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These are not "first principles". First principles are fundamental and universal. All the things the author is calling "first principles" are actually "facts".
by solipsism 11y ago
These are not "first principles". First principles are fundamental and universal. All the things the author is calling "first principles" are actually "facts". Instead of "arguing from first principles" the author is "using logic".
- vacri 11y agoThey're not even 'facts', but 'strong opinions'. AT&T might have lucked out and hired some savants, for example. Or in another timeline, the company might have actually been able to handle both cloud and software vending had they tried. But ultimately, what the author is talking about is really "let's start with the basic blocks and build up".
- jadc 11y agoI quite liked the article but I agree with you that these are not really "first principles". Seem like the story was shoe-horned to fit the analogy. The author could have taken the same story and used it to illustrate the power of open questions such as "what do I know to be true" instead of first principles.