First Principles Thinking

A systematic approach to decomposing complex problems into fundamental truths and reasoning up from there, avoiding the trap of reasoning by analogy.

Customized from awesome-skills/first-principles-skill v0.2.0 — added Phase 0 (Delete First) per Elon Musk's requirement questioning mantra.

When to Use This Skill

• Evaluating whether an architecture or design is truly optimal
• Questioning "best practices" that may not fit the current context
• Breaking through when conventional solutions feel inadequate
• Making foundational decisions that will have long-term impact
• Challenging inherited assumptions in legacy systems
• Designing new systems without cargo-culting existing patterns
• Questioning whether a requirement or step should exist at all

Core Process

Phase 0: Question the Requirement Itself (Delete First)