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First Principles

What do you need to understand about yourself before you can act with agency?

Agency starts with self-knowledge. These are the bedrock truths about human nature — how we think, what we value, where we fail, and what fuels the loop.

Domains​

  • Behavioural Biases — Universal patterns in human nature. Reciprocity, social proof, loss aversion, habit formation. Features, not bugs.
  • Philosophy — Wisdom that survived 2,000+ years. Stoic, Taoist, Buddhist foundations.
  • Foundations — Truth, capacity, power, simplicity, speed. The epistemic primitives.
  • Goodwill — The fuel. Consensus, privacy, security, trust. Without goodwill, no loop sustains.

The Method​

Strip away received wisdom. Reason from what you can see, test, and validate yourself. The full method lives at First Principles Thinking in the navigation system.

Context​

Questions​

What truth about yourself are you avoiding because it's uncomfortable?

  • Which psychological principle do you exploit in others but refuse to apply to yourself?
  • What ancient wisdom do you intellectually agree with but consistently fail to practice?
  • Where is the gap between your conviction and your embeddedness largest?