Why First Principles exists
First Principles begins with provocative questions and follows them beneath the surface—to the incentives, histories and systems that shape the world around us. The aim is not to settle the argument, or to tell you how to think, but to show what the argument is really about.
Every essay is written by a human and treated as a serious piece of work. Researching the subject, testing the argument, checking the facts and shaping the presentation takes time.
We use AI as a tool: to support research, test claims, check facts and build citations. We also use it to create the graphics and for final polish. Responsibility for everything published here remains human.
We try to approach each subject without deciding the conclusion in advance. That means looking for evidence that complicates the argument, taking opposing views seriously and separating what is known from what is assumed.
Perfect neutrality is probably impossible. Everyone brings experience, instincts and blind spots to a subject, and we are no exception. What we can do is be transparent about the evidence, question our own assumptions and make a serious effort to represent competing perspectives fairly.
To make certainty work harder.
Too many opinions are expressed with confidence but without a full understanding of the facts, history or systems beneath them. Often, people are not ignoring the other side; they have simply never encountered it. We all live inside informational bubbles to some extent.
In roughly twenty minutes, each essay aims to widen the frame—to give readers, whichever side they begin on, a clearer view of the machinery beneath the argument and a serious account of the perspective they may not usually hear.
The aim is not to create agreement. It is to make disagreement better informed.