# RFC-0001: Observation First

**Status:** Proposed
**Phase:** The Bedrock Phase

## Abstract

This RFC formalizes the principle that observation must precede all other engineering activity within the standard.

## Motivation

Without a formal commitment to observation-first methodology, the standard risks accepting principles based on authority, tradition, or aesthetic preference rather than verified reality.

## Proposal

All additions to the Open Engineer standard must begin with an observation — a direct, verifiable encounter with reality. No principle, no vocabulary term, no specification may enter the standard without first identifying the observation(s) that motivate it.

## Observation

Throughout the development of Open Engineer, the most robust and widely-applicable principles have consistently emerged from direct observation, not from abstract reasoning.

## Engineering Principle

Observe first. Recognize patterns. Verify against reality. Translate into engineering language. Preserve the resulting understanding.

## Reasoning

Observation anchors the standard to reality. Without it, the standard becomes an exercise in theory — potentially interesting, but not engineering. Engineering is fundamentally about engaging with reality as it is, not as we wish it to be.

## Relationship to Existing Concepts

This RFC is the first in the priority chain and underpins all subsequent RFCs. It is closely related to the Translation over Adoption principle (see editorial-principles.md) and the Verification concept (OE-0007).