analectnoun
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] Everything is better than death — 21 Jan 2023
[marginalium] What is innate and what is learned in human nature — 20 Jan 2023
[marginalium] Where does memory information get stored in the brain — 19 Jan 2023
[marginalium] Mind control from a distance (really) — 18 Jan 2023
[marginalium] Malcolm X on racism, capitalism and Islam — 17 Jan 2023
[marginalium] The sad decline of heresy — 16 Jan 2023
[marginalium] On zombie science — 15 Jan 2023
[marginalium] You don’t think in any language — 14 Jan 2023
[marginalium] On Zen kōans — 13 Jan 2023
[marginalium] What we get wrong about emotions — 12 Jan 2023
[article] Everything is Choice Architecture — 12 Jan 2023
Nudging doesn’t work because people aren’t thinking hard enough. Everything is choice architecture, so look to the way you build things in the first place or turn to our deepest motivations—our communities.
[marginalium] A paean to pigweed, a modern saint — 10 Jan 2023
[marginalium] Motivating creativity — 9 Jan 2023
[marginalium] How squid and octopus get their big brains — 8 Jan 2023
[marginalium] Social media and teenage mental health — 7 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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