analects noun, pl

/ˈan.ə.lɛkts/

a collection of ideas, extracts, or teachings.

Betterment

stuff On achievement and excellence

show:

analects under the categories btrmt. believes in, as set out in the manifesto

analects organised according to the fundamental questions of philosophy

sequences of articles gathered around a more focused idea

  • on motivation 5 Sep 2026 [audio + edited transcript] Motivation seems simple until you notice that all of psychology describes what motivates us. I think three buckets make things easier: what...
  • ai isn't that scary 22 Aug 2026 [audio + edited transcript] AI is human-like, not human. Its output looks like ours but its purpose doesn’t, and purpose is what builds a mind. It isn’t heading towards...
  • the value of ritual 25 Jul 2026 [audio + edited transcript] You don’t get a choice about whether you ritualise. Only about whether you chose the ritual.
  • the neuroscience con 11 Jul 2026 [audio + edited transcript] Brain-words are cosmetic filler. Strip the neuroscience out and the advice means exactly what it did before—so learn to strip it out.
  • meditation isn't for everyone 30 May 2026 [audio + edited transcript] Meditation can harm you, and it isn’t for everyone. Strip the branding and it’s just trained attention—half of what you already do—so the on...
  • sages and wisdom 16 May 2026 [audio + edited transcript] The doctor and the guru run on the same authority structure. We just pick which one to trust by its costume. Choose by what sits under the c...
  • the scientific ritual 2 May 2026 [audio + edited transcript] Science isn’t the opposite of belief. It’s a ritual—and like any ritual it misfires, which is how a method built to find truth becomes a mac...
  • overengineering calming down 4 Apr 2026 [audio + edited transcript] Pop neuroscience is just “calm down” in a lab coat. The theories are scaffolding around trivial advice, attractive because they make your pr...
  • bias is good 21 Mar 2026 [audio + edited transcript] Bias isn’t a flaw in your thinking. It’s a precision instrument. The brain trades variance for consistency because the world is noisy, so do...
  • the amygdala is not the fear centre 7 Mar 2026 [audio + edited transcript] Your amygdala doesn’t decide your fear. You do. It’s not a fear centre, it’s an intensity detector, and calming it down is solving the wrong...
  • atavism isn't the answer 7 Feb 2026 [audio + edited transcript] Seed oils, raw milk, cold plunges, tradwives—one template runs them all: name a modern ill, invent an ancestral past, sell the return as cur...
  • values don't matter 24 Jan 2026 [audio + edited transcript] Values don’t shape behaviour. The room does. They’re virtue ethics relabelled—and courage for a soldier isn’t courage for a teacher. Build t...
  • stupid questions: consciousness 10 Jan 2026 [audio + edited transcript] The hard problem of consciousness isn’t a problem. It’s a beautiful argument with no stakes. Behaviour is what matters, not the ghost behind...
  • stupid questions: free will 27 Dec 2025 [audio + edited transcript] Whether free will is real changes precisely nothing. The world’s too complex for the answer to bite, and behaviour bends the same way no mat...
  • stupid questions: nature/nurture 13 Dec 2025 [audio + edited transcript] Nature is just nurture given time, and nurture is obviously the one in charge. The whole debate is Gladwell bait: superficially sexy, practi...
  • men aren't from mars 15 Nov 2025 [audio + edited transcript] Men and women aren’t wired differently. We read the same behaviour as reasonable in him and unreasonable in her—normalising troubled men whi...
  • stress is good 1 Nov 2025 [audio + edited transcript] Stress isn’t broken by modern life. It’s a performance tool, and the line between fuel and harm isn’t the stressor. It’s whether you control...

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