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[article] Eerie coincidences aren't that eerie — 12 Nov 2023
Your phone probably isn’t eavesdropping for ads. Your brain’s job is to highlight unexpected hits while ignoring the misses. Eerie coincidences are probably just you not noticing all the times something weird could have happened but didn’t.
[article] Problems with p-values — 24 Oct 2023
P-values are no gold standard. The way we use them today means p-values have a probability distribution. Just one could be an outlier, and the way publishing works, probably is. It’s the reason for so many ‘too good to be true’ findings—they are.
[article] Panpsychism isn't that fun — 22 Sep 2023
Panpsychists reckon they’ve one-upped materialists and non-materialists in explaining how consciousness might have come to be by telling us that everything is conscious. Then they just leave us hanging.
[marginalium] Economist preferences by cognitive skill and personality — 12 Sep 2023
[marginalium] A literary guide to the subject of death — 11 Sep 2023
[marginalium] CBT might just be the ‘gold standard’ for white people — 10 Sep 2023
[marginalium] A short list of heuristics or principles for doing good creative research work — 9 Sep 2023
[marginalium] A Wikipedia page on science in 2023 — 8 Sep 2023
[marginalium] Book review of the Educated Mind — 7 Sep 2023
[marginalium] What’s making kids not alright — 6 Sep 2023
[marginalium] The Perfection Of The Paper Clip — 5 Sep 2023
[marginalium] From rational to woo — 4 Sep 2023
[marginalium] Why is slow motion so fun — 3 Sep 2023
[marginalium] News stripped of the crap by AI — 2 Sep 2023
[marginalium] Why Do We Listen to Sad Songs — 1 Sep 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); a decade of clinical practice; Gates Cambridge Scholar; PhD cognitive neuroscience, University of Cambridge (2018–2024); currently Associate Professor, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, where he runs the ethical leadership module. Research interests: neural basis of intelligent behaviour; ritual formation and breakdown; ethical decision-making and leadership; judgement and intent when decisions are shared with AI; wellbeing.

External projects (links also available via Analects):

Neurotypica: Brain science guide for non-scientists

Black Cortex: Leadership consulting

Analects

btrmt. (text-only version)

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