btrmt. lectures

Dorian Minors
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A brain scientist talking about (better) patterns of thought, of feeling, and of action. One pattern, one podcast—you see if it works for you. The btrmt. lectures, with Dr Dorian Minors. (btrmt.—said "betterment.")

  1. 16h ago

    Purple Doesn't Exist

    Most of the purples you see have no wavelength behind them. Your brain invents them, to stand in for a green that should be there and isn’t. Which is fun trivia—until you notice it does exactly the same with your reasons. Show notes Further reading Purple doesn’t exist — the article this episode is adapted from, and the home of the light-and-photoreceptors diagram I mention: the visible spectrum with the S-, M- and L-cone sensitivities drawn over it. It’s the picture I said I’d put here, and it reads better in place. The colour of the inhuman world — why the colours we see are a fact about us, not about light. Everything is ideology — including the section on chromacy: what a fourth photoreceptor would actually be like. The flaws of the human perspective Meaning and its patterns in the brain AI hallucination is just man-guessing — more on Mercier and Sperber, and on reasoning as rationalisation. Belief-consistent information processing — one small set of beliefs generating most of the biases we have names for. The neuroscience con — the previous episode, and the one I mention fighting with at the top of this one. References Mercier, H. & Sperber, D. (2017). The Enigma of Reason. Harvard University Press. Publisher Gazzaniga, M. S. — the split-brain work, and the chicken-claw/snow-shovel experiment. Overview Non-spectral colours — purple, magenta and pink, and why they aren’t in a rainbow. Trichromacy — the three-cone system. A note on the audio I describe photons as moving at different speeds. They don’t — all light travels at the same speed, and what differs is the wavelength (and so the frequency: how fast the wave oscillates, not how fast it travels). The transcript below says it correctly.

  2. Jul 25

    The Value of Ritual

    “Ritual” is the word we keep for other people’s habits—the crystals, the pagans, the woo. Strip it back and your own life is wall-to-wall with them. The only difference is which ones you’ve decided to approve of. Show notes Further reading The value of ritual (the article this grew from) Mundane Cults Sages and Wisdom The Scientific Ritual Everything is ideology Meaning and its patterns in the brain (the predictive-processing piece) The Forer effect Meditation Isn’t For Everyone The false promise of a return to nature (the Dunbar’s-number piece) Abstractions as gods Mob mentality is fine (good and evil from the same group dynamics) Why your unconscious isn’t the bad guy References Xygalatas, D. et al. (2011). “Quantifying collective effervescence: heart-rate dynamics at a fire-walking ritual.” Communicative & Integrative Biology. https://doi.org/10.4161/cib.17609 Xygalatas, D. (2022). Ritual: How Seemingly Senseless Acts Make Life Worth Living. Profile Books. Tarr, B., Launay, J., Cohen, E., & Dunbar, R. (2015). “Synchrony and exertion during dance independently raise pain threshold and encourage social bonding.” Biology Letters. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2015.0767 Watson-Jones, R. E., & Legare, C. H. (2016). “The social functions of group rituals.” Current Directions in Psychological Science. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721415618486 Hong, Z. (2025). “When Rituals Fail: Rationalization, Bayesianism, and Predictive Processing.” Evolutionary Anthropology. https://doi.org/10.1002/evan.70020 Hobson, N. M., & Inzlicht, M. (2016). Commentary on the dark side of ritual and self-control. Behavioral and Brain Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0140525x15000448 The retracted “rituals improve performance” study referenced in the episode: Brooks, A. W. et al. (2016, retracted). “Don’t stop believing: Rituals improve performance by decreasing anxiety.” OBHDP. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2016.07.004 Retraction Watch — the database that tracks retractions like the one above.

  3. Jul 11

    The Neuroscience Con

    The most-listened-to neuroscience on the planet is a magic trick. Attach a brain part to any bit of ordinary advice and it starts to feel like science. Here’s how the trick works—and how to run it in reverse, so you never fall for it again. Further reading The Neuroscience Con — the article behind this lectureNeurotransmitters and behaviour — the purest form of the trickAddictive work — where neurotransmitter talk actually earns its keepNot brain regions, brain networks — why single-region reasoning (the RAS, the cortex) misleadsBrain structures and behaviour — a third of your brain is always onThe value of brain waves — the same pop-neuro fluff in miniatureThe origin of insight — insight comes when you’re not immersedProblems with p-values — the replication crisis, in his own wordsStress is good (lecture) — flow as optimum stressHow to be lucky — manifestation as manufactured luckThe trouble with Positive Intelligence — the con with a spine, infiltrating consultingObscuring Banalities — why we dress simple ideas up as clever onesThe amygdala is not the fear centre (lecture)The scientific ritual (lecture)Sages and wisdom (lecture)Education is entertainment (Malcolm Gladwell shit)References Dr Tara Swart — the Instagram source slides: a neuroscientist’s guide to manifestation (the prefrontal-cortex, neuroplasticity and flow slides) and resistance to change (the RAS slide), both @drtaraswartDr Tara Swart, guest on The Diary of a CEOM. Csikszentmihalyi (1975), Beyond Boredom and Anxiety — the “sense of control” quote on flowA. Dietrich (2003), transient hypofrontality hypothesis of flowHabituation — the filtering the RAS slide gestures atThe replication crisis“The Rise of Decorative Neuroscience” — Skeptic (independent corroboration of the “cosmetic filler” thesis)Sherman, Lokhande, Müller & Cohen (2021), “Self-Affirmation Interventions,” in Handbook of Wise Interventions — affirmations are “powerful yet conditional”: they work when well-timed and specificWood, Perunovic & Lee (2009), “Positive Self-Statements: Power for Some, Peril for Others,” Psychological Science — affirmations can backfire for people with low self-esteem

