The First Principles Method Explained by Elon Musk
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN cites it as the standard illustration of reasoning from first principles, including his battery cost example.
What it is
A short excerpt of Elon Musk, interviewed by Kevin Rose, explaining first-principles reasoning with the example of the car versus improving horse carriages. He warns it takes much more mental energy than reasoning by analogy.
Recommended by 1 HN commenters across 1 different months, 2014 to 2021.
What Hacker News said
Recommends pritovido · 2020-11 · on “Ask HN: Am I too late for the “Data Science” wave?”
It's up to you. You should have much more knowledge in the agriculture field than most people. I believe it makes no sense that you discard the knowledge you already have. You can apply data science methods with the knowledge that you have going to work or creating a new company that works in agriculture using new methods. Do you want to spend your life doing surveillance and spying on people like everybody else? This is fashionable but people are starting to resist and develop antibodies for it as they understand it more. The TV or the phone that I bought spying or me is not acceptable. Agriculture will grow enormously in the future with things like LED and other methods to give energy to p
Cites stcredzero · 2014-03 · on “The Job After Steve Jobs: Tim Cook and Apple”
Meetings with Cook could be terrifying. He exuded a Zenlike calm and didn't waste words. "Talk about your numbers. Put your spreadsheet up," Okay, why in the world are we, supposed 21st century intellectuals, supposed to be looking at a leader who asks for quantification and hard data as somehow unusual and harsh? If I assume that the writer knows his audience well, implications of this for how WSJ readers generally think is, frankly, breathtaking. We don't live in the world wishfully imagined by the Romantic Era! We live in a world ruled by mathematically-based laws best understood from first principles. The "Rule of Cool" is not going to suspend the laws of physics and economics for you ju
Cites melling · 2017-01 · on “John Carmack on the Government”
Seems like a flawed way to think: In most other countries people pay higher taxes, in the US people pay less in taxes, therefore I can't see why taxes should be lower. How about reasoning from first principles? [this video]
Cites lowbloodsugar · 2021-07 · on “The Alexander: Why did you build such a long piano?”
Sure. For example, everyone knows that it is far too expensive to build an electric car because battery prices are far too high. Don't make that mistake! [1] [1] [this video]