Observation
Language models learn from patterns. They do not justify them.
Norms emerge. Principles do not.
Failure Mode
Without explicit first principles, systems inherit:
- bias without responsibility,
- norms without grounding,
- conclusions without justification.
Data describes what happens. It does not explain what should.
Clarification
First principles are commitments, not correlations.
They must be chosen, not inferred.
Boundary Condition
A system that claims neutrality while embedding norms is unaccountable by design.
This note records why first principles must remain human-authored.