How to Be an Engineer: First Principles + 3 Hours of ChatGPT Per CS Fundamental
jackedAJ · x · 2026-09-09
- An opensox.ai blog post argues a true engineer needs two things under the hood: first-principles thinking and computer fundamentals.
- First principles let you intuitively question any subject until you truly understand it — the foundational skill the author says you can build an entire engineering career on.
- Fundamentals = "everything is a computer": networks, memory, DBMS, operating systems, basic math. You don't need mastery, just the ability to connect high-level abstractions like APIs back to primitives; always chase the WHY and you won't need revision.
- Concrete tactic: 3 hours of ChatGPT per subject using a first-principles prompt, plus always keeping a doc of questions and short answers when learning complex material — "when you write, the dots in your brain connect" (illustrated with notes from implementing a feature in an open source project).
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