The First Principles Method Explained by Elon Musk

Interview by Kevin Rose

The benefit of "first principles" thinking? It allows you to innovate in clear leaps, rather than building small improvements onto something that already exists. Musk gives an example of the first automobile. While everyone else was trying to improve horse-drawn carriages, someone looked at the fundamentals of transportation and the combustion engine in order to create a car.

Naturally Musk does give one warning about using first principles for innovating however, "it takes a lot more mental energy."

[marssilvergold]

"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them."
- Albert Einstein

[wizardofrosss]

He's spot on when he says it takes mental energy - it takes a lof of effort and concentration to think deeply. You can feel your brain heat up from the load. But that's the only way.

[jkaanta]

Glad to see Elon encouraging 1st principles approach to problem-solving and innovation with a wider audience.
This is the way engineers and scientists learn to think during school, because it usually gives useful, fact-based answers. It can also make us awkward and tedious to talk to :D

[thedevo]

0:17 - BOY does "Me Too type ideas" have a different ring to it in 2020 than it did in 2013! lmfao

[daniel__]

And 6 years later this made him leading in every category he touched. By far.

[LiquidityTrading]

Step 1: Identify any assumptions that you may have (batteries are $600/KwH - they're too expensive)
Step 2: Breakdown the issues (the fundamentals - what materials go into a battery? Can I find them for cheap?)
Step 3: Create new solutions (use your fundamental analysis and knowledge to create a solution)

[Geotubest]

Many years ago a brilliant friend of mine (a Phd from Berkeley) explained first principles to me in the context of the pursuit of good grades. I thought "what the heck, I'll give it a try." Applied it to graduate business school and graduated #1 in the class. Prior to that I was a mediocre student. It works.

[CarrsMill]

In 1976 my maths teacher told me this when I was 13 years old, and I've held it to be ever since, and it's served me well.

[Pete]

I think he’s saying:

Analogy = Basing your ideas/reasons on what other people are doing/have done.

First Principles = Breaking down the idea or thing into lots of different parts/characteristics and decide which bits are true/needed, so basically deciding based on the actual thing/idea you’re looking at, not taking into consideration other stuff that much.

[Earthsky]

This is why Einstein said ''Imagination is more important than knowledge''.

[davidleintz]

First Principles is very powerful. I have had to adopt this mentally truthfully because I have a terrible memory. I just can't remember all the 'steps.' Halfway through engineering school and I work as a math tutor - everything I do is first principles thinking. Reasoning through vector calculus? Reasoning through dynamics? Thermodynamics? All first principles. Haven't had to really remember anything. Start with the basic axions and reason up.

[albertbatfinder]

Tip for young interviewers: never interrupt Elon mid-thought with a show of your understanding. He is just warming up, struggling to find words, and your interruption makes him reset and start again. OR ... you’ll get it totally wrong and he will realise he can’t explain it to you, so he basically just talks to himself.

[deand_walkabout]

Love how the interviewer makes an analogy to explain first principal thinking.
IRONY

[rhythmandacoustics]

First Principles = Axiomatic Reasoning = Truth-Functionally True Propositions = A priori reasoning
Example:


A->B
A
therefore B


Proposition A is a first Principle, which is used to derive proposition B.
Definitions are also First Principles or Axioms.

[hansyap]

you can use first principles everywhere. To determine what customers want, how to give it to them and much more.

[joshburgess]

I love how he used an analogy to explain reasoning from first principles.

[bikosankara]

"All our knowledge begins with the senses, proceeds then to the understanding and ends with reasons. There is nothing higher than REASON" Immanuel Kant

[TribalFuture]

ELON: "Think from first principles, not analogies."
KEVIN: "Give me an analogy."

[Mal-vpqn]

What a surprise! I'm on my way to deliberately search for some fundamental truths as building blocks, because I've been always feeling uncertain about the world and this leads to an inability to take actions. It requires hard work, but also needs to be done without delay !!! This video is a great encourage to me during this difficult journey. Thank you for sharing.

[douglascutler]

This type of first principals thinking works very well in fields of engineering, rocket science and product development where physical objects answer to equations. But not so easily in fields of social media and human interaction which are infinitely more complex and unpredictable.