  4. Jun 27

    Successful Prophets

    Go and watch a tape of a so-called charismatic cult leader and the charisma everyone swears is there simply isn’t on it—just an odd bloke with a staring problem. So where does it come from? Not the leader. The followers confer it, and the leader is only ever an emblem they gather around. Which is why the cult runs itself when he’s a continent away, and why Musk stayed an icon no matter how many promises he broke. Show notes Further reading Successful prophets — the article this lecture grew from You Can Catch Madness — the previous lecture, on shared madness Mundane cults The charismatic leader (Weber) Cult charisma as social recognition, not a leader trait Charisma as representation Education is entertainment — the Musk write-up Social identity theory When culture trumps evidence Everything is ideology The loneliness epidemic References Marshall Applewhite and Heaven’s Gate — the 1997 video and contemporary coverage Teal Swan — a recent video and the Gateway podcast coverage Joe Navarro, “Dangerous Cult Leaders” (Psychology Today, 2012) Robert Hare, the Psychopathy Checklist (PCL-R) Eileen Barker, The Making of a Moonie Meindl, Ehrlich & Dukerich, “The Romance of Leadership” Haslam, Reicher & Platow, The New Psychology of Leadership Max Weber, on charismatic authority Xavier Marquez, on charisma as representation Festinger, Riecken & Schachter, When Prophecy Fails (and a critique of the study) Janja Lalich, Bounded Choice — self-sealing systems Eastern Lightning

  5. Jun 13

    You Can Catch Madness

    Two ordinary people suddenly go insane together. It’s a premise we enjoy from a safe distance—because surely it could never be us. I’m not so sure. Shared madness isn’t rare, it isn’t aberrant, and it sits a lot closer to ordinary love than we’d like to think. Strip away the spectacle and what’s left is the most common thing in the world: two lonely people who found a home in each other. Show notes Further reading Folie à deux: the madness of two — the article that inspired this lecture. Four models of psychopathology — how we decide what counts as “abnormal”, and why a benign shared delusion slips past all of it. The loneliness epidemic and Explaining group dynamics — why social isolation is so dangerous for us. It’s Not Social Media, Life Is Just Worse — a companion lecture on modern isolation. Successful Prophets — the same connection mechanism scaled from the pair to the group. References Ursula and Sabina Eriksson (the Swedish sisters). Folie à deux; Jules Baillarger, Charles Lasègue and Jean-Pierre Falret. Shared psychotic disorder (the undiagnosis quote), and the intimacy-in-isolation qualification. The Japanese family case (shared delusional hallucination); delusional parasitosis; shared pseudocyesis. The Tromp family (BBC, Mamamia). Theranos: Elizabeth Holmes, Sunny Balwani, and Bad Blood. Group polarisation and risky shift. Gang-stalking, Morgellons, and mass psychogenic illness.

  6. May 30

    Meditation isn't for everyone

    Meditation is the one practice everyone agrees on. It’s on the NHS, in schools, in every influencer’s guide to life, and the pitch is always the same: good for you, good for everyone, can’t hurt. Two of those three are false. It can hurt, it isn’t for everyone—and once you see what it actually is underneath the cushion, you realise you’re probably already doing it. Further reading Meditating for fun and for profit — the article that inspired this lecture. The Scientific Ritual — the first lecture in this arc, on science as a belief system. In Praise of the Sage — the second, on why we trust doctors the way we trust gurus. Positive Intelligence — one of the wellbeing-program takedowns mentioned up top. It’s not ‘just’ a placebo — on why “all in the head” is the point, not the problem. Not brain regions, brain networks — where the harms of mindfulness for some populations come up again. Overengineering calming down — the companion takedown of the calm-down-advice genre. Spirituality of Mind — more on the contemplative tradition meditation was lifted from. References Farias, M. & Wikholm, C. (2015). The Buddha Pill: Can Meditation Change You? Publisher page. Van Dam, N. T., Targett, J., Davies, J. N., Burger, A. & Galante, J. (2025). Incidence and predictors of meditation-related unusual experiences and adverse effects in a representative sample of meditators in the United States. Clinical Psychological Science. Article. Schlosser, M., Sparby, T., Vörös, S., Jones, R. & Marchant, N. L. (2019). Unpleasant meditation-related experiences in regular meditators: Prevalence, predictors, and conceptual considerations. PLOS ONE. Article. Lindahl, J. R., Fisher, N. E., Cooper, D. J., Rosen, R. K. & Britton, W. B. (2017). The varieties of contemplative experience: A mixed-methods study of meditation-related challenges in Western Buddhists. PLOS ONE. Article. Farias, M., Maraldi, E., Wallenkampf, K. C. & Lucchetti, G. (2020). Adverse events in meditation practices and meditation-based therapies: A systematic review. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica. Article. Kabat-Zinn, J. (1982). An outpatient program in behavioral medicine for chronic pain patients based on the practice of mindfulness meditation. General Hospital Psychiatry. Article.

