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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] For those of you asking me good GPT prompts, here’s a good example — 18 May 2023
[marginalium] The conversations of plants — 17 May 2023
[marginalium] The Moral Economy Of High-Tech Modernism — 16 May 2023
[marginalium] What happens, then, when large and powerful states, along with the transnational institutions and corporations they promote and protect, are all driving towards the same goal — 15 May 2023
[marginalium] Conspiracies are the price of a complex, liberal society — 14 May 2023
[marginalium] Why It’s So Hard to Catch Your Own Typos — 13 May 2023
[article] Solving the say-do-gap — 12 May 2023
To close the say-do-gap, we need to feel some ownership of the problem, we need the social support to support the change, and we need to know how. Anything less will make us focus on how good thinking about changing feels and not actually putting in the work.
[marginalium] Adolescence is a one-shot chance of development — 12 May 2023
[marginalium] Smart people are better at convincing themselves they’re right, not being right — 11 May 2023
[marginalium] The desire for harsh punishment is on the decline (US research) — 10 May 2023
[marginalium] Wokeism is winding down — 9 May 2023
[marginalium] A philosophical approach to the Russia-Ukraine war — 8 May 2023
[marginalium] Ruminations on China’s reorientation toward expansionism — 7 May 2023
[marginalium] On the opportunity cost of castles — 6 May 2023
[marginalium] On friction in war — 5 May 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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