v1.0, Last updated 31st August, 2020
Today, information is free and abundant. What remains scarce is insight. Evidence for any hypothesis is only a Google search away. Choose any non-trivial topic X, and a cursory Google search will give you evidence for both X and NOT (X). As much as we like to think that we are rational reasoning machines, humans don't think like scientists. Even scientists barely think like scientists. Instead, we often begin with presuppositions and then wander around the world looking for reasons they may be true.
So, how do you find out what's REALLY true in this world?
Meet first principles 👋
Let's hear it from Elon Musk himself.
Let's hear it from Elon Musk himself.
“I think it’s important to reason from first principles rather than by analogy. The normal way we conduct our lives is we reason by analogy." - Elon Musk
A first principle is a basic assumption that cannot be deduced from any other assumption. In Math, these are called Axioms.