press and revolutionized the distribution of information.
6/ Gutenberg boiled the process of printing down to its fundamental parts: movable type, paper, and ink. Then, he combined these foundational pieces with a screw press, a device used by winemakers at the time, to create the printing press.
7/ Gutenberg's approach is the process of first principles thinking in a nutshell. Break a situation down into the core pieces and then put them back together in a more effective way. Deconstruct then reconstruct.
8/ The most well-known modern example of first principles thinking is @elonmusk, who has used the strategy to great effect while building Tesla and SpaceX.
9/ In both cases, Elon overcame very expensive problems (e.g. the cost of batteries for Tesla, the cost of rockets for SpaceX) by breaking the manufacturing process down to first principles and searching widely more effective solutions—just like Gutenberg.
10/ Most people spend their time and energy making small iterations on previous solutions. This is what Elon calls "living life by analogy." Reasoning by first principles offers a way to think for yourself instead of inheriting the ideas of others.
This thread is just a start. The following article offers a deeper discussion of first principles thinking and how you can use it in life and work: jamesclear.com/first-principl…
