Lifeboat Foundation

I don’t know what’s the matter with people: they don’t learn by understanding; they learn by some other way—by rote or something.

First-principles thinking is one of the best ways to reverse-engineer complicated problems and unleash creative possibility. Sometimes called “reasoning from first principles,” the idea is to break down complicated problems into basic elements and then reassemble them from the ground up. It’s one of the best ways to learn to think for yourself, unlock your creative potential, and move from linear to non-linear results.

This approach was used by the philosopher Aristotle and is used now by Elon Musk and Charlie Munger. It allows them to cut through the fog of shoddy reasoning and inadequate analogies to see opportunities that others miss.

A first principle is a foundational proposition or assumption that stands alone. We cannot deduce first principles from any other proposition or assumption.