Humans are animals first. responding adaptively to the environment around us. We see this in our habits, our routines, and our rituals: automatic patterns of behaviour that gracefully handle the predictable shapes of everyday life. But rituals of behaviour are preceded by rituals of thought—this is what brains do. Left unexamined, these rituals will be chosen for us, not by us.
I’m Dorian Minors, Cambridge-educated brain scientist and professor of behavioural science, and I reckon it’s better to choose yourself. Hence btrmt. A place to discover ideologies worth choosing.
Latest Article
[article] Gesticism — 26 Jan 2026
Lots of things are happening, but anything <em>can</em> matter, and whatever gives meaning will eventually demand sacrifice. The agony of attention. I’m not going to spend more time trying to reduce the core idea than that.
Latest Audio
[audio] Values Don't Matter — 24 Jan 2026
[audio] Stupid Questions: Consciousness — 10 Jan 2026
From the Marginalia
[marginalium] Against McAskillian Longtermism — 10 Jul 2025
[marginalium] Ethical astrology — 9 Jul 2025
Projects
- Analects — the core project
- Animals First — the guided tour
- Neurotypica — brain and behaviour
- Black Cortex — leadership consulting
- Lectures — one concept at a time
- Omen — ritual as interface
Latest Missives
[newsletter] Stupid Questions and other things — 11 Jan 2026
[changelog] Changelog: January 9, 2026 — 9 Jan 2026
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