What is Charlie Munger's view on 'First Principles' versus 'Common Sense'? Are they contradictory?

Okay, here is the translation of the provided content into English, maintaining the Markdown format and adhering to the requested style:

How Does Charlie Munger View "First Principles" and "Common Sense"? Is There a Contradiction Between Them?

In Charlie Munger's framework of wisdom, "First Principles" and "Common Sense" are not contradictory; instead, they are complementary and mutually reinforcing. The "Common Sense" Munger advocates is essentially a form of interdisciplinary wisdom, deeply rooted in "First Principles" thinking, capable of cutting to the core of problems.

We can understand their relationship from the following three levels:

---

1. Munger's "Common Sense" is Not Ordinary "Common Sense"

First, it's crucial to clarify that the "Common Sense" (Common Sense) Munger refers to is not the everyday, unexamined, conventional wisdom we typically understand. His "Common Sense" is closer to "Uncommon Common Sense" or what he himself calls "Worldly Wisdom".

The characteristics of this wisdom are:

• Interdisciplinary Nature: It does not come from knowledge in a single field but stems from mastering the fundamental theories of multiple core disciplines such as physics, biology, psychology, mathematics, and history.
• Foundational Nature: It emphasizes returning to the essence of things and understanding the most basic, underlying principles.
• Practicality: Its goal is to solve real-world problems, enabling quick and accurate judgment, especially in complex business and investment decisions.

For example: Munger repeatedly emphasizes the importance of "incentives." In his view, "If you want to persuade people, appeal to interest, not reason" – this is a "common sense" conclusion based on the fundamental principles of psychology and economics (First Principles). To the average person, this might seem like mere experiential advice, but for Munger, it is the result of a deep understanding of the underlying drivers of human nature.

---

2. "First Principles" are the Cornerstone for Building Munger-Style "Common Sense"

Although Elon Musk popularized the term "First Principles Thinking," its core idea has long been central to Munger's way of thinking. The essence of First Principles is returning to the most basic building blocks or fundamental propositions of a thing and then reasoning upwards from there to reach conclusions.

It is precisely through this method that Munger constructs his "Latticework of Mental Models." The "big ideas from the big disciplines" he speaks of are essentially the "First Principles" of various fields.

• Physics First Principles: Such as the "Law of Conservation of Energy" and the "Law of Entropy," which can be used to understand system balance and decay.
• Biology First Principles: Such as "Evolution" and "Natural Selection," which can be used to understand survival of the fittest in business competition.
• Psychology First Principles: Such as "Incentives," "Cognitive Biases," etc., which can be used to analyze the behavior of management, consumers, and market participants.
• Mathematics First Principles: Such as "Compound Interest," "Permutations and Combinations," and "Probability Theory," which form the mathematical foundation of investment decisions.

Munger doesn't merely memorize these principles; he internalizes them as thinking tools. When faced with a complex problem, he uses these "First Principles" from different disciplines as probes to examine the problem from various angles until he sees its essence.

This process is: Using First Principles (fundamental models from various disciplines) → Building the Latticework of Mental Models → Forming high-quality "Common Sense" capable of discerning essence.

---

3. Far From Contradictory, They Represent the Unity of "Principle" and "Technique"

If there is any perceived "contradiction," it exists only between "superficial common sense" and "First Principles." Superficial common sense is often based on analogical, traditional, or experiential thinking, telling you "this is how everyone else does it, so we should too" – which is precisely the kind of mental rut that First Principles thinking aims to break.

In Munger's system, their relationship is as follows:

• First Principles are the "Why": They are the steel and concrete for building the edifice of knowledge, the underlying logic for understanding how the world works. They answer the question "Why is this so?"
• Munger's "Common Sense" is the "How": It is the application and manifestation of First Principles in practice. When one deeply masters numerous First Principles, their judgment and decision-making become as natural, concise, and powerful as "common sense." It answers the question "What should we do?"

An excellent analogy is a top chef:

• First Principles: Are the chef's deep understanding of the fundamental scientific principles of cooking, such as the Maillard reaction, caramelization, molecular structure, thermodynamics, and acid-base balance.
• Munger's "Common Sense": Is the chef walking into the kitchen, seeing a pile of ingredients, and effortlessly creating a delicious dish without a recipe, relying on intuition and skill. This "intuition" appears to outsiders as "common sense" or "talent," but its foundation lies in countless hours of training and thinking based on First Principles.

Conclusion

Charlie Munger does not see a contradiction between "First Principles" and "Common Sense." On the contrary, the "Common Sense" he advocates is precisely the pinnacle of wisdom, rooted in "First Principles" and cultivated through building an interdisciplinary "Latticework of Mental Models."

First Principles are the furnace and tools for forging this "Uncommon Common Sense," and this "Uncommon Common Sense" is the ultimate form of First Principles thinking applied efficiently in the real world. Together, they form the core of Munger's investment philosophy and life wisdom.