Decision Systems Lab
Fatima Aguilar
Reading · Intellectual foundations

The shelves behind the work.

Every system I build begins with an idea that came from somewhere. This is the reading that shaped how I think about intelligence, operations, finance, mathematics, and human decision making. Less a bibliography than a map of the ideas I'm assembling into my own work.

Shelf

Operations, Decisions & Organizations

  • Thinking in BetsAnnie DukeAppliedEvery decision deserves to be judged by the quality of the reasoning behind it, not by whether the outcome happened to be favorable.
  • The Signal and the NoiseNate SilverFoundationalI stopped looking for certainty and started designing systems that communicate uncertainty honestly.
  • Sources of PowerGary KleinFoundationalThe best decision makers often recognize patterns before they can explain them. My systems should support expertise rather than replace it.
  • NoiseKahneman, Sibony & SunsteinAppliedRandom variation in judgment is an operational problem. Consistency became one of my design goals.
  • The GoalEliyahu GoldrattAppliedEvery system is constrained somewhere. Finding that constraint matters more than optimizing everything else.
  • Factory PhysicsHopp & SpearmanFoundationalManufacturing follows mathematical laws whether we recognize them or not. Operations became something to model, not simply manage.
Shelf

Artificial Intelligence

  • Human CompatibleStuart RussellFoundationalAI should extend human judgment instead of replacing it. This became one of the principles behind every system I build.
  • Prediction MachinesAgrawal, Gans & GoldfarbAppliedAI is fundamentally a prediction technology. The real innovation comes from redesigning workflows around that capability.
  • The Alignment ProblemBrian ChristianResearchThe hardest AI problems are often about objectives, incentives, and values, not models.
  • Empire of AIKaren HaoResearchTechnological breakthroughs can't be separated from the organizations, incentives, and power structures that produce them.
  • A Brief History of IntelligenceMax BennettCurrentIntelligence evolved through layers. That changed how I think about building intelligent systems incrementally rather than magically.
  • The Thinking MachineStephen WittInspirationNVIDIA's success reinforced that breakthroughs come from long-term conviction, engineering discipline, and ecosystem building, not only technical brilliance.
Shelf

Mathematics & Scientific Thinking

  • The Great Math WarJason Socrates BardiPerspectiveMathematics progresses through disagreement. Competing ideas often produce better understanding than consensus.
  • Why Nobody Understands Quantum PhysicsFrank VerstraetePerspectiveSome of reality simply resists intuition. Learning to remain comfortable with uncertainty became surprisingly valuable.
  • The Edge of Space-TimeChanda Prescod-WeinsteinInspirationScience advances because people ask beautiful questions, not only because they solve practical ones.
Shelf

Economics, Finance & Society

  • The Age of ExtractionTim WuResearchPlatforms reshape markets by changing incentives more than by changing technology. I became much more interested in systems level effects.
  • AbundanceEzra Klein & Derek ThompsonPerspectiveMany modern problems are problems of coordination and execution rather than imagination. Building matters.
  • 1929Andrew Ross SorkinCurrentFinancial crises emerge from interconnected systems rather than isolated mistakes. I want to understand those interactions before building financial intelligence tools.
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Philosophy & Human Nature

  • Le Mythe de SisypheAlbert CamusPerspectiveMeaning is something we create through our work, not something the world guarantees.
  • L'ÉtrangerAlbert CamusPerspectiveI became more interested in observing human behavior before explaining it.
Shelf

Science Fiction & Imagination

  • Project Hail MaryAndy WeirInspirationGreat engineering happens when curiosity, collaboration, and relentless experimentation reinforce one another. Optimism can itself be an engineering discipline.
  • Dark MatterBlake CrouchPerspectiveSmall decisions compound into radically different futures. Systems thinking applies to lives as much as organizations.
  • Brave New WorldAldous HuxleyPerspectiveTechnology changes society through incentives and culture more than through the technology itself.
  • The Simulation HypothesisRizwan VirkPerspectiveWhether or not the premise is true mattered less than learning to question the assumptions behind reality itself.