My Reading List for the Next 10 Years and Why Over the past few years, I’ve found myself at the intersection of philosophy, cognitive science, and AI engineering. As a firm believer in first-principles thinking, I recognized the need for a coherent, decade-long roadmap to guide my intellectual growth and practical skill-building. Instead of random selections, I asked myself: What are the irreducible concepts I must master in epistemology, symbolic systems, cognition, memory, AI, cognitive systems, human-AI augmentation, and large-scale engineering? The result became this curated reading list. ...

Who Am I? I’m a systems thinker who builds from first principles, iterates obsessively, and seeks clarity through recursive refinement. Over years of crafting backend pipelines, designing AI agents, and shaping thought leadership on LinkedIn, I’ve honed a mental engine that powers everything I do. This “cognitive operating system” drives how I analyze problems, create solutions, and continually evolve. 1. First-Principles System Builder I refuse to accept surface-level explanations. Whenever a problem arises, whether it’s a bug in a critical workflow or a feature that misses its mark, I dig down until I understand the root mechanism. ...