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How the methods of First Principles thinking can gamify your life ~ æStranger
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Key Ideas
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Don't flow with the mainstream
Moving away from analogy = Removing iterative steps based on other or older experiences and biases and prejudices
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Keeping Yourself Motivated
Determination. Do something that you have willingly chosen to do. Have a sense of autonomy and self-empowerment.
Bring on companions. Shared memories and experiences are far stronger motivating factors.
Be impatient. achieve your goals as quickly as you can.
Stay curious. Do not just dream, but see the benefits for yourself.
Avoidance. Make the most out of your time and win the final pay off.
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Applying the First Principles Thinking
Identify the Problem
What is something that I want to change in my life?
Deconstruct the Problem
What are the causes of my problems? How does it affect my life?
Solve the Problem
Start creating your new framework. You could think of multiple ways to achieve your goals easily.
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Advantages of First Principles Thinking
- Allows for a more personal, customized mode of thinking and application.
- A key to doing any sort of systemic inquiry.
- Even though it does take far more mental energy to work in this mode, the results can be quite staggering.
- A new and innovative way of thinking.
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Comparison vs. First Principles Thinking
Comparison Thinking (reason through analogy)
When you make decisions and judgement calls based on what you or others have experienced. An easy mode of thinking but also offers no innovation or large changes.
First Principles Thinking (new perspective)
When you take a problem and break it down to its fundamental parts and truths, you think of a way in solving it in a new and innovative way. A harder mode of thinking, but does offer better results, is far more effective and creates recognizable change.
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SIMILAR ARTICLES & IDEAS:
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Key Ideas
First-principles thinking
Breaking down complicated problems into basic elements and then reassemble them from the ground up.
It’s one of the best ways to learn to think for yourself, unlock your creative poten...
A first principle
...is a foundational proposition or assumption that stands alone. We cannot deduce first principles from any other proposition or assumption.
Reasoning by first principles removes the impurity of assumptions and conventions. What remains is the essentials.
Cutting through the dogma
If we never learn to take something apart, test the assumptions, and reconstruct it, we end up trapped in what other people tell us.
We remain trapped in the way things have always been done. When the environment changes, we just continue as if things were the same.
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First Principles Thinking
Is the act of deconstructing something to the fundamental parts that you know are true and building up from there.
Also called reasoning from first principles, it effectively he...
Elon Musk
“Physics teaches you to reason from first principles rather than by analogy. So I said, okay, let’s look at the first principles. What is a rocket made of? Aerospace-grade aluminum alloys, plus some titanium, copper, and carbon fiber. Then I asked, what is the value of those materials on the commodity market? It turned out that the materials cost of a rocket was around two percent of the typical price.”
One Method, Different Solutions
Different solutions present themselves at different layers of abstraction. Depending on how deep and thorough is your breakdown of the situation, putting them all back together may yield different solutions.
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Practical ways to use First Principles Thinking
- If you’re starting a business, use first principles to build a product or service that’s fundamentally better than the competition.
- If your day is too busy, first princip...