analects noun, pl

/ˈan.ə.lɛkts/

a collection of ideas, extracts, or teachings.

the whole library

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...
  • purple doesn't exist 8 Aug 2026 [audio + edited transcript] Purple isn’t on the light spectrum. Your brain invents it to stand for a green that should be there and isn’t—and it does the same with your...
  • 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.
  • successful prophets 27 Jun 2026 [audio + edited transcript] The most successful prophet isn’t a person. It’s a shared abstraction the group charges up and pins to a convenient emblem. Charisma is conf...
  • ai-shaped stuff 13 Jun 2026 [article] We keep waiting for AI to get good enough. That’s backwards. The bottleneck is human: work that isn’t AI-shaped, verification we’re bad at,...
  • you can catch madness 13 Jun 2026 [audio + edited transcript] Folie à deux isn’t a rare clinical curiosity. It’s one misleading face of social isolation—intimacy plus loneliness, the same machinery runn...
  • successful prophets 5 Jun 2026 [article] We think of cults as the product of dangerously charismatic leaders but on examination this narrative falls apart. Really, the most successf...
  • folie à deux: the madness of two 4 Jun 2026 [article]
  • 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...
  • there are no levels 1 May 2026 [article] Ideas that stick are shaped to be interesting, not true. Some of these are weaponised; snuck by our faculties of reason. AI uses them in spa...
  • it's not social media, life is just worse 18 Apr 2026 [audio + edited transcript] Social media isn’t the disease. It’s the symptom you can see. The sad kids on TikTok are there because they’re sad, not sad because they’re...
  • 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...
  • useful men 4 Apr 2026 [article] It’s true that the ‘pathways’ to manhood are closing. I don’t think it’s a crisis of masculinity though. It’s a crisis of no more excuses fo...
  • 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...
  • affordance competition 14 Mar 2026 [article] The brain prepares multiple action plans simultaneously and the environment biases which one fires, via salience, practice, goals, and urgen...
  • 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...

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