Elon Musk is a big believer in First Principles Thinking.

Not just Musk — Jeff Bezos, Peter Thiel and Feynman too.

Here's what it is, how to use it, and become better at it:

What it is:

Elon Musk (@elonmusk) on First Principles Thinking:

It means "boiling things down to the most fundamental truths and then reasoning up from there."

A first principle is a basic truth that cannot be broken down any further.

God — this reminds me of high school chemistry when we first learnt about Atoms.

But that's what they're like! The basic foundations.

Here are 2 techniques to use First Principles Thinking:

1. The Five Whys

This is simple. Keep asking why.

Already asked why? Ask again.

Continuously ask why things are the way they are.

It'll help you discover the root causes of problems (hence helping you solve them).

You know what — Children are great at this...

Children question everything.

They keep asking why (almost to the point that it gets annoying).

Their curiosity enables them to think from first principles.

As we get older, we lose this child-like curiosity to keep asking why.