First Principles Thinking

• "Why was this decision made originally?"
• "Must we use this specific technology/pattern?"
• "Is this requirement actually a fixed constraint?"

Phase 3: Establish Ground Truths

Identify irreducible facts that cannot be violated:

• Physical/Math constraints (latency, throughput limits).
• Fundamental business invariants.
• Core user needs.

Phase 4: Reason Upward

Build the solution from ground truths only:

• Start with the minimal possible implementation.
• Add only what is strictly necessary to satisfy ground truths.
• Each addition must defend its complexity.

Standard Output Format

## First Principles Analysis: [Topic]

### 1. Problem Essence
**Core problem:** [Statement of fundamental need]
**Success criteria:** [Irreducible requirements]

### 2. Assumptions Challenged
| Assumption | Challenge | Verdict |
|------------|-----------|---------|
| [Assumption 1] | [Why question it] | [Discard/Keep/Modify] |

### 3. Ground Truths
- [Irreducible Fact 1]
- [Irreducible Fact 2]

### 4. Reasoning Chain
[Ground Truth] → [Minimal Step] → [Justified Addition] → [Final Solution]

### 5. Conclusion
**Recommended approach:** [Description]
**Key insight:** [What the analysis revealed]

Anti-Patterns to Avoid

1. The Analogy Trap: "Company X does it this way, so we should too."
2. The Legacy Trap: "We've always done it this way."
3. The Complexity Trap: Adding layers of abstraction before they are fundamentally necessary.