I was so fed up when searching online on first principles. All I got was how Elon made rockets cheaper. Which is hardly a 'how to'. I am building my skill in first principles thinking and working in an organization where this is #1 priority helps.
My way of thinking at present -
1. Structure first. Go first principles. Put down what I know within that structure. Some of it could be my early hypothesis (and can be wrong)
2. Research each part of the structure. Refine/correct my initial knowledge of it.
3. Then it is a tug of war between new knowledge and structure. Some new bits of knowledge will fit into the structure, some will modify the structure itself
4. Iterate a few times and I have a refined idea of the topic. Good first draft of knowledge which is enough to either write an article about or speak to someone
Few resources will help -
1. Learn about the Socratic method. This is the fundamental to first principles.
2. Read the Farnam Street blog. Great pieces of 'how to think', 'writing to improve clarity'
3. Practice a few consulting case interviews. For all the flak that consulting draws, first principles thinking is not one of them.
Thanks for this! And couldn't agree more. I think there's quite a bit more pedagogy to formalize here. Makes me wonder why no one has made a full attempt to write it *all* down (my post too is incomplete!). Perhaps it just points to how difficult a task that is?
I was so fed up when searching online on first principles. All I got was how Elon made rockets cheaper. Which is hardly a 'how to'. I am building my skill in first principles thinking and working in an organization where this is #1 priority helps.
My way of thinking at present -
1. Structure first. Go first principles. Put down what I know within that structure. Some of it could be my early hypothesis (and can be wrong)
2. Research each part of the structure. Refine/correct my initial knowledge of it.
3. Then it is a tug of war between new knowledge and structure. Some new bits of knowledge will fit into the structure, some will modify the structure itself
4. Iterate a few times and I have a refined idea of the topic. Good first draft of knowledge which is enough to either write an article about or speak to someone
Few resources will help -
1. Learn about the Socratic method. This is the fundamental to first principles.
2. Read the Farnam Street blog. Great pieces of 'how to think', 'writing to improve clarity'
3. Practice a few consulting case interviews. For all the flak that consulting draws, first principles thinking is not one of them.
Thanks for this! And couldn't agree more. I think there's quite a bit more pedagogy to formalize here. Makes me wonder why no one has made a full attempt to write it *all* down (my post too is incomplete!). Perhaps it just points to how difficult a task that is?