analects noun, pl

/ˈan.ə.lɛkts/

a collection of ideas, extracts, or teachings.

On Leadership

stuff On being the strength of others

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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

  • 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...
  • 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]
  • 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...
  • values don't matter 21 Feb 2026 [article] Values often function as virtue ethics—traits we’re expected to cultivate. But virtues are context-dependent: courage for a soldier isn’t co...
  • hydraulic despotism 21 Feb 2026 [audio + edited transcript] You’re not coerced by malice. You’re coerced by convenience. Control the flow, control the people: the most discredited theory in political...
  • 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...
  • hydraulic despotism 1 Dec 2025 [article] Control the water, control the people. Today’s water is energy, social media, infrastructure. We’re coerced through convenience, not malice....
  • mundane cults 29 Nov 2025 [audio + edited transcript] Cults aren’t the fringe. They’re the architecture of ordinary community, and not being in one usually means something’s gone wrong. The ques...
  • on motivation 15 Sep 2025 [article] We can think of motivations in terms of three things. There is the content: what things motivate us. Then there is the process: how things m...
  • navigating moral terrain 1 Sep 2025 [article] I describe five levels that help understand how good people do bad things—neural, cognitive, situational, social, and cultural. Inject some...
  • practical ethics 4 Jul 2025 [article] To avoid rationalising poor ethical intuitions, we can use three tools to develop our ethical muscles. Sensitising ourselves to the small nu...
  • moral blindspots 27 Jun 2025 [article] Most people think better ethical decision-making is just a matter of stopping to think before acting. But many moral judgements are intuitiv...
  • moral terrain 20 Jun 2025 [article] You could try to make ethical decisions by reasoning through. You want to do good, so you work out what good means. Then you work out what y...
  • positive intelligence pt.iii 30 May 2025 [article] This might be the most comprehensive example of the neuroscience confidence game I’ve ever written about. That and a heavy dose of self-indu...
  • positive intelligence pt.ii 23 May 2025 [article] Chamine’s ‘Positivity Quotient’ is based on nothing beyond ‘being happier is better than being sad’, and unless they appeal to you, there’s...
  • positive intelligence pt.i 16 May 2025 [article] It says it’s based on the latest research, but actually it’s based on a 40 year old version of the concept of an ‘inner critic’, and a pack...
  • uncertainty vs risk 9 May 2025 [article] Our brains track two kinds of uncertainty. Expected uncertainty makes us trust our model of the world more and exploit familiar patterns (be...
  • sacrificing the self 4 Apr 2025 [article] When we want to identify with a group, we bias ourselves to filter out all theother ways we could be. It helps us cut down all our competing...
  • stress and creativity 28 Mar 2025 [article] Stress promotes bias—stereotypical thinking and behaving. Less stress promotes cognitive flexibility—an openness to new ways of thinking and...
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