Essentially, think like a curious kid, not just copy what others did.
Example:
Elon Musk’s application of this principle to cars:
1) What is a car, really?
A machine that moves people from point A to Point B.
2) What does it need to move?
It needs energy. Does not have to come from gasoline.
3) What’s another way to get energy?
Electricity batteries can store energy.
By breaking the idea of “a car” down to its basic truths – it moves people, it needs energy – they could rebuild the idea in a totally new way: an Electric Car!
So…
Copying = card use gas
First Principles Thinking = cars use energy (the truth) – what is the best way to get that?
That’s how “First Principles Thinking” helps people invent new things instead of improving old ones.
