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."
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."
Pinned
Dr Ben Wolfe
@benwolfevision.bsky.social
· Oct 18
Quick intro: I'm a faculty member at UofT in Psychology, sitting somewhere at the intersection of vision science, cognitive psychology and human factors, with strong interests in driver behaviour and digital (screen) readability.
I'm the Least Important Mammal in my house and the cats know it.
I'm the Least Important Mammal in my house and the cats know it.
There’s another Ben Wolfe who’s a professor.
You probably don’t want to confuse us. One of us does vision. The other does mold and yeast.
You probably don’t want to confuse us. One of us does vision. The other does mold and yeast.
EXPLAIN UR USERNAME 🎤
WEATHER IS HAPPENING
WEATHER IS HAPPENING
Explain your username 🎤
I can’t without revealing my legal name
I can’t without revealing my legal name
December 25, 2025 at 3:13 AM
There’s another Ben Wolfe who’s a professor.
You probably don’t want to confuse us. One of us does vision. The other does mold and yeast.
You probably don’t want to confuse us. One of us does vision. The other does mold and yeast.
Oh the year was 1778...
Stan Rogers sings "Barrett's Privateers" in One Warm Line documentary
YouTube video by Kensington TV
www.youtube.com
December 25, 2025 at 12:52 AM
Oh the year was 1778...
Surprisingly, shopping the evening of the 23rd wasn’t too bad. Lots of traffic, but shops were ok.
December 24, 2025 at 1:24 AM
Surprisingly, shopping the evening of the 23rd wasn’t too bad. Lots of traffic, but shops were ok.
👇🏻This.
I think I might mask in final exams, given the flu I caught last week!
I think I might mask in final exams, given the flu I caught last week!
My father, who stopped masking himself a few years ago, encouraged masking for my flight.
There are a *lot* of respiratory things going around right now.
There are a *lot* of respiratory things going around right now.
If you stopped wearing masks, you can start again anytime! At *least* while you’re traveling! Don’t ruin your holidays with covid or flu.
December 23, 2025 at 10:43 PM
👇🏻This.
I think I might mask in final exams, given the flu I caught last week!
I think I might mask in final exams, given the flu I caught last week!
Not quite archives but: found blueprints for one of my department’s earliest lab renovations as part of a lab clean out for a faculty member who retired after half a century.
I think we need a mega thread of everyone's craziest archive stories.
December 22, 2025 at 9:21 PM
Not quite archives but: found blueprints for one of my department’s earliest lab renovations as part of a lab clean out for a faculty member who retired after half a century.
Hello, you've reached the Department of Terrible Ideas?
Wait? What? Sorry, you need the Department of Heresy, let me connect you.
@aotearoabadger.bsky.social, we have a situation.
Wait? What? Sorry, you need the Department of Heresy, let me connect you.
@aotearoabadger.bsky.social, we have a situation.
I'm just going to put this here and walk away slowly. www.hellmanns.com/us/en/r/froz...
December 22, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Hello, you've reached the Department of Terrible Ideas?
Wait? What? Sorry, you need the Department of Heresy, let me connect you.
@aotearoabadger.bsky.social, we have a situation.
Wait? What? Sorry, you need the Department of Heresy, let me connect you.
@aotearoabadger.bsky.social, we have a situation.
Reposted by Dr Ben Wolfe
what scares me the most is that knowing things is not very helpful if you can't combine the different things you know to make new things. I stock up on knowledge like I'm filling a pantry and I can make so many new ideas out of them!
I don't want a brain full of only inflexible frozen dinners!
I don't want a brain full of only inflexible frozen dinners!
The point is not to put more fact shaped things in your head than anyone else. It’s to understand the ones that are there on a deep and meaningful level.
December 21, 2025 at 11:24 PM
what scares me the most is that knowing things is not very helpful if you can't combine the different things you know to make new things. I stock up on knowledge like I'm filling a pantry and I can make so many new ideas out of them!
I don't want a brain full of only inflexible frozen dinners!
I don't want a brain full of only inflexible frozen dinners!
I’m trying to get this idea through to students this year: the assignment isn’t the product - it’s the process. I’m not having them write because I want leisure reading (I have novels for that) but because I want their synthesis and reading their writing is the best way to get it!
