the btrmt. lectures

A brain scientist talking about patterns of thought, of feeling, and of action.
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There's no instruction manual for this device in our head. But there are patterns. Patterns of thought, of feeling, and of action. That's what brains do. So let me teach you. One pattern, one podcast. You see if it works for you. substack.btr.mt

Episodes

  1. Values Don’t Matter

    24 JAN

    Values Don’t Matter

    Further reading: ·      The btrmt. article that inspired this ·      Overview of the ethical landscape ·      On catastrophic leadership failure ·      Everything is choice architecture ·      Making strong group dynamics ·      On motivation ·      Belief-consistent information processing References: ·      MacIntyre’s After Virtue ·      Situationist critique of virtue ethics ·      Person-situation debate ·      Milgram’s obedience experiments ·      Stanford Prison Experiment ·      John Doris on the ecological approach to ethics ·      Maria Merritt on “humility ethics” ·      Moore and Beadle on organisations as MacIntyrean practices ·      The invisible gorilla test This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit substack.btr.mt

    30 min
  2. The Hard Problem of Consciousness Isn’t a Problem

    10 JAN

    The Hard Problem of Consciousness Isn’t a Problem

    Further reading ·      Panpsychism ·      AI Consciousness ·      Consciousness vs Conscious Access ·      Mundane Cults ·      The Placebo Effect ·      Spirituality of the Mind References ·      John Locke: Primary-Secondary Quality Distinction ·      Mary’s Room (Knowledge Argument) ·      Qualia on Wikipedia ·      Thomas Nagel: “What Is It Like to Be a Bat?” ·      Animal Echolocation ·      Hard Problem of Consciousness ·      Philosophical Zombie ·      Sam Harris: The Moral Landscape ·      Sam Harris TED Talk: Science Can Answer Moral Questions ·      New Mysterianism ·      Brian Key: Fish Cannot Feel Pain ·      Do Honey Bees Have Conscious Experience? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit substack.btr.mt

    15 min
  3. Who Cares if There’s No Such Thing as Free Will?

    27/12/2025

    Who Cares if There’s No Such Thing as Free Will?

    Further reading ·      On Motivation: Thinky vs Non-Thinky ·      Dual-Process Theories ·      Brain Waves ·      Spirituality of the Mind ·      The Environment is Everything References ·      Determinism on Wikipedia ·      Fatalism on Wikipedia ·      Theological Determinism ·      Benjamin Libet’s Experiments ·      Neuroscience of Free Will ·      Agent Causation ·      Compatibilism ·      Neuroethics and Free Will ·      Fatalism: The Idle Argument This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit substack.btr.mt

    13 min
  4. Nature vs Nurture isn't Interesting

    13/12/2025

    Nature vs Nurture isn't Interesting

    Further reading ·      Genetics is Nurture ·      Evolution is Overrated ·      Atavism Isn’t the Answer ·      Stress is Good ·      Prehistoric Polygamy ·      Sexual Strategies and Evolution ·      Tinbergen’s Four Questions ·      The Environment is Everything ·      All Food is Toxic ·      Education is Entertainment References ·      Heritability on Wikipedia ·      Height heritability study ·      Fatalism: The Idle Argument This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit substack.btr.mt

    13 min
  5. Mundane Cults

    29/11/2025

    Mundane Cults

    Show Notes Further reading ·      Successful Prophets ·      The Value of Ritual ·      Human Perspective is Not the Only One ·      Everything is Ideology ·      The Scientific Ritual ·      Panpsychism ·      Questions That Don’t Matter ·      All Food is Toxic ·      Easy Measurement Bias ·      The Placebo Effect ·      The Charismatic Leader (Weber) ·      True Family Ties ·      Abstractions as Gods ·      Belief-Consistent Information Processing References ·      Sociological classification of cults ·      Roy Wallis on Wikipedia ·      The Protestant Reformation ·      Robert Jay Lifton on Wikipedia ·      Robert Jay Lifton: Theories of Totalism ·      Margaret Singer on Wikipedia ·      Janja Lalich on Wikipedia ·      Steven Hassan: Combating Cult Mind Control ·      Korean War ·      Brainwashing: China and the Korean War ·      Jonestown ·      Heaven’s Gate ·      Manson Family ·      Religious Behaviour on Wikipedia ·      LA Times: Cults as Places of Value ·      JSTOR: Affiliation and Spiritual Fulfillment ·      Church vs Sect (Troeltsch and Niebuhr) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit substack.btr.mt

    24 min
  6. Men aren't from Mars

    15/11/2025

    Men aren't from Mars

    Further Reading ·      Men and women are from earth, fool pt. I - On Gray’s credentials and Chapter 2’s absurdities ·      Men and women are from earth, fool pt. II - On how Gray’s “Martians” are actually just poorly attached people ·      Men and women are from earth, fool pt. III - On how women’s ordinary needs are cast as unreasonable References ·      Is Having a Boyfriend Embarrassing Now? - British Vogue - Chanté Joseph’s viral article on modern dating ·      Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus (Wikipedia) ·      John Gray (author) - Wikipedia ·      Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging - Sebastian Junger - On why young men join the military ·      Gender essentialism ·      Sexual dimorphism in humans ·      Nature article on sex differences in the brain ·      The Myth of Mars and Venus (book) - Academic critique of Gray’s work ·      Columbia Pacific University - Gray’s fraudulent PhD ·      FDA Warning Letter to John Gray’s Mars Venus LLC ·      Women are better at using soft skills crucial for leadership - Korn Ferry ·      Rejection sensitivity ·      Attachment theory and styles This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit substack.btr.mt

    35 min
  7. Stress is Good

    01/11/2025

    Stress is Good

    The btrmt. article that inspired this. And more here, and here. The Atlantic Article, demonstrating the typical approach to stress Sapolksy's book Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers The Yerkes Dodson Law (or the Wikipedia page) Vartinian et al. (2020) , Goldfarb et al. (2017), Lenow et al. (2017) or this commentary are all good places to check out the relationship between low stress and cognitive flexibility etc vs higher stress and the kind of cognitive rigidity that leads to performance. Eustress (Hans Seyle, 1976) More modern developments would be Cognitive Appraisal Models and Attribution Theory Chronic Stress and extended Allostatic Load This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit substack.btr.mt

    26 min
  • 7 Episodes

About

There's no instruction manual for this device in our head. But there are patterns. Patterns of thought, of feeling, and of action. That's what brains do. So let me teach you. One pattern, one podcast. You see if it works for you. substack.btr.mt

Information

  • Creator
    A brain scientist talking about patterns of thought, of feeling, and of action.
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    7
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Dorian Minors
  • Show Website
    the btrmt. lectures