Do you look for the truth, or imitate others? | First Principles Thinking

The Mental Model of First Principles Thinking can help us to break down complex problems into their most fundamental parts. Elon Musk is and Richard Feynman was a practitioner of First Principles Thinking.
Instead of imitating others (reasoning by analogy), we can look for the fundamental "truth" (as far as we know it).
It is often called Reasoning from First Principles.

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0:00 Introduction
0:36 First Principles Thinking Explained
1:30 How to do First Principles Thinking?
2:36 Use Case | Limitations
3:36 Reasoning by Analogy
4:57 The Cook and the Chef
6:02 First Principles Thinking applied
6:34 Richard Feynman's example
8:25 YouTube example
11:41 Outro
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Sources:
Elon Musk on First Principles Thinking:

Tim Urban, Wait But Why:

Richard Feynman:
Six Easy Pieces - Essentials of Physics Explained by Its Most Brilliant Teacher (Book)
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Music by Epidemic Sound
Lightdrops - Peter Sandberg
A Homage to Her - David Celeste
Our Early Years - David Celeste
Concepts - Ever So Blue
Sketches - Ever So Blue
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You can find me here:

#mentalmodels

[programmer]

95% of people don't do this, it's incredible.

I am an engineer who has been working in sales (business development) and applied basic first principles thinking in my job and grew my business by about a million £'s per year.

By just thinking about this for a second, you can put yourself ten times ahead of people.

Here are some of my axioms:
- a company is a machine for generating money. Every employee or action can be measured or estimated by it's impact on generating money. If you can't measure it easily directly, like for someone working in HR, then apply heuristics or use estimates from studies.
- before doing any task, you should ask yourself "what is the objective?". This can get rid of a lot of bullshit meetings and tasks.
- What is your customer's objective? They also work for a money making machine. Work out how you can help them make money, either through new revenue or reducing costs, and then prove it to them so they buy your products.

[fernandomas]

Man, you are doing a great job. Keep it up, we certainly need more of this in the world

[PJ]

First think of the End you want to achieve. Be intellectually honest. Then think of the last-but-one stage. Then backwards upto where you are at present. Maintain honesty throughout. Do not make jumps or delude yourself.

[thesatirist]

Actually, it was Aristotle who demand this concept of first principle digesting from his works on metaphysics. He sought that metaphysics is so complex and universal, he decided to break them down from the most basic aspects! But, actually it's Socrates who really laid out the concept, though not explicity implied, but his dialectic method is a tool of first principle thinking, by keep on asking question to the bare minimum until there are no more if possible!

[abnithin]

We fear and dont like truth and secrets.. so focus on art and creation.. it will open your imagination. Its powerfull along with knowlede. Real with understanding

[borisfilipovic]

There are two basic types of thinking: analitic and synthetic. Once understood the problem, to make sameting new, the approach must be synthetic

[MaximQuantum]

Woah, your channel has a lot of potential, great content!!

[clintwoodcb]

Hey, i just found your channel as it was in my suggestions by the algorithm and wanted to let you know that your content is a treasure .... It's neatly presented and i really like the simplicity in your
All the best wishes to you and looking forward to more content ...

[pabloseferian]

It is 10 times more difficult to un learn than to learn something new. This is the biggest problem I think. We are conditioned by past learning. Not knowing causes fear. Better a stupid certanty than none at all.

[musikinspace]

I have come to the conclusion that you need a balance of both types of thinking to be the most efficient in the world. You attain unique insights from first principles, but if you take it to the extreme, like it was always in my nature to do, you become mired in conceptual knots no one can untie, before you take any action on anything.

Acting here and now is most important in your personal life, and you best guide to that is what other have done successfully. Either that or you take a shot in the dark and discover your own path along the way.

[studiobischof]

The examples really help getting a feeling for this kind of thinkig. Thank you!

[cheyennealvis]

1. First principles thinking.
2. Ask WHY.
3. Reason by Analogy.
4. Cook vs Chef example.

[ElliotBrownJingles]

Great stuff. Will read the book - Six Easy Pieces - now.

[calisto]

Hi, I'm just curious.

Would it be less imprecise to say that the "fundamental truths" in this context are "highly indicated assumptions" instead of "highly probable assumptions"?

[snt]

nice channel. really happy that the algorithm made the suggestion to me, it seems that it serves really the human in the first place ;)

are you german btw?:)

[ytpah]

🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation:

00:00 🧠 *First principles thinking involves breaking down complex problems into fundamental truths, as practiced by Richard Feynman and Elon Musk.*
00:28 📚 *The approach is about understanding and challenging current assumptions to reconstruct a solution from basic truths.*
01:23 🤔 *The process starts by asking "why?" to uncover fundamental principles, avoiding reasoning based on authority.*
02:17 ❓ *Continuously asking "why?" leads to discovering first principles, which is especially effective for innovative endeavors.*
03:13 ⚖️ *First principles thinking is not practical for every decision; it's demanding and used for complex problems.*
03:42 🔄 *Reasoning by analogy involves solving problems based on similarities to known solutions, which is more common but less innovative.*
05:04 👩‍🍳 *The chef (first principles thinker) versus cook (analogy reasoner) metaphor illustrates different approaches to problem-solving.*
06:21 📖 *Richard Feynman's approach to first principles thinking is showcased through his atomic hypothesis in "Six Easy Pieces."*
08:32 📈 *Applying first principles thinking to YouTube algorithm optimization involves focusing on viewer needs and behavior rather than just technical aspects.*
10:54 🎯 *Focusing on the viewer, rather than just keywords, is a more effective strategy for YouTube content creators.*
11:48 💡 *First principles thinking is valuable for complex or new problems, providing deeper understanding and learning opportunities.*

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[ericlol]

crediting elon musk for being the mind behind his companies is one of the biggest L's i have ever seen bro

[alexpearson]

I’ve always said we have to let nature teach us.... let nature do the talking. I am a complete nobody and I mean that, but I’ve learned a lot through being inquisitive and watching nature. But most of all? Humility and an open mind - it all starts there. I love nothing more in life than for someone to come along and explain that I’m wrong and demonstrate why I am Id’d buy them dinner. Lol. More often in world, people like us are demonstrating to the world how it really works. Most of them are completely disinterested, however the odd one takes a curious look. Wasted life. I could’ve done really well in physics. Anyway, excellent work pal. Subscription added. (Two beers while writing this so please excuse any mistakes)

[psibarpsi]

The most difficult part about first principles thinking is finding the actual fundamental truths on which to base things on. This is what philosophy has been struggling with since the last two millennia.

[ludlowaloysius]

this is basic inductive reasoning.
Elon out here rebranding math 😂