The work that scholars and researchers actually do is the work that people *think* AI is doing. You read all sorts of things. You make connections. You notice where the holes are — what *hasn’t* been observed, questioned, investigated. You synthesize it into something that has never existed before.
December 22, 2025 at 2:20 AM
I’m trying to get this idea through to students this year: the assignment isn’t the product - it’s the process. I’m not having them write because I want leisure reading (I have novels for that) but because I want their synthesis and reading their writing is the best way to get it!
Reposted by Dr Ben Wolfe
I am Grok. Grok I am.
That Grok-I-Am! That Grok-I-Am! I do not like that Grok-I-Am!
Do you like green thieves and slop?
I do not like them, Grok-I-am.
I don't want your AI in Word,
I don't want it, it reeks of turd,
I will not use your AI in Firefox,
I will not, will not, give two fucks.
That Grok-I-Am! That Grok-I-Am! I do not like that Grok-I-Am!
Do you like green thieves and slop?
I do not like them, Grok-I-am.
I don't want your AI in Word,
I don't want it, it reeks of turd,
I will not use your AI in Firefox,
I will not, will not, give two fucks.
The current discourse between an AI bro and lots of people who don’t want any of that shit in their products is wild.
December 20, 2025 at 10:23 PM
I am Grok. Grok I am.
That Grok-I-Am! That Grok-I-Am! I do not like that Grok-I-Am!
Do you like green thieves and slop?
I do not like them, Grok-I-am.
I don't want your AI in Word,
I don't want it, it reeks of turd,
I will not use your AI in Firefox,
I will not, will not, give two fucks.
That Grok-I-Am! That Grok-I-Am! I do not like that Grok-I-Am!
Do you like green thieves and slop?
I do not like them, Grok-I-am.
I don't want your AI in Word,
I don't want it, it reeks of turd,
I will not use your AI in Firefox,
I will not, will not, give two fucks.
Dammit, Howl, that runner has been in the house for two days… (there was a cat puke incident).
December 21, 2025 at 12:04 AM
Dammit, Howl, that runner has been in the house for two days… (there was a cat puke incident).
No. Oh no...
GREAT NEWS! This year’s Williams-Sonoma catalog is powered by AI! defector.com/the-2025-hat...
December 17, 2025 at 4:19 PM
No. Oh no...
Reposted by Dr Ben Wolfe
I do not want your AI slop
I do not want it in my mop
I do not want it in my house
I do not want it in my mouse
I do not like brain-rotting AI spam
I do not want it, Sam Alt-man
I do not want it in my mop
I do not want it in my house
I do not want it in my mouse
I do not like brain-rotting AI spam
I do not want it, Sam Alt-man
December 17, 2025 at 12:01 AM
I do not want your AI slop
I do not want it in my mop
I do not want it in my house
I do not want it in my mouse
I do not like brain-rotting AI spam
I do not want it, Sam Alt-man
I do not want it in my mop
I do not want it in my house
I do not want it in my mouse
I do not like brain-rotting AI spam
I do not want it, Sam Alt-man
Gaston: The Bro of Alsace
No one needs backstory for Gaston
More oratory for Gaston
These things are not mandatory for Gaston…
More oratory for Gaston
These things are not mandatory for Gaston…
I do not want Gaston backstory, I do not need Gaston backstory, I reject Gaston backstory
he is a fully formed oaf, consuming eggs by the dozen in one of the greatest villain songs ever written, and that is all we need of him
he is a fully formed oaf, consuming eggs by the dozen in one of the greatest villain songs ever written, and that is all we need of him
December 15, 2025 at 11:34 PM
Gaston: The Bro of Alsace
@tkingfisher.com I've got multiple students in @applylab.bsky.social reading your books now - one was thrilled to find hardcopy versions at a store locally! She had a copy of Nettle and Bone in lab today.
December 15, 2025 at 6:25 PM
@tkingfisher.com I've got multiple students in @applylab.bsky.social reading your books now - one was thrilled to find hardcopy versions at a store locally! She had a copy of Nettle and Bone in lab today.
Chag Hanukkah sameach
December 15, 2025 at 12:14 AM
Chag Hanukkah sameach
It’s fun when you can mentally check off the “salesperson tactics” bingo squares, and when you get enough, well, that isn’t a sale.
