Apparently, the first &quot;first principle&quot; he reached for was the one that shone immediate light on the situation.  If that&#x27;s true, he got amazingly lucky.  Reasoning solely from established facts is wonderful when you can do it; but I don&#x27;t think this article is painting a realistic picture of the difficulties involved.  Such reasoning may take time, with many false starts, and it may not get you all the way to the conclusion you need.