> from first principles I don't think that phrase means what you are trying to say here. What it doesn't mean: - learning by doing I believe it generally mea

> from first principles I don't think that phrase means what you are trying to say here. What it doesn't mean: - learning by doing I believe it generally means: a formalization that comes after a subject is understood so well that you can reduce it to "first principles" that imply the rest. Or, the production of a hypothesis by deduction from widely-accepted principles.