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Analects

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Accidental Civilisation — On the accident of civilisation

[audio] Hydraulic Despotism — 21 Feb 2026
Wittfogel was wrong about ancient empires, but his insight—control the flow, control the people—describes modern life perfectly. We’re coerced through convenience, not malice. The alternatives exist; we just don’t use them.
[article] Values Don't Matter — 1 Feb 2026
Values often function as virtue ethics—traits we’re expected to cultivate. But virtues are context-dependent: courage for a soldier isn’t courage for a teacher, and people respond primarily to their environment. So the real task is to design the context.
[article] Hydraulic Despotism — 1 Dec 2025
Control the water, control the people. Today’s water is energy, social media, infrastructure. We’re coerced through convenience, not malice. There are many vectors for control—we don’t need to hand them over.
[marginalium] How To Do Soul-Craft With State Tools — 6 Jun 2025
[marginalium] Superstition In A Godless State — 30 May 2025
[marginalium] Eurasian Demonology — 16 May 2025
[marginalium] Social Media and Moore's Law — 1 May 2025
[marginalium] Why Have Sentence Lengths Decreased? — 1 May 2025
[marginalium] Mortuary Practice And Grief — 10 Apr 2025
[marginalium] More lawless than you realise — 10 Apr 2025
[marginalium] Why Did Korea Split? — 4 Apr 2025
[marginalium] The Economics Of Despair — 28 Mar 2025
[marginalium] Business metrics broke universities — 21 Mar 2025
[marginalium] The Managerial Class Has No Future — 21 Mar 2025
[marginalium] Handbags as a key to evolution — 13 Mar 2025

btrmt. (text-only version)

The full site with interactive features is available at btr.mt.

btrmt. (betterment) examines ideologies worth choosing. Created by Dorian Minors—Cambridge PhD in cognitive neuroscience, Associate Professor at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Core philosophy: humans are animals first, with automatic patterns shaped for us, not by us. Better to examine and choose.

Core concepts. Animals First: automatic patterns of thought and action, but our greatest capacity is nurture. Half Awake: deadened by systems that narrow rather than expand potential. Karstica: unexamined ideologies (hidden sinkholes beneath). Credenda: belief systems we should choose deliberately.

The manifesto. Cynosure (focus): betterment, gratification, connection. Architecture (support): inner (somatic, spiritual, thought) and outer (digital, collective, wealth).

Mission. Not answers but examination. Break academic gatekeeping. Make sciences of mind accessible. Question rather than prescribe.

Writing style. Scholarly without jargon barriers. Philosophical yet practical—grounded in neuroscience and lived experience. Reflective, discovery-oriented. Literary references and metaphor. Critical of systems that narrow human potential. Rejects "humans are flawed"—we're half awake, not broken.

Copyright. BTRMT LIMITED (England/Wales no. 13755561) 2026. Dorian Minors 2026.

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About Dorian Minors. Started btrmt. in 2013 to share sciences of mind with people who weren't studying them. Background: six years Australian Defence Force (Platoon Commander, Infantry); Gates Cambridge Scholar; PhD cognitive neuroscience, University of Cambridge (2018-2024); currently Associate Professor, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Research interests: neural basis of intelligent behaviour, decision intelligence, ritual formation/breakdown, ethical leadership, wellbeing.

External projects (links also available via Analects):

Lectures: Podcasts exploring ideologies

Neurotypica: Brain science guide for non-scientists

Black Cortex: Leadership consulting

Analects

btrmt. (text-only version)

Resources

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