# Ari Dyckovsky Public site for Ari Dyckovsky. Use it for the clearest account of Ari's principles, reading, writing, and public references. --- # Ari Dyckovsky I want to bring our inner worlds into the forefront of new realities. I'm interested in how people and machines can collectively create new realities. There are worlds only our imaginations can draw, and I want us to experience how wonderful it is to participate in and evolve through those worlds together. Today, I’m building [Scene Systems](https://www.scenesystems.io/) to turn imagination into shared reality. Previously, I co-founded the enterprise software companies Argo and Kettle and spent time researching physics and cognition at institutions like NIST, Stanford, and Princeton. ## Writing - [Principles](/principles) ## Reading - [Books](/books) ## Elsewhere - [GitHub](https://github.com/aridyckovsky) - [Twitter / X](https://x.com/adyckovsky) - [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/aridyckovsky/) - [Email](mailto:hi@aridyckovsky.com) --- # Principles Last updated: June 6, 2026 I tend to question immediate answers to a problem. Many problems are dynamic, so answers ought to change over time. It's this kind of adaptive problem-solving I'm most interested in. I've confronted problems like this in quantum physics, financial markets, startup teams, psychological science, and everyday life. Different domains exposing the same patterns: artifacts survive while the reasoning that generated them fades, systems scale while the standards that supported them degrade, and groups change while the values that formed them decohere. I needed a way to navigate these patterns, and over time developed a system of values, beliefs, and purpose. My values tell me what is worth protecting. My beliefs tell me how these systems break. My purpose follows from both. ## Values ### Prioritize people. Every person matters, and we owe it to each other to hold each other up. Regardless of any conflicts we may have, remember we're all in this together: society writ large functions only as well as we can cooperate. ### Show the process. Results are only as useful as the process that leads to them. Without understanding the contraints of a system, how can we judge the outcomes faithfully? The how and why are central to any what. ### Align means and ends. It's far too easy to mix up our goals with the journeys we took, but the most effective methods maintain alignment between those. This is what preserves our humanity and enables us to find common ground. ### Account for choices honestly. Any decision we make was motivated by someone or something in our environment, and we ought to explain that with integrity. The way we account for ourselves relative to others dicates whether the choice is meaningful or not. ### Attend to edge cases. When we encounter inequality or lacking fairness, it's often rooted in where a system falls apart. In these contexts of missing pieces, we can only build the connections we seek if we're paying attention to what needs tying together in the first place. ## Beliefs ### Repeated failures usually point to structure. The problems we run into repeatedly are driven by the structures they emerged from. We are too quick to blame a scapegoat, when in reality the source of failure is often the fault of no one. ### The biggest opportunity often looks small at first. Nothing worth doing seems obvious upfront. The outsized outcomes we hope for have to grow from the smallest of possibilities, and it's up to us to grow those chances into something real. ### Teams, not individuals, create the future. One person is limited to their own mind, while a team of people can bounce ideas and actions off of one another. This is how all great things come about: we drive the creation of the future we want together. ### Coordination underpins the best decisions. Making decisions is hard in an uncertain world, so we must find ways to coordinate and leverage the best of each other's perspectives and experiences. The probability of an optimal outcome increases with respect to who contributes vs. who takes. ### Shared understanding doesn't accidentally scale. As our lives together become more complex, so too do the requirements to make sense of the environments we're in. Collective goals are dependent on how well we calibrate our reasoning with those we work with. ## Purpose ### Build tools to think, judge, and coordinate. I want to help people navigate the world around them and reach their best selves; to do this, I