First Principles and Eliminating the Need for AI
#3 Productize Philosophy
Hey, everyone.
I am sending out this Newsletter late, by 2 days. I was caught between two drafts covering two distinct ideas. You see I am trying to figure out some kind of framework to distribute ideas across my letters and figure out a digestible volume of content per letter. I am swinging between jamming too much and jamming too little to not give enough options. I would love to have your opinion on this.
Now in the last letter, I gave you an incisive way to unpackage timeless aesthetics in minimalism, primarily that of Apple’s. Apple’s design tends to seep into everything else as van Schneider remarked, “Our products and interfaces echo Apple’s.” The last letter was about Form, this one is about Function.
Let’s get right into it.
Function over Form.
I was very surprised to find out that we thought of putting wheels on a suitcase as late as 1970. If you didn't already know that, take a moment for it to sink in, to think how weird it actually is.
As a kid, I remember it being a deal-breaker for my parents when any luggage didn’t have wheels. As a kid, I always imagined suitcases with wheels. And couldn’t think of designing one without wheels. But the designers before the 70s couldn’t imagine designing one WITH wheels. This is because the form of a product often creates our first impression of a product, and it biases all our understanding of it after that.
But something I train myself into is forgetting the form of the products, and pragmatically deconstruct a product down to it’s functions. Doing this will make putting wheels on heavy luggage obvious.
By deconstructing things to their bare-st essentials, you can now put them together in various ways and often, branch out to arrive at novel ideas. This is the power of what is referred as First Principles Reasoning.
Today's Original Essay:
Almost as surprising to me as suitcases, is how we’ve for years designed E-Mail in the image of Physical Mail. Electronic-Mail doesn’t need two separate “boxes” for sent and received mails. Such a thinking is what has created all sorts of problems around managing and dealing with emails. This has led to entire companies being built up to solve for the same and Google deploying a bunch of expensive AI Algorithms. But then...
The makers of HEY E-Mail discarded the Physical-Mail-Analogy and built Electronic-Mail from First Principles. They crucially started with a simple, base question, how must a Person A communicate with Person B digitally?
Here’s my essay, showing you how they did it:
Building E-Mail from First Principles: HEY
The Best Primer on First Principles Thinking:
If it is not in First Principles how you already think, I think the following essay can be one of the most influential things you would read this year. The creator of FarnamStreet Blog, Shane Parrish's essay is the best-primer I've found on First Principles Thinking.
First Principles: The Building Blocks of True Knowledge
Art Appreciation:
"In 12 lines, Bob Dylan says more than many trilogies." - Evan Puschack.
To understand Dylan's All Along the Watchtower has been one of the most delightful experiences for me. What was even more surprising of how a simple guitar-hook, played over and over again, can catch you into a "hypnotic loop" as you and he will struggle to get out of it.
One of the reason I delve into a lot of philosophy is that it trains my brain into thinking in first principles. But what would be more surprising to you that there's nothing like philosophy to make you more innovative.
This should give you a good sense of where "Productize Philosophy" is headed. Please think hard about anyone you know who would like to get on-board this journey and share this link with them.
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Talk soon,
Abhishek.
abhishek1point0.com
PS. I've designed a short e-mail course to help you productively live and consume information on the Internet. It is free and valuable: Click Here.
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