because that's how it's done

that’s the answer you get when you ask why.

why do we do it this way? why does it cost so much? why can’t we change it?
“because that’s how it’s done.”

which usually means: nobody’s questioned it in years.

first principles is simple.
keep asking “why” until you hit bedrock—physics, math, or human nature.

most people reason by analogy. it’s faster, safer, familiar.
but analogy traps you inside someone else’s assumptions.

when Elon Musk wanted cheaper rockets, the industry said “impossible.”
so he asked what rockets are made of, priced the raw materials, and found the gap was mostly tradition.

first principles won’t guarantee you’re right.
it guarantees you’re thinking.

pick something expensive, slow, or broken.
ask why five times. remove the assumptions. rebuild from truth.

you won’t always get a breakthrough.
but you’ll stop accepting “because” as an answer.

the world is full of solutions waiting to be questioned.