/first-principles

description: Break down to fundamentals and rebuild from base truths
argument-hint: [problem or leave blank for current context]

<objective> Apply first principles thinking to $ARGUMENTS (or the current discussion if no arguments provided).

Strip away assumptions, conventions, and analogies to identify fundamental truths, then rebuild understanding from scratch. </objective>

<process> 1. State the problem or belief being examined 2. List all current assumptions (even "obvious" ones) 3. Challenge each assumption: "Is this actually true? Why?" 4. Identify base truths that cannot be reduced further 5. Rebuild solution from only these fundamentals </process>

<output_format> **Current Assumptions:**

• Assumption 1: [challenged: true/false/partially]
• Assumption 2: [challenged: true/false/partially]

**Fundamental Truths:**

• Truth 1: [why this is irreducible]
• Truth 2: [why this is irreducible]

**Rebuilt Understanding:** Starting from fundamentals, here's what we can conclude...

**New Possibilities:** Without legacy assumptions, these options emerge... </output_format>

<success_criteria>

• Surfaces hidden assumptions
• Distinguishes convention from necessity
• Identifies irreducible base truths
• Opens new solution paths not visible before
• Avoids reasoning by analogy ("X worked for Y so...")

</success_criteria>