Learn more about problemsolving with this collection
The importance of innovation
The power of perseverance
How to think big and take risks
"Well, I do think there’s a good framework for thinking. It is physics. You know, the sort of first principles reasoning.
(...) What I mean by that is, boil things down to their fundamental truths and reason up from there, as opposed to reasoning by analogy.
Through most of our life, we get through life by reasoning by analogy, which essentially means copying what other people do with slight variations."
ELON MUSK
662
3.42K reads
MORE IDEAS ON THIS
First Principles Thinking In Action
Assumption: “I just can’t find enough time to workout and achieve my weight loss goals.”
First principles thinking:
- What do you really need to reach your weight loss goal? I need to exercise more, preferably 5 days a week for an hour ...
121
1.81K reads
Elon Musk's 3 Steps Principle Thinking
- Identify and define your current assumptions: When next you’re faced with a familiar problem or challenge, write down your current assumptions about them.
- Breakdown the problem into its fundamental principles: These fundamental principles are basic...
826
3.14K reads
"It is important to view knowledge as sort of semantic tree.
Make sure you understand the fundamental principles, ie the trunk and big branches, before you get into the leaves/details or there is nothing for them to hang on to.”
ELON MUSK
645
2.61K reads
“The person who says he knows what he thinks but cannot express it usually does not know what he thinks.”
MORTIMER ADLER
135
2.17K reads
First Principle Vs. Analog Thinking
- First principles thinking: actively questioning every assumption you think you know about a given problem or scenario and then creating new knowledge and solutions from scratch.
- Reasoning by analogy: building knowledge and solving problems based ...
685
2.7K reads
CURATED FROM
Elon Musks' "3-Step" First Principles Thinking: How to Think and Solve Difficult Problems Like a...
medium.com
6 ideas
·15.8K reads
CURATED BY
For every question, there is an answer. For every problem, there is a solution. For everything else, there is an explanation.
Related collections
More like this
"… it's important to reason from first principles rather than by analogy. 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. But with first principles, you boil things down t...
ELON MUSK
"I tend to approach things from a physics framework. And physics teaches you to reason from first principles rather than by analogy. So I said, OK, let’s look at the first principles. What is a rocket made of? Aerospace-grade aluminum alloys, plus some titanium, copper, and carbon fiber...
ELON MUSK
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 pe...
Read & Learn
20x Faster
without
deepstash
with
deepstash
with
deepstash
Access to 200,000+ ideas
—
Access to the mobile app
—
Unlimited idea saving & library
—
—
Unlimited history
—
—
Unlimited listening to ideas
—
—
Downloading & offline access
—
—
Personalized recommendations
—
—
Supercharge your mind with one idea per day
Enter your email and spend 1 minute every day to learn something new.
I agree to receive email updates