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a fragment or passage selected from a literary work;

Analects

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Filter by anthology: All · Betterment · Gratification · Connection · Somatic Architecture · Spiritual Architecture · Thought Architecture · Wealth Architecture · Digital Architecture · Collective Architecture

Great Thinkers — On people who represent big ideas

[marginalium] Strawson on panpsychism — 8 May 2025
[marginalium] The mystery of Pope Francis — 24 Apr 2025
[marginalium] On Kahneman's assisted suicide — 10 Apr 2025
[marginalium] Who can claim Aristotle? — 6 Dec 2024
[marginalium] Carl Jung's Midlife-Crisis Notebooks — 15 Nov 2024
[marginalium] Accidentally a good list of great thinkers — 25 Oct 2024
[article] Great Spirits of History — 6 Sep 2024
The ‘Great Man’ theory of history has the history of ideas moved forward by individuals. But by thinking of these as ‘Great Ideas’, or better ‘spirits’ of ideas, we’re encouraged to examine their motivations, which is surprisingly effective.
[marginalium] Which thinkers support the elites — 3 Sep 2024
[marginalium] For Plato, rationalists and mystics can walk the same path — 20 Aug 2024
[marginalium] On philosopher Derek Parfit — 30 Aug 2023
[marginalium] The greatness of Maria Montessori — 26 Mar 2023
[marginalium] The Messiah Of Zooming Out — 13 Mar 2023
[marginalium] What if Marx and Freud never existed — 19 Feb 2023
[marginalium] An intro to Confucius — 16 Feb 2023
[marginalium] Malcolm X on racism, capitalism and Islam — 17 Jan 2023

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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