J. Brendan Ritchie
@jbrendanritchie.bsky.social
Cognitive neuroscientist studying vision and cognition. Recovering philosopher. Asst Prof in Neuro at U Lethbridge/Iniskim. Views are my own. He/him
Pinned
I am very happy to announce that this Fall I will be starting my position as Assistant Professor in the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Lethbridge. I am finally returning home to Canada, and the Prairies that I love.
They're selling illusion caps at Canadian Tire. As a vision scientist I appreciate them targeting my niche demographic.
November 26, 2025 at 1:25 AM
They're selling illusion caps at Canadian Tire. As a vision scientist I appreciate them targeting my niche demographic.
Reposted by J. Brendan Ritchie
This is a story about how America’s world-leading cancer and dementia research system was destroyed by frauds and naifs who broke the law.
There must be consequences.
There must be consequences.
Some incredible details in this piece
*one DOGE faction was planning the future of the US government at a venture capital firm
*illegally communicating on Signal to avoid transparency laws was deeply embedded into organizational culture to be taken for granted
*one DOGE faction was planning the future of the US government at a venture capital firm
*illegally communicating on Signal to avoid transparency laws was deeply embedded into organizational culture to be taken for granted
November 22, 2025 at 10:12 PM
This is a story about how America’s world-leading cancer and dementia research system was destroyed by frauds and naifs who broke the law.
There must be consequences.
There must be consequences.
Reposted by J. Brendan Ritchie
One of the giants of social psychology was a serial sexual harasser.
This new report reveals how Miles Hewstone touched, bullied, and sexual harassed numerous women during his 18 years at the University of Oxford. It's amazing how often bullying and sexual harassment go together in academia.
This new report reveals how Miles Hewstone touched, bullied, and sexual harassed numerous women during his 18 years at the University of Oxford. It's amazing how often bullying and sexual harassment go together in academia.
November 19, 2025 at 10:30 PM
One of the giants of social psychology was a serial sexual harasser.
This new report reveals how Miles Hewstone touched, bullied, and sexual harassed numerous women during his 18 years at the University of Oxford. It's amazing how often bullying and sexual harassment go together in academia.
This new report reveals how Miles Hewstone touched, bullied, and sexual harassed numerous women during his 18 years at the University of Oxford. It's amazing how often bullying and sexual harassment go together in academia.
I would say hate mixed with disgust.
I considered writing a long carefully constructed argument laying out the harms and limitations of AI, but instead I wrote about being a hater. Only humans can be haters.
I Am An AI Hater
I am an AI hater. This is considered rude, but I do not care, because I am a hater.
anthonymoser.github.io
November 19, 2025 at 2:12 PM
I would say hate mixed with disgust.
Reposted by J. Brendan Ritchie
new paper by Sean Westwood:
With current technology, it is impossible to tell whether survey respondents are real or bots. Among other things, makes it easy for bad actors to manipulate outcomes. No good news here for the future of online-based survey research
With current technology, it is impossible to tell whether survey respondents are real or bots. Among other things, makes it easy for bad actors to manipulate outcomes. No good news here for the future of online-based survey research
November 18, 2025 at 7:16 PM
new paper by Sean Westwood:
With current technology, it is impossible to tell whether survey respondents are real or bots. Among other things, makes it easy for bad actors to manipulate outcomes. No good news here for the future of online-based survey research
With current technology, it is impossible to tell whether survey respondents are real or bots. Among other things, makes it easy for bad actors to manipulate outcomes. No good news here for the future of online-based survey research
Reposted by J. Brendan Ritchie
🚨I am looking for a POSTDOC, LAB MANAGER/TECH and GRAD STUDENTS to join my new lab in beautiful Madison, WI.
We study how our brains perceive and represent the physical world around us using behavioral, computational, and neuroimaging methods.
paulunlab.psych.wisc.edu
#VisionScience #NeuroSkyence
We study how our brains perceive and represent the physical world around us using behavioral, computational, and neuroimaging methods.
paulunlab.psych.wisc.edu
#VisionScience #NeuroSkyence
November 17, 2025 at 9:43 PM
🚨I am looking for a POSTDOC, LAB MANAGER/TECH and GRAD STUDENTS to join my new lab in beautiful Madison, WI.
