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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

[marginalium] Where Geniuses Hide Today — 6 Dec 2024
[article] Motivation pt. II: Stickytaping it all together — 6 Dec 2024
We can think of motivations in terms of three things. There is the content: what things motivate us. Then there is the process: how things motivate us. And lastly, we have those things that maintain our motivation.
[marginalium] Who can claim Aristotle? — 6 Dec 2024
[marginalium] A taxonomy of modern ethical values — 6 Dec 2024
[marginalium] Bird flu is scary — 6 Dec 2024
[marginalium] A linkless internet — 6 Dec 2024
[article] Motivation pt. I: Haphazard Dichotomies — 29 Nov 2024
Individually, the disconnected dichotomies of intrinsic vs extrinsic, normative vs motivating, ‘cognitive’ and ‘biological’, and the like have little utility. But when you put them together, you can get some quite juicy fidelity on why people do what they do.
[marginalium] Why Do So Many People Want to Die? — 27 Nov 2024
[marginalium] How To Give A Good Speech — 27 Nov 2024
[marginalium] The Super-Rich And Their Secret Worlds — 27 Nov 2024
[marginalium] The Myth Of The Loneliness Epidemic — 27 Nov 2024
[marginalium] The neuroscience of heartbreak — 27 Nov 2024
[marginalium] In defence of slouching — 22 Nov 2024
[marginalium] How people spent their time in the 1930’s — 22 Nov 2024
[marginalium] China gives US firm guidance — 22 Nov 2024

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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