>first-principles explanations: most people experience an “illusion of depth”, in that they believe they understand the causal mechanics of an area far better than they do. But in fact, they have learned only a superficial model of the area. Levine corrects this.

I've found almost the opposite. Many smart people see a new field and think "ah this can't be too hard if we just approach it from first principles" and then leave behind all of that field's accumulated knowledge. In finance, this is a well known trap for the unwary polymath.