First-Principles Thinking

Strip a problem to what is actually known to be true; rebuild the answer from there, distrusting inherited assumptions until checked. richard feynman’s working mode — paired with his warning that you are the easiest person to fool.

Distinctions

• Not contrarianism: conclusions may match convention; the difference is they’re re-derived, not inherited.
• “Knowing the name is not knowing the thing”: pattern names (singleton, saga, RAG) are compressed claims — decompress before relying on them.
• Argument from authority is worth nothing; argument from evidence is worth everything.

Applied to Engineering

• Check the assumption the bug report smuggles in (“it broke after X” — did it?).
• Re-derive the constraint before designing around it (is the API limit real? measured?).
• build from scratch pedagogy is first principles as a learning tool; karpathy four guidelines #1 is first principles as coding conduct.
• The grilling doctrine operationalizes it conversationally: facts checked, decisions human.

Related

richard feynman, feynman technique, build from scratch pedagogy, grilling doctrine.