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] Pop-ideas to think about when considering improving science — 5 Dec 2022
[marginalium] The best overview of Judith Butler I’ve ever come across — 4 Dec 2022
[marginalium] On the inability to comprehend the mass-shooting phenomenon — 3 Dec 2022
[marginalium] Royal Netherlands Army commences armed robot trials in first among Western militaries — 2 Dec 2022
[marginalium] How nuns got squeezed out of the communion wafer business — 1 Dec 2022
[marginalium] Over-reliance on English hinders cognitive science — 30 Nov 2022
[marginalium] Who after Xi — 29 Nov 2022
[marginalium] 1,600 Years Of Medical Hubris — 28 Nov 2022
[marginalium] “Men are high variance — 27 Nov 2022
[marginalium] Most missing persons don’t wish to be found — 26 Nov 2022
[marginalium] “Why I think strong general AI is coming soon” — 25 Nov 2022
[marginalium] What populism should mean — 24 Nov 2022
[marginalium] Wikipedia donations go to many more things than Wikipedia — 23 Nov 2022
[article] Trans-opportunism is boring — 22 Nov 2022
Focusing on edge-cases of “trans-regret” is missing the point. If you actually care about these cases, then the interesting issue are the underlying vulnerabilities that lead to regrettable decisions. But probably you shouldn’t care.
[marginalium] “Fears that globalisation would lead to a worldwide monoculture have proven utterly wrong — 22 Nov 2022

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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