Peeling away the layers of the onion - "first principles thinking"

I like metaphors and similes.  When I was younger, some of my favorite stories were myths, fables, legends, and folk tales.  The common thread in all of these stories was the so-called "moral of the story" - lessons that we, the readers, could learn from the characters in the stories on how to act, how to respond to challenges in life, how to relate to others, and what to do in certain situations.  I am still a big believer in the power of stories to teach and to learn.  We often learn in this manner - cognitive psychologists would call this method of instruction, "analogous learning." 

A recent blog post from Michael Roberto called my attention to a completely different way of thinking.  As it turns out, the great innovator and entrepreneur, Elon Musk (of PayPal, Space X, Tesla Motors, and SolarCity fame), believes that we should spend more time learning from a method called first principles thinking as opposed to analogous learning.  First principles are basic, foundational, and self-evident ideas, propositions, or assumptions that cannot be deduced from other ideas or principles.  In mathematics and physics, first principles are known as axioms or postulates.  Conceptually, first principles come from the writings and teachings of the Greek philosopher, Aristotle.  Aristotle defined a "first principle" as "the first basis from which a thing is known."  In philosophy, first principles are "a priori" rather than "a posteriori" (they are simply assumed to exist, without question).

First principles thinking involves de-constructing an idea to its simplest elements or the fundamental truths.  Once you are there, you can develop your ideas more fully and reach an entirely different plane of understanding.  "First principles" thinking forces us to "think outside the box" and develop new and different ways to attack a particular problem.  There is a famous quote by Henry Ford (whether he actually said it or not is not known for certain) that I believe illustrates what happens when we get stuck in traditional modes of thinking.  Ford said, "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses."  Ford was a "first principles" kind of thinker, which allowed him to step "outside the box" and improve upon the design of the early automobile.

All good - but it is difficult to get away from analogous learning.  I even found an online article that uses an analogy to explain first principles thinking!  The article described the process of de-constructing an idea down to its first principles as if you were peeling away the layers of an onion.  The heart of the onion is the first principle.  The first question you ask peels away the outermost layer of the onion - and you keep asking "why?" (i.e. peeling away another layer) until you reach the inner core of the onion.  Only then have you found the first principle!