Real-Life Iron Man Reveals The Secret to Thinking Like A Genius
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” — Albert Einstein
Einstein, Nikola Tesla, or real-life Iron Man (Elon Musk), are geniuses not because of their brains but because of the way they think, which is deeper than that of most people.
Take Elon Musk, for example. Instead of merely trying to prevent catastrophic events on Earth, he has a plan to colonize humans on Mars.
He challenges the assumption that humans should only live on Earth.
It’s first-principle thinking, the fancier way to say “think like a scientist.” He literally needs to think from the root of problems while neglecting assumptions many people may have.
What is the First Principle of Thinking?
In an interview with TED Curator Chris Anderson, Elon Musk stated:
“Well, I do think there’s a good framework for thinking. It is physics. You know, the sort of first principles reasoning.
Generally, I think there are — what I mean by that is, boil things down to their fundamental truths and reason up from there, as opposed to reasoning by analogy.
Throughout most of our life, we get through life by reasoning by analogy, which essentially means copying what other people do with slight variations.”
To put it simply, first-principle thinking means you don’t follow previous assumptions on a problem. Instead, you acknowledge the facts and then find your own way to solve the problem.
However, people often reason by analogy or simply copy what others do. This approach can lead to mistakes.
It’s similar to following people walking towards a ravine. You might think it’s okay since everybody is here, but in reality, everyone is clueless.
In real life, this is an example of first-principle thinking from Elon Musk himself, as he was interviewed by Kevin Rose.
“Somebody could say, ‘Battery packs are really expensive, and that’s just the way they will always be… Historically, it has cost $600 per kilowatt-hour. It’s not going to be much better than that in the future.’
With first principles, you say, ‘What are the material constituents of the batteries? What is the stock market value of the material constituents?’
It’s got cobalt, nickel, aluminum, carbon, some polymers for separation, and a seal can. Break that down on a material basis and say, ‘If we bought that on the London Metal Exchange, what would each of those things cost?’
It’s like $80 per kilowatt-hour.
So clearly, you just need to think of clever ways to take those materials and combine them into the shape of a battery cell, and you can have batteries that are much, much cheaper than anyone realizes.”
How to Use First Principle Thinking
While this principle is used by Elon Musk to create crazy innovations, it’s not impossible to apply to your daily problems.
The main message is simply to think way deeper than usual so that you can solve problems in a more creative and effective way.
A simple guide to doing this is by using the 5 Whys method pioneered by Sakichi Toyoda, the Founder of Toyota Industries.
It can help you remove assumptions by asking “why” five times.
First, ask why the problem is happening. Then, for each answer, ask why four more times to drill down to the basics.
That’s it.
The final “why” answer is then your real problem to solve.
Daily Life Examples
#Problem 1: Unhealthy Eating Habit
· Why do I have an unhealthy eating habit? Because I often eat fast food.
· Why do I choose to eat fast food? Because I don’t have time to prepare healthier food.
· Why do I not have enough time to prepare healthier food? Because I don’t have meal planning in my schedule.
· Why do I not prioritize meal planning in my schedule? Because I don’t really understand how it will impact my overall health.
· Why don’t I understand how it will impact my health? Because I didn’t take the time to educate myself.
Solution: I need to educate myself about healthy food.
# Problem 2: Procrastination on Tasks
· Why do I procrastinate on my tasks? Because doing the tasks feels boring.
· Why do I feel bored doing the tasks? Because I don’t see why I need to do that.
· Why don’t I know the purpose of my tasks? Because I don’t have clarity on my goals.
· Why don’t I have clarity about my goals? Because I don’t do daily self-reflection.
· Why don’t I do daily reflection? Because I haven’t prioritized it in my schedule yet.
Solution: I need to prioritize self-reflection in my schedule.
Common Challenge
First-principle thinking requires extra focus and concentration to arrive at a proper solution. The first time you use this method, you may face these challenges:
1. Overanalyze
You don’t need to think super deep, like Elon Musk. Just go a little bit deeper, and you can already get the benefit.
2. Can’t Find The First Principle
I think the 5 Whys method isn’t strict. The point is, the more you ask, the more likely you will find the basics.
If you think the 4th “why” is already the basic, it’s okay. Even if it actually needs more “whys,” if you’re willing to go deeper, it’s fine.
3. Not Sure About The Idea
Your idea might look weird. But that’s fine; everyone’s thinking process is different. This method is supposed to be used to think differently, anyway.
If you’re not sure that your idea is right, ask people who are competent enough about your problem.
Wrapping It Up
First-principle thinking, as explained by Elon Musk, is a method to think literally from the root of problems, neglecting assumptions many people may have.
This way of thinking may help you solve problems in creative and effective ways.
To do this, use the 5 Whys method:
· Ask why to the problem.
· For each answer, ask why four more times to go deeper.
You may face common challenges when using this method, such as finding difficulty in identifying the root of the problem. But if you just think a little bit deeper than usual, you will still get the benefits.
If you don’t feel confident about your solution, remember that being different doesn’t mean it’s false. Also, make sure that you know the basics first; if you don’t, ask people who know.
My Final Thought: If you want to think in a smarter way, you need to think a little bit deeper. Ignore assumptions, as they are everyone else’s thinking and can mislead you.
After all, Ryan Holiday says, “What does following in the footsteps of everyone else get you? It gets you to exactly the same conclusions as everyone else.”
Thank you so much for reading this far. I hope this article has been helpful to you. Feel free to share your interesting thoughts about this method in the comment section below.
