<div data-text="What you learned...">A first principle is the fundamental building block of an idea, the most indivisible part that we know to be true and that we can use to build more complex thoughts.</div>

First Principles

Problem Solving

Self Improvement

<p>Thinking from first principles is not a new idea. It&#39;s actually the single most consistent factor among great thinkers.</p>
<p><em>For example, Aristotle believed that you could not possess true knowledge without first understanding the first principles. He thought that everything could be divided into categories and sub-categories (the smallest of them being the equivalent for first principles). </em></p>

First Principles: Not A New Idea

<p>An empiricist is a person that believed all true knowledge is based and obtained through experience.</p><p>The process of seeking knowledge through experience and making use of reason to give it structure it how we can find the first principles of a subject.</p>

Reason And Experience

<ul>
<li><strong>Conventional thinkers</strong>: their knowledge consists of proof that is on display.</li>
<li><strong>Unconventional thinkers</strong>: they use experience and reason to organize their knowledge; they ask questions and make analogies to get to the roots of am idea.</li>
</ul>

Conventional and Unconventional Thinkers

<div data-text="What you learned...">Once a first principle is understood, we can look and improve each component (from the simple to the more complex) of a subject or a product.</div><p>If every part is remarkable, then the total is remarkable.</p>

The Art Of First Principles Thinking

<div data-text="What you learned..."><ul><li><b>Innovation</b>: once you understand the fundamentals of an idea, you can change and rearrange them to create new ideas and products.</li><li><b>Optimization</b>: a fundamental component could be changed, to improve and idea or product.</li><li><b>Integration</b>: once you understand a foundational component of an idea, it becomes a lot easier to integrate new knowledge into your understanding.</li><li><b>Transfer</b>: understanding first principles makes it easier to transfer complex ideas to other people.</li></ul></div>

Benefits of First Principles Thinking

<div data-text="What you learned..."><p>Write down and organize information. Create hierarchies and mind maps.</p><p>Most ideas are nested outside or inside one another. You have to learn to map out how these ideas are linked.</p></div>

Become A First Principles Thinker

Signup for your FREE trial to The Great Courses Plus here: http://ow.ly/9oQl30hIuI8 __ Instagram: http://instagram.com/freedomintht Twitter: http://twitter.com/freedomintht Facebook: http://facebook.com/freedomintht Read more essays: http://freedominthought.com Book Recommendations: http://amzn.to/2kw7Mp4 __ Transcript and sources: http://freedominthought.com/archive/how-powerful-people-think __ The Great Courses Plus is currently available to watch through a web browser to almost anyone in the world and optimized for the US market.