ON FIRST PRINCIPLES AND SKILL TRANSMUTATION
As humans, we have the capacity to be multidimensional, but not everyone has hacked this ability to operate at a multidimensional level. The reason is that most of us are ignorant of how different concepts are connected. We see life as comprising unrelated theories and ideas, but this is not so.
In the real-world ideas are connected, but we can only see this connection when we understand these ideas or concepts and can strip them down to their first principle.
However, knowing how two different concepts are connected is one thing, being able to adapt and apply their principles is another. The process of adapting and repurposing principles from a concept and applying it to another is ‘Skill Transmutation’ — an idea I first learnt from the amazing Subomi Plumptre.
This is skill transmutation in action: I learnt research methodology during my undergraduate days as a student of Public Administration. Now that I am a content writer, I can apply a concept like comparative analysis to my writing craft. This helps me to analyse two or more patterns or ideas, to understand and simplify them for easy comprehension, making me a better thinker and writer because mastery is manifested in simplicity.
Being able to transfer skills and concepts helps one to operate beyond constraints and to function at a multidimensional level. This is necessary in this fast-paced world where skills are quickly getting obsolete; a world where the transfer of skills from one niche to another, innovation and adaptability are now survival skills.
Adeola Gbalajobi