First Principles Thinking

One of the strongest framework or mental model is first principles. Generally speaking, first principles thinking allows for one to break down the difficult and complicated task or issue into smaller and more fundamental units. As Shane Parrish argues in his book on mental models, first principles thinking identifies the elements that are, in the context of any given situation, non-reducible.

It is a powerful tool that helps in separating the underlying elements from general assumptions based on them in order to get to the essentials. Mastering the first principles of a subject or an area of knowledge can help you build a wide web of knowledge around them and possibly create something entirely new.

First principles thinking is one of the best ways to reverse-engineer complicated situations and unleash creative possibility. — Shane Parrish, The Great Mental Models, Vol 1

Once you understand the first principles of something, you can break it, test it, or rebuild it with ease. If we fail to grasp the first principles of something, we are at the mercy of other people’s thinking.

If we never learn to take something apart, test our assumptions about it, and reconstruct it, we end up bound by what other people tell us—trapped in the way things have always been done. — Shane Parrish, The Great Mental Models, Vol 1

Elon Musk is famous for applying and encouraging first principles thinking.