analects noun, pl

/ˈan.ə.lɛkts/

a collection of ideas, extracts, or teachings.

On (Un)happiness

stuff On the things that decorate the heart

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

  • 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...
  • 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...
  • 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...
  • 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...
  • 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...
  • beyond system 1 and system 2 13 Jun 2025 [article] System 1 vs System 2 is a useful shorthand, but our minds aren’t two-speed engines—they’re multi-process coalitions of specialised agents wo...
  • 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...
  • preferring coherence 2 May 2025 [article] Cogntive dissonance often describes a bias towards seeing ourselves as coherent. Sure, it’s sneaky and prevalent, but entirely necessary. An...
  • cognitive dissonance isn't discomfort 25 Apr 2025 [article] Cognitive dissonance is often thought of as the discomfort we have with conflicting cognitions. But it’s really about how the brain will smo...
  • there is no authentic self 11 Apr 2025 [article] There’s no hidden version of you. If anything, we are a collection of bits and pieces that we weave together from the stories we learn from...
  • 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...
  • bias vs noise pt. i: bias vs bias 21 Mar 2025 [article] The behavioural economists treat bias as an error. But the brain isn’t an economist. It’s more like a statistician, using bias as a trade-of...
  • on cynosure 7 Mar 2025 [article] Cynosure is the idea betterment is empty without gratification and connection. No true betterment can occur without celebrating the fruits o...
  • anticipation beats reward 31 Jan 2025 [article] Basically, reward and ancipation both use the same system, but differently. Anticipation seems to come in through the senses and get sent th...
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