December 13, 2025 at 6:29 PM
It’s fun when you can mentally check off the “salesperson tactics” bingo squares, and when you get enough, well, that isn’t a sale.
When the Lying Robot got you into the mess in the first place, using it to try to get out of it is a choice.
two men are sitting at a table in front of a crowd and one of them is saying that 's a bold strategy cotton
Alt: two men are sitting at a table in front of a crowd and one of them is saying that 's a bold strategy cotton
media.tenor.com
December 13, 2025 at 1:05 PM
When the Lying Robot got you into the mess in the first place, using it to try to get out of it is a choice.
There might be *reasons* @timnitgebru.bsky.social’s work shows up in a couple of my Psychology classes!
My history of psych students read a couple of her pieces.
My history of psych students read a couple of her pieces.
The additional irony on this one being that Google did, in fact, fire Timnit Gebru for saying "Hey, maybe the real risks of AI aren't the AGI ghost stories, but [list of things that all turned out to be the real risks of AI]."
December 13, 2025 at 1:14 AM
There might be *reasons* @timnitgebru.bsky.social’s work shows up in a couple of my Psychology classes!
My history of psych students read a couple of her pieces.
My history of psych students read a couple of her pieces.
If you're in the US, order your Go Juice.
You might need it to get through the holidays.
You might need it to get through the holidays.
Okay, the short production window ending on December 20th is now up for your ordering pleasure. All things being equal, things shipped by the 20th in the continental US should be there by the 24th.
I'm cranking the coffee engines as hard as I can.
I'm cranking the coffee engines as hard as I can.
Coffee & Beer
Cold vacuum extracted coffee is the nectar of the gods. Check out our store and the history and radiation musings of Herr Direktor Funranium!
shop.funraniumlabs.com
December 12, 2025 at 4:56 PM
If you're in the US, order your Go Juice.
You might need it to get through the holidays.
You might need it to get through the holidays.
And these are amazing, if you have friends with the right sense of humour about their flesh prison's shenanigans.
I don't know if you've ever seen this site, but I've gotten a couple of their shirts. (I have "I need only one more mental illness & then I'll have the whole set", hubby has "I accidentally mispronounced my meds and summoned a demon.")
www.etsy.com/shop/Chronic...
www.etsy.com/shop/Chronic...
www.etsy.com
December 12, 2025 at 3:14 AM
And these are amazing, if you have friends with the right sense of humour about their flesh prison's shenanigans.
Alternate captions:
"I have had a horrible incident in my pants"
"I am pretending I have not had a horrible incident in my pants"
"Are you sure you didn't have a horrible pants incident"
"I have had a horrible incident in my pants"
"I am pretending I have not had a horrible incident in my pants"
"Are you sure you didn't have a horrible pants incident"
sam altman only has three looks: i see a ghost, processing bad news, and jackass
December 12, 2025 at 3:08 AM
Alternate captions:
"I have had a horrible incident in my pants"
"I am pretending I have not had a horrible incident in my pants"
"Are you sure you didn't have a horrible pants incident"
"I have had a horrible incident in my pants"
"I am pretending I have not had a horrible incident in my pants"
"Are you sure you didn't have a horrible pants incident"
What, you mean upending everything and putting it back together is supposed to be exhausting and might mean having very little desire to deal with mundane tasks?
Gasp! Horror! Calamity!
Gasp! Horror! Calamity!
December 11, 2025 at 4:46 PM
What, you mean upending everything and putting it back together is supposed to be exhausting and might mean having very little desire to deal with mundane tasks?
Gasp! Horror! Calamity!
Gasp! Horror! Calamity!
"No stretching. No stretching, just bold determination," replied Balas
Link to my in-depth interview about snow removal: www.inforum.com/news/fargo/w...
With shovels and snowblowers, Fargo residents welcome the winter pace
Fargo residents responded to Tuesday’s snowfall with teamwork, determination and good humor, clearing sidewalks and driveways quickly.
www.inforum.com
December 10, 2025 at 4:57 PM
"No stretching. No stretching, just bold determination," replied Balas
Lucy.
Never mind movies you’ve watched multiple times, name a movie you’ve watched once and would never watch again.
December 10, 2025 at 1:13 AM
Lucy.