must bring people together to create the tools we need to strengthen learning, decision making, and the work we do together. --- # Books Last updated: September 7, 2026 The stories that stick with me: some sharpened how I think, some clarified what I value, and some changed the scale at which I notice what is happening between people, systems, and myself. ## Books - [Love and Math: The Heart of Hidden Reality](https://www.amazon.com/Love-Math-Heart-Hidden-Reality/dp/0465050743) - Edward Frenkel (2013) - Domains: mathematics - Genres: memoir - [Man's Search for Meaning](https://www.amazon.com/Mans-Search-Meaning-Viktor-Frankl/dp/0807014273) - Viktor E. Frankl (1946) - Domains: psychology, philosophy - Genres: memoir - [Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die](https://www.amazon.com/Made-Stick-Ideas-Survive-Others/dp/1400064287) - Chip Heath and Dan Heath (2007) - Domains: psychology, systems - Genres: research-study - [Steve Jobs](https://www.amazon.com/Steve-Jobs-Walter-Isaacson/dp/1451648537) - Walter Isaacson (2011) - Domains: history, systems - Genres: biography - [The Myth of Sisyphus](https://www.amazon.com/Myth-Sisyphus-Vintage-International/dp/0525564454) - Albert Camus (1942) - Domains: philosophy, literature - Genres: essay-collection - [Greenlights](https://www.amazon.com/Greenlights-Your-Journal-Journey/dp/0593235479) - Matthew McConaughey (2020) - Domains: psychology, philosophy - Genres: memoir - [The Coffee-House: A Cultural History](https://www.amazon.com/Coffee-House-Cultural-History/dp/0753818981) - Markman Ellis (2004) - Domains: history, systems - Genres: historical-analysis - [Salt: A World History](https://www.amazon.com/Salt-World-History-Mark-Kurlansky/dp/1639738622) - Mark Kurlansky (2002) - Domains: history, systems - Genres: historical-analysis - [A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius](https://www.amazon.com/Heartbreaking-Work-Staggering-Genius/dp/0375725784) - Dave Eggers (2000) - Domains: literature, psychology - Genres: memoir - [Faraday, Maxwell, and the Electromagnetic Field: How Two Men Revolutionized Physics](https://www.amazon.com/Faraday-Maxwell-Electromagnetic-Field-Revolutionized/dp/1633886077) - Nancy Forbes and Basil Mahon (2014) - Domains: science, history - Genres: historical-analysis - [Island](https://www.amazon.com/Island-Aldous-Huxley/dp/0061561797) - Aldous Huxley (1962) - Domains: philosophy, literature - Genres: novel - [On Compromise](https://www.amazon.com/Compromise-John-Morley/dp/1438594844) - John Morley (1874) - Domains: philosophy, history - Genres: essay-collection - [Paris to the Moon](https://www.amazon.com/Paris-Moon-Adam-Gopnik/dp/0375758232) - Adam Gopnik (2000) - Domains: literature, history - Genres: essay-collection - [The Clown](https://www.amazon.com/Clown-Heinrich-Boll/dp/0714501689) - Heinrich Böll (1963) - Domains: literature, philosophy - Genres: novel - [Axiom's End](https://www.amazon.com/Axioms-End-A-Novel/dp/B082VK6CLT) - Lindsay Ellis (2020) - Domains: science, literature - Genres: novel - [Truth of the Divine](https://www.amazon.com/Truth-Divine-Novel-Noumena-2/dp/1250274540) - Lindsay Ellis (2021) - Domains: science, literature - Genres: novel - [Apostles of Mercy](https://www.amazon.com/Apostles-Mercy-Noumena-Lindsay-Ellis/dp/1250274567) - Lindsay Ellis (2024) - Domains: science, literature - Genres: novel - [Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects Our Minds and How to Build Immunity](https://www.amazon.com/Foolproof-Misinformation-Infects-Minds-Immunity/dp/039388144X) - Sander van der Linden (2023) - Domains: psychology, science - Genres: research-study - [Narrative Economics: How Stories Go Viral and Drive Major Economic Events](https://www.amazon.com/Narrative-Economics-Stories-Economic-Events/dp/0691210268) - Robert J. Shiller (2019) - Domains: systems, history - Genres: research-study - [Red Rising](https://www.amazon.com/Red-Rising-Pierce-Brown/dp/034553980X) - Pierce Brown (2014) - Domains: literature, systems - Genres: novel - [Golden Son](https://www.amazon.com/Golden-Son-Book-Rising-Saga/dp/0345539818) - Pierce Brown (2015) - Domains: literature, systems - Genres: novel - [Morning Star](https://www.amazon.com/Morning-Star-Book-Rising-Saga/dp/0345539842) - Pierce Brown (2016) - Domains: literature, systems - Genres: novel - [Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community](https://www.amazon.com/Bowling-Alone-Collapse-American-Community/dp/1982130849) - Robert D. Putnam (2000) - Domains: systems, history - Genres: research-study - [The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups](https://www.amazon.com/Logic-Collective-Action-Printing-Appendix/dp/0674537513) - Mancur Olson (1965) - Domains: systems, philosophy - Genres: research-study - [Neurogastronomy: How the Brain Creates Flavor and Why It Matters](https://www.amazon.com/Neurogastronomy-Brain-Creates-Flavor-Matters/dp/0231159110) - Gordon M. Shepherd (2011) - Domains: science, psychology - Genres: research-study - [The Physiology of Taste: Or Meditations on Transcendental Gastronomy](https://www.amazon.com/Physiology-Taste-Meditations-Transcendental-Gastronomy/dp/0307390373) - Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1825) - Domains: philosophy, science - Genres: essay-collection - [A Darker Shade of Magic](https://www.amazon.com/Darker-Shade-Magic-Collectors-Shades/dp/0765399113) - V. E. Schwab (2015) - Domains: literature, systems - Genres: novel - [A Gathering of Shadows](https://www.amazon.com/Gathering-Shadows-Novel-Shades-Magic/dp/0765376474) - V. E. Schwab (2016) - Domains: literature, systems - Genres: novel - [A Conjuring of Light](https://www.amazon.com/Conjuring-Light-Novel-Shades-Magic/dp/0765387468) - V. E. Schwab (2017) - Domains: literature, systems - Genres: novel - [The Table Comes First: Family, France, and the Meaning of Food](https://www.amazon.com/Table-Comes-First-Family-Meaning/dp/0307476960) - Adam Gopnik (2011) - Domains: history, philosophy - Genres: essay-collection - [Parable of the Sower](https://www.amazon.com/Parable-Sower-Octavia-Butler/dp/1538732181) - Octavia E. Butler (1993) - Domains: literature, systems - Genres: novel - [Parable of the Talents](https://www.amazon.com/Parable-Talents-Octavia-Butler/dp/153873219X) - Octavia E. Butler (1998) - Domains: literature, systems - Genres: novel - [Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose](https://www.amazon.com/Delivering-Happiness-Profits-Passion-Purpose/dp/0446576220) - Tony Hsieh (2010) - Domains: systems, psychology - Genres: memoir - [Social: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Connect](https://www.amazon.com/Social-Why-Brains-Wired-Connect/dp/0307889106) - Matthew D. Lieberman (2013) - Domains: psychology, science - Genres: research-study - [Human Groups and Social Categories: Studies in Social Psychology](https://www.amazon.com/Human-Groups-Social-Categories-Psychology/dp/0521280737) - Henri Tajfel (1981) - Domains: psychology, systems - Genres: research-study - [How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain](https://www.amazon.com/How-Emotions-Made-Lisa-Barrett/dp/1328915433) - Lisa Feldman Barrett (2017) - Domains: psychology, science - Genres: research-study - [Iron Gold](https://www.amazon.com/Iron-Gold-Book-Rising-Saga/dp/042528591X) - Pierce Brown (2018) - Domains: literature, systems - Genres: novel - [Dark Age](https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Age-Book-Rising-Saga/dp/0425285944) - Pierce Brown (2019) - Domains: literature, systems - Genres: novel - [Light Bringer](https://www.amazon.com/Light-Bringer-Red-Rising-Novel/dp/0425285979) - Pierce Brown (2023) - Domains: literature, systems - Genres: novel - [The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World](https://www.amazon.com/Geography-Bliss-Grumps-Search-Happiest/dp/044669889X) - Eric Weiner (2008) - Domains: psychology, history - Genres: memoir - [The Character of Physical Law](https://www.amazon.com/Character-Physical-Law-MIT-Press/dp/0262533413) - Richard P. Feynman (1965) - Domains: science, philosophy - Genres: essay-collection - [The Physical Principles of the Quantum Theory](https://www.amazon.com/Physical-Principles-Quantum-Theory/dp/1614278598) - Werner Heisenberg (1930) - Domains: science, philosophy - Genres: research-study - [Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea](https://www.amazon.com/Zero-Biography-Dangerous-Charles-Seife/dp/0140296476) - Charles Seife (2000) - Domains: mathematics, history - Genres: historical-analysis - [A Short History of Nearly Everything](https://www.amazon.com/Short-History-Nearly-Everything/dp/076790818X) - Bill Bryson (2003) - Domains: science, history - Genres: historical-analysis - [The Invisible Man](https://www.amazon.com/Invisible-Man-Signet-Classics/dp/0451531671) - H. G. Wells (1897) - Domains: literature, science - Genres: novel - [There Is No Antimemetics Division](https://www.amazon.com/There-No-Antimemetics-Division-qntm/dp/B0915M7T61) - qntm (2021) - Domains: literature, systems - Genres: novel