    Meditation isn't for everyone

  7. May 16

    In Praise of the Sage

    The modern Western story is that real knowledge comes from science or careful reasoning, and anything else—the elder, the guru, the village wise woman—is suspect. But science and reflection themselves rest on a third, intuitive, embodied mode of knowing that we use constantly and pretend we don’t. The doctor and the guru are running on the same authority structure; the only difference is who’s allowed to wear the coat. Which means we’re picking our sages by taste instead of principle—and that’s how charlatans win. Not sure what I’ve got against linen trousers in this episode. Quite like them if I’m honest. Further reading In praise of the sage The scientific ritual (lecture) Mundane cults (lecture) It’s not ‘just’ a placebo Useful pharmacology How some psychics use psychology to screw you (Forer) AI hallucination is just man-guessing Moral blindspots Successful prophets Everything is ideology The charismatic leader (Weber) References Aristotle, Metaphysics John Dewey, Experience and Nature Richard Dawkins, TED: Militant atheism Bertram Forer, The fallacy of personal validation Phenotypic drug discovery Yann Martel, Life of Pi

    In Praise of the Sage

  8. May 2

    The Scientific Ritual

    Science feels like the most reliable thing we have. The opposite of belief. But it’s a belief system itself—a ritual, with all the failure modes that rituals have. And the receipts are right there in the replication crisis. Further reading The Scientific Ritual — the article this lecture is based on Problems with p-values — the technical companion: Fisher, Neyman-Pearson, the hybrid mess The trap of scientific evidence — on the “no evidence” tension and the homeopathy/parachute paradox Everything is ideology — science as one belief system among several In praise of the sage — other ways of knowing; the MD/PhD distinction Scientific fact — on what science actually does The value of ritual — ritual as a knowledge-production strategy Meditation — on the dinner-table meditation example Beyond System 1 and System 2 — on Kahneman’s dual-process framework The placebo effect — on why “works for some, not for others” is a feature, not a bug Grit — positive-psychology critique Overengineering calming down (lecture) — the broader positive-psychology audit Bias is good (lecture) — the cognitive-bias series Life is worse (lecture) — the previous episode; a worked example of reading a literature References The replication crisis itself Open Science Collaboration (2015), Estimating the reproducibility of psychological science, Science 349 (6251) Wikipedia: replication crisis American Statistical Association: Wasserstein, Schirm & Lazar (2019), Moving to a World Beyond “p 3 substantial, BF > 10 strong) come from JASP — the open-source Bayesian statistics software with default priors Specific replication-crisis casualties Cuddy, Wilmuth & Carney (2010) original power posing paper; Carney’s later statement withdrawing support Hagger et al. (2016), A Multilab Preregistered Replication of the Ego-Depletion Effect Bargh, Chen & Burrows (1996) original elderly priming paper; failed Doyen et al. (2012) replication Brown, Sokal & Friedman (2013), The Complex Dynamics of Wishful Thinking — demolishing the 3:1 positivity ratio Carol Dweck, growth mindset — replication concerns documented in Sisk et al. (2018) and Bahník & Vranka (2017) Angela Duckworth, grit — meta-analytic critique in Credé, Tynan & Harms (2017) Books cited in the lecture Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow Stephen J. Gould, Adam’s Navel and Other Essays Yann Martel, Life of Pi Bill Mollison, Permaculture: A Designer’s Manual Other Richard Dawkins on militant atheism (TED) — the “evidence vs. faith” framing Reform efforts: preregistration, open data, multi-lab replication consortia (e.g. ManyLabs)

    The Scientific Ritual
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About

A brain scientist talking about (better) patterns of thought, of feeling, and of action. One pattern, one podcast—you see if it works for you. The btrmt. lectures, with Dr Dorian Minors. (btrmt.—said "betterment.")

Information

  • Creator
    Dorian Minors
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    21
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Dorian Minors
  • Show Website
    btrmt. lectures