Elon Musk is the game changer. He is one of the most audacious entrepreneurs the world has ever seen. He established two companies. One of them was Sapce X whose goal is to make reusable rockets. This task was something that even NASA and ROSCOSMOS couldn't do. But he did it and made a huge achievement for the whole humanity.
Recently Sapce X has become the first commercial company to launch astronauts to space. Another company is Tesla whose goal is to manufacture electric cars. These companies were created not just for money but to solve the greatest problems of humans.
There is a secret thinking method that Elon and few people in this world use. It is very powerful method. Do you want to know this method? Obviously you do.
Two General Methods of Thinking
The method is to think using first principle. So what is this
' First Principle '. Let me elaborate. We humans think by two ways.
1) Analogy
2) First Principle
When we think from analogy we draw conclusion from already existing idea, opinions and experiences. For example suppose you want to learn a new language say Japanese. But when you think with past experience ( analogy ), you remember reading an article which said that it is difficult to learn language when you grow up. This idea sets in your mind and you give up even without trying.
But when you think with the first principle, you will focus on the undeniable truth and facts. The truth is that you can speak and pronounce any words. You are neither mute nor you stutter. And if all these are true, whether it is Japanese/Spanish, you can learn any language. Thus we can draw better and clear conclusion.
What is First Principle thinking
First Principle thinking is one of the best ways to reverse engineer complicated problems and unleash creative possibility. Sometimes called ' reasoning from first principle' .
The idea is to break down complicated problems into basic elements and then reassemble them from ground up. It is one of the best ways to learn to think for yourself, unlock your creative potential and move from linear to non-linear results.
In first principle, we continue to ask questions to ourselves and reach the state where we can provide logical reasoning to the topic we are thinking about.
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 dog of shoddy reasoning and inadequate analogies to see opportunities that other miss.
" 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. Their knowledge is so fragile. "
- Richard Feynman
Aristotle writing on first principle
" In every systematic inquiry (methods) where there are first principle, or causes, or elements, knowledge and science results from acquiring knowledge of these; for we think we know something just in case we aquire knowledge of the primary causes, the primary first principles, all the way to the elements. "
Benefits
Reasoning by first principles removes the impurity of assumptions and convections. What remains is the essentials. It's one of the best mental models you can use to improve your thinking because the essentials allow you to see where reasoning by analogy might lead you astray.
" To understand is to know what to do. "
-Wittgenstem
Techniques for Establishing First Principles.
There are many ways to apply first principles. Let's talk about a few of them.
Socratic Questions
This is a disciplined questioning process, used to establish truths, reveal underlying assumptions and separate knowledge from ignorance.
Socratic questioning generally follows following process:
1) Clarifying your thinking and explaining the origin of your ideas. ( Why do I think this? What exactly do I think?)
2) Challenging assumptions ( How do I know this is true? What if I thought the opposite?)
3) Looking for evidence ( How can I back this up? What are the sources? )
4) Considering alternative perspectives( What might others think? How do I know I am correct? )
5) Examining consequences and implications ( What if I am wrong? What are the consequences if I am? )
6) Questioning the original questions ( Why did I think that? Was I correct? What conclusions can I draw from the reasoning process? )
This process stops you from relying on your gut and limits strong emotional response. This process helps you build something that lasts.
Description from Elon
What's most interesting about Musk is not what he thinks but how he thinks.
I think people's thinking process is too bound by convention or analogy to prior experiences. It's rare that people try to think of something on a first principles basis. They'll say, " We'll do that because its always been done that way. " Or they'll not do it because, " Well, nobody's ever done that, so it must not be good. " But that's just a ridiculous way to think. You have to build up the reasoning from the ground up. " From the first principles " is the phrase that's used in physics. You look at the fundamentals and construct your reasoning from that, and then you see if you have a conclusion that works or doesn't work and it may or may not be different from what people have done in the past."
His approach to understanding reality is to start with what is true, not with his intuition. The problem is that we don't know as much as we think we do, so our intuition isn't very good. We trick ourselves into thinking we know what's possible and what's not.
What Holds Us Back?
Most of the people have difficulty to adopt thinking through first principle because our society has influenced us since our childhood. To kids we do not prioritize giving then actual facts and truths. We conclude their curiosity by stating the last experience of the humanity. For example when a child asks why we shouldn't cut our nails inside our home we answer simply because everybody does it since the past. There's no specific reason. But there is a reason. Our nails are very suitable residence for various bacteria and viruses. Cutting the nails inside the home will allow these bacteria and viruses to remain inside the home and could result to future diseases and health problem.
Similarly other analogical thinking are superstitious belief. When we ask why we shouldn't cross the road after a cat crosses it, the society answers because we shouldn't, everybody does that since the past. Why we shouldn't eat that... , because our religion says so. Why we should join that club, ...because everybody's joining. Why should we dress up like that, ...because it's the trend.
Why is he/she discriminated?... because our ancestors did that. There are a lot of examples and this has been going on since the millennium. In most of the cases there are no logical answers.
Summary from Elon
I think it's important to reason from first principle rather than by analogy. So the normal way we conduct our lives is, we reason by analogy. We are doing this because it's like something else that was done, or it is like what other people are doing. And it's mentally easier to reason by analogy rather than from first principles. First principle is kind of a physics way of looking at the world, and what that really means is, you boil things down to the most fundamental truths an say," okay, what are we sure is true"..and then reason up from there. That takes a lot more mental energy.
Conclusion
Many people mistakenly believe that creativity is something that only some of us are born with, and either we have it or we don't. Fortunately, there seems to be ample evidence that this isn't true. We're all born rather creative, but during our formative years, it can be beaten out of us by busy parents and teachers. As adults we rely on convention and what we're told because that's easier than breaking things down into first principles and thinking for ourselves.
Very few people make the use of first principle and can provide scientific answers. And that's why these people can challenge the conventional ways by their logical mind. So, next time when you think, before you draw conclusion or opinion, ask frequent questions until you find the logic and truth behind it.
Author's Letter:
Dear readers,
If you have reached up to this point then I express my whole hearted gratitude to all of you for your love and support. Please subscribe if you haven't and do share the post if you liked it. It will surely help me grow. Stay tuned, there are a lot of articles such as these to come in the future.
Yours,
Saugat Shrestha
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