Dr Ben Wolfe
@benwolfevision.bsky.social
Assistant Professor Psychological and Brain Sciences University of Toronto Mississauga Co-Director, APPLY Lab (www.applylab.org) Least important mammal in his house (just ask the cats). "If vision worked like *that*, we'd all be dead."
This is GLORIOUS, and when the first screenshot from @kathryntewson.bsky.social of her grandmother's deposition includes the utter banger "Historians seldom apply for licenses, sir" you know it's worth the read!
Kathryn Tewson@kathryntewson.bsky.social · 3d agoI have just been sent the transcript of a deposition my grandmother gave in 1977 while she was serving as an expert witness in a series of tribal rights cases and let me tell you, if nothing else this is proof that I come by it honest for every conceivable value of “it”
Things I wasn’t expecting to discover the hard way: USB3 drives can throw weird interference
Having a pellet smoker on the back deck means that I can smoke a side of salmon on a whim (it helps when it’s on sale for $10/lb). When said side of salmon is 1.3kg, it’s also fun to invent dishes that use the leftovers.
And Villain is a worthy sequel. It’ll be fun, I hope, to see where she takes this universe.
Dr Ben Wolfe@benwolfevision.bsky.social · 5d agoI am rereading Natalie Zina Walschots’s Hench for the first time in years, and - as someone who quite literally has reports from my preschool saying I hate superheroes - I am reminded how much I really enjoy this take on the whole idea.
I am rereading Natalie Zina Walschots’s Hench for the first time in years, and - as someone who quite literally has reports from my preschool saying I hate superheroes - I am reminded how much I really enjoy this take on the whole idea.
A nostalgia pile and one of the most fun things I've seen in a while
madeline odent@oldenoughtosay.com · 5d agoHappy Friday everyone, as promised, here is my personal theory on this. I think Redwall takes place in our world, after an apocalyptic event of the nuclear variety caused rapid but varied growth of all animals, including humans, leading to our extinction and their mental development. Okay? 🧵
Every year, there's a call for research on the pork industry in Ontario, and every year, the Research Office email makes me giggle, because it's "Ontario Pork Letters of Intent"
Huh. Fun to find papers where you go "huh, that's certainly not the research area you were in ~25 years later"
Used some of this (after eating some for lunch) to make a stroganoff-like pasta dish.
Dr Ben Wolfe@benwolfevision.bsky.social · last wk.And this weekend’s other cooking project.
At a farm to pick blueberries, and a small child has screamed “it’s time to count the CHICKENS!” I mean, they’ve hatched. I suppose it’s time.
posit: people will construct a persistent perception of a personality for any object or system they interact with suffienciently frequently. it doesnt matter if the object possesses one or is even responsive. our incredibly sticky pareidolic tendencies just get all over everything all the time.
Zach Weinersmith@zachweinersmith.bsky.social · 2w agoIf you had a robot butler... A) Do you want it to have a personality at all? B) If so, a consistent/persistent personality or something like an instance with notes on preferences C) If a persistent personality, do you want it to act as if it has moral standing, e.g. ability to suffer
This is deeply, deeply cool for what it says about how we use representations.
Stephen Emrich@emrich.bsky.social · 2w agoI'm really excited to share the results of a new study that @bjbalas.bsky.social and I have been working on this summer. This project was a bit of a labor of love. If you're interested in #chess, mental imagery, #aphantasia, or the value of a sabbatical, this is a 🧵 for you: 1/?
Finding fun chewy papers and chapters is one of the benefits of prepping a new seminar.
Oh man, air conditioned academic spaces and dark roasted coffee is a sense memory from my teens.
Well, we thought it was Howl. This was actually Sophie. As the quip went at about 0430: how would we know if it was 0400 without cats?
Dr Ben Wolfe@benwolfevision.bsky.social · 2mo agoYeah, Howl decided the 0500 Puke Alarm needed to go off. He was on a pillow behind my spouse's head at the time. The advance warning noises were enough to get him off the bed in time, but still...
Terrifying (writing) Monster Mode is kinda fun. This message brought to you by a day spent chewing through a manuscript to give it a new story.
Answer: not bad. Young (needs more time to mellow). Has enough spice to it that it’ll probably make a nice manhattan.
Dr Ben Wolfe@benwolfevision.bsky.social · 2w agoCan’t say whether it’s exceptional, but it’s very, very, Canadian
Can’t say whether it’s exceptional, but it’s very, very, Canadian