Eric Jorgensen

getting to the essence of like, what is truly possible in this situation? Like one of the most famous kind of stories actually comes from Elon Musk. So there's, I'm writing a book on Elon now in the same style, and there will be quite a few sort of first principle stories. And that's one of his most powerful things.

getting to the essence of like, what is truly possible in this situation? Like one of the most famous kind of stories actually comes from Elon Musk. So there's, I'm writing a book on Elon now in the same style, and there will be quite a few sort of first principle stories. And that's one of his most powerful things.

And the way he looks at it, the question that he asked himself, which is maybe a little more clear than, you know, if you don't know what first principles are, is like, does this break the laws of physics? If not, then it's possible to improve it, right? It's possible to do something better. So the example that he tells when he started SpaceX is, you know, why is this rocket $100 million?

And the way he looks at it, the question that he asked himself, which is maybe a little more clear than, you know, if you don't know what first principles are, is like, does this break the laws of physics? If not, then it's possible to improve it, right? It's possible to do something better. So the example that he tells when he started SpaceX is, you know, why is this rocket $100 million?

All right, well, let me look at what are the raw components of a rocket, not engine and like flaps, but how much aluminum? How much oxygen? How much carbon? Like what is this thing made of? And what is the cost of those things? And he came up with this index. It's like the raw material of stuff in this rocket is...

All right, well, let me look at what are the raw components of a rocket, not engine and like flaps, but how much aluminum? How much oxygen? How much carbon? Like what is this thing made of? And what is the cost of those things? And he came up with this index. It's like the raw material of stuff in this rocket is...

you know, like maybe it's half a million dollars and the rocket is selling for a hundred million dollars. So what accounts for that 2000 X increase? Um, that's probably off by an order of magnitude, 200. Yeah, whatever. Um, what accounts for that? And so thinking in the limit of how could you approach this problem? Like how cheaply could you possibly arrange these materials in the,

you know, like maybe it's half a million dollars and the rocket is selling for a hundred million dollars. So what accounts for that 2000 X increase? Um, that's probably off by an order of magnitude, 200. Yeah, whatever. Um, what accounts for that? And so thinking in the limit of how could you approach this problem? Like how cheaply could you possibly arrange these materials in the,

shape that they need to be to have a rocket and how much more cheaply could you build it? Um, and this is like a universal thing that you can look at anything in your life through this lens. Um, you know, first principles might be like, it just opens your lens of problem solving to see a lot of different opportunities that you might not have included.

shape that they need to be to have a rocket and how much more cheaply could you build it? Um, and this is like a universal thing that you can look at anything in your life through this lens. Um, you know, first principles might be like, it just opens your lens of problem solving to see a lot of different opportunities that you might not have included.

Yeah, I think the whys is almost the inverse of first principles. So if you ask enough whys, you can drill down to – and that's why it's not just why. It's like the five whys or the six whys. Like keep going down. Why is it so expensive? Well, why is it manufactured that way? Well, why is it only – like –

Yeah, I think the whys is almost the inverse of first principles. So if you ask enough whys, you can drill down to – and that's why it's not just why. It's like the five whys or the six whys. Like keep going down. Why is it so expensive? Well, why is it manufactured that way? Well, why is it only – like –

maybe it had to travel a really long way why is it only manufactured in china like why why why why but the first principles version just like cuts all of those and if you can make that creative leap to go all the way down from the very beginning um you know like the opposite of reasoning from first principles is reasoning by analogy which is how almost all of us do almost everything

maybe it had to travel a really long way why is it only manufactured in china like why why why why but the first principles version just like cuts all of those and if you can make that creative leap to go all the way down from the very beginning um you know like the opposite of reasoning from first principles is reasoning by analogy which is how almost all of us do almost everything

If you say, oh, I need to get to work, I can't afford a car. Because that's how you see everybody else get to work. You don't necessarily think, I need to get to work, what is the cheapest possible way for me to get to work? Or what is the most efficient way? You just, by nature, observe what everyone else is doing, and that's your starting place, rather than starting from...

If you say, oh, I need to get to work, I can't afford a car. Because that's how you see everybody else get to work. You don't necessarily think, I need to get to work, what is the cheapest possible way for me to get to work? Or what is the most efficient way? You just, by nature, observe what everyone else is doing, and that's your starting place, rather than starting from...

What are your full set of options? Because it's exhausting to think that way. You can't do that for everything in your life. But for the most important problems, either the most important or the most valuable, that is a really effective way. And they continue to do this. I'm just going to keep using Elon examples because that's where my head's been at. But that's where the tower came from.

What are your full set of options? Because it's exhausting to think that way. You can't do that for everything in your life. But for the most important problems, either the most important or the most valuable, that is a really effective way. And they continue to do this. I'm just going to keep using Elon examples because that's where my head's been at. But that's where the tower came from.

What is the best possible solution? What is the way to get the lightest possible craft? And one of the really heavy things are the landing legs. And so how do we not have landing legs? It's like, well, put the landing legs outside the vehicle. It's like, is that even theoretically physically possible? It's like, sure, it's physically possible. It seems extremely difficult, never been done before.

What is the best possible solution? What is the way to get the lightest possible craft? And one of the really heavy things are the landing legs. And so how do we not have landing legs? It's like, well, put the landing legs outside the vehicle. It's like, is that even theoretically physically possible? It's like, sure, it's physically possible. It seems extremely difficult, never been done before.