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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] Shadow Prompting---how your AI prompts are altered — 10 Sep 2024
[marginalium] AI ideologies, or how to use AI better — 9 Sep 2024
[marginalium] The value of boredom — 8 Sep 2024
[marginalium] Chat GPT as cultural criticism — 8 Sep 2024
[marginalium] How Syria Broke Turkey — 6 Sep 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] On the 'targeted' community of positive psychosis — 5 Sep 2024
[marginalium] On neuroarchitecture — 4 Sep 2024
[marginalium] Which thinkers support the elites — 3 Sep 2024
[marginalium] It’s easy to hack airplane wifi — 2 Sep 2024
[marginalium] The academic origins of bitcoin — 1 Sep 2024
[marginalium] The cases against free will — 30 Aug 2024
[article] How neurons influence behaviour — 30 Aug 2024
Neurons link into ‘pathways’ that map perceptions to actions. But, neural pathways don’t just link one thing to one other thing—each pathway is involved at many things at once. So to change one, you have to also contend with all the rest.
[marginalium] John Haidt very desperate to prove social media bad — 30 Aug 2024
[marginalium] What You Aren't Told About Traditional Diets — 29 Aug 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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