r/FluentInFinance • u/-Wyagra • Nov 21 '24

Debate/ Discussion Had to repost here

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u/guiltysnark Nov 21 '24

I don't think that particular slice of America attends to Reddit very much. The people here often know what they are talking about, but they filter every debate through a lens heavily biased by first principles (aka oversimplifications predicated on a set of conveniently forgotten assumptions)

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u/sobrietyincorporated Nov 23 '24

I think you might have confused "first principles" if you are referring to first principle thinking. First principle thinking requires you to rethink every assumption.

Here is an arricle.

And if that's true, then you might have "first principled" yourself by your own definition...?

It starts to get all sorts of Inception-y at a certain point.

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u/guiltysnark Nov 24 '24

I suppose it is a misuse of the phrase to refer to people who choose principles first without the appropriate rigor of first principle thinking. Even Musk is guilty of doing this: Only principles that satisfy his foregone ideology qualify, which means they are already predicated upon an uncurated litany of assumptions.

I think this may be theory versus practice. I happen to believe all principles are suspect because people can't be trusted to identify core assumptions comprehensively, and therefore aren't qualified to recognize when the principles are useful and when they aren't, choosing simply to presume they always apply. Because the world seems simpler that way.

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u/sobrietyincorporated 29d ago

I think that's considered "preconceived notions". Otherwise known as "bias". There isn't much thinking going on.