Goals:

1. Describe fundamentals.
2. Skillfully identify the fundamentals.

What

The term “fundamental” refers to something that is essential, basic, or foundational to X.

The variable X an object, an action, an idea, a subject to be learned, and so on.

Examples of Fundamentals

1. Some of the fundamentals of American government are limited government, rule of law, the right of a person accused of a crime to have an attorney, and following the constitution.

2. The fundamentals of baseball are catching, throwing, hitting, pitching, base running, stealing bases, defensive strategy and so forth.

3. The fundamentals of computer science include data structures, algorithms, states, tokens, operating systems, complexity as in O(1) and O(N), and so forth.

4. The fundamentals of story telling are

   1. The plot, which is the main events.
   2. The characters who are the people involved.
   3. The setting which refers to where the events happen.
   4. The problems which the main characters are trying to solve.
   5. How the problems are resolved.

5. Some of the fundamentals of a car are

   1. The engine, motor, or other source of power.
   2. Wheels or similar for moving over roads.
   3. Some way to turn; steering.
   4. A frame to support all the parts.
   5. A gas tank, battery, or similar to store energy.
   6. A mechanism to transmit power from the engine or motor to the wheels.

Rationale for Fundamentals

If you remove a fundamental, the thing of interest cannot exist. Thus, we prioritize identifying what the fundamentals are and figuring out how to make them good enough to get the job done.

For example, when I learn, I want to know what are the fundamentals that I need to master. Then, I want to figure out how well I need to learn each fundamental.

For example, when I design a business, I want to know what the fundamental parts of a business are and how well I need to create these things to be successful.

A focus on fundamentals puts our aim on what is most important and what we should therefore work on. It helps keep us from prioritizing things of lessor importance.

How to Teach and Learn Fundamentals

1. Figure out what the fundamental things are. Do this be asking skilled people, skimming many good resources and looking for patterns. ChatGPT is useful; ask it to describe the fundamentals of anything.

2. Progressively learn or build each fundamental such that it is good enough for your context.

Summary

A fundamental is an essential part of a thing, a performance, or whatever. To teach/learn fundamentals, figure out what they are and then learn or build them good enough for your context.