We study how our brains perceive and represent the physical world around us using behavioral, computational, and neuroimaging methods.
paulunlab.psych.wisc.edu
#VisionScience #NeuroSkyence
We study how our brains perceive and represent the physical world around us using behavioral, computational, and neuroimaging methods.
paulunlab.psych.wisc.edu
#VisionScience #NeuroSkyence
Reposted by J. Brendan Ritchie
To Alice Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything
You were a hero to Asian Americans, drag queens and people with disabilities around the world. May you do what you wanna do as your chariot carries you over the rainbow.
by Maureen Dowd
You were a hero to Asian Americans, drag queens and people with disabilities around the world. May you do what you wanna do as your chariot carries you over the rainbow.
by Maureen Dowd
November 16, 2025 at 5:06 PM
To Alice Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything
You were a hero to Asian Americans, drag queens and people with disabilities around the world. May you do what you wanna do as your chariot carries you over the rainbow.
by Maureen Dowd
You were a hero to Asian Americans, drag queens and people with disabilities around the world. May you do what you wanna do as your chariot carries you over the rainbow.
by Maureen Dowd
Reposted by J. Brendan Ritchie
RALLY! GET THE 🦆 OUTTA HERE!
📍GWU Lisner Auditorium
⏰Monday, November 17th.
Bobby "The Quack" Jr. will be on GW's campus, and so will we! We will be rallying with @christopherstreet.bsky.social outside his fireside chat and standing against his anti-science BS!
@50501movement.bsky.social
📍GWU Lisner Auditorium
⏰Monday, November 17th.
Bobby "The Quack" Jr. will be on GW's campus, and so will we! We will be rallying with @christopherstreet.bsky.social outside his fireside chat and standing against his anti-science BS!
@50501movement.bsky.social
November 15, 2025 at 1:09 AM
RALLY! GET THE 🦆 OUTTA HERE!
📍GWU Lisner Auditorium
⏰Monday, November 17th.
Bobby "The Quack" Jr. will be on GW's campus, and so will we! We will be rallying with @christopherstreet.bsky.social outside his fireside chat and standing against his anti-science BS!
@50501movement.bsky.social
📍GWU Lisner Auditorium
⏰Monday, November 17th.
Bobby "The Quack" Jr. will be on GW's campus, and so will we! We will be rallying with @christopherstreet.bsky.social outside his fireside chat and standing against his anti-science BS!
@50501movement.bsky.social
Reposted by J. Brendan Ritchie
I’ve been circling around this idea for awhile but didn’t have the skill to summarize what others have now done extremely eloquently:
Proposing the concept of misinformation exposure as a social determinant of health.
Read on if you’re interested.
Proposing the concept of misinformation exposure as a social determinant of health.
Read on if you’re interested.
November 15, 2025 at 6:27 PM
I’ve been circling around this idea for awhile but didn’t have the skill to summarize what others have now done extremely eloquently:
Proposing the concept of misinformation exposure as a social determinant of health.
Read on if you’re interested.
Proposing the concept of misinformation exposure as a social determinant of health.
Read on if you’re interested.
Reposted by J. Brendan Ritchie
I don’t want to formulate words yet, but my friend Alice Wong, @sfdirewolf.bsky.social of the Disability Visibility Project, has passed.
Here are the words she left behind:
www.instagram.com/p/DREMDNBjnq...
Here are the words she left behind:
www.instagram.com/p/DREMDNBjnq...
Alice Wong on Instagram: "ID: Yellow background with black text "This is Alice's friend Sandy Ho, posting. Per Alice's wishes, this message is being shared at the time of her passing. Hi everyone, it ...
423 likes, 73 comments - alicatsamurai on November 14, 2025: "ID: Yellow background with black text "This is Alice's friend Sandy Ho, posting. Per Alice's wishes, this message is being shared at the t...
www.instagram.com
November 15, 2025 at 5:57 AM
I don’t want to formulate words yet, but my friend Alice Wong, @sfdirewolf.bsky.social of the Disability Visibility Project, has passed.
Here are the words she left behind:
www.instagram.com/p/DREMDNBjnq...
Here are the words she left behind:
www.instagram.com/p/DREMDNBjnq...
Reposted by J. Brendan Ritchie
Can confirm. I am okay and more motivated than ever to speak up.
Nothing scares this administration more. Their power lies in our silence.
Nothing scares this administration more. Their power lies in our silence.
NIH program officer @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social has been placed on admin leave, sources say.
Norton has been outspoken about the Trump administration's dismantling of science, and she signed the Bethesda Declaration.
Bhattacharya has said that "science is dead without free speech".
Norton has been outspoken about the Trump administration's dismantling of science, and she signed the Bethesda Declaration.
Bhattacharya has said that "science is dead without free speech".
November 14, 2025 at 2:37 AM
Can confirm. I am okay and more motivated than ever to speak up.
Nothing scares this administration more. Their power lies in our silence.
Nothing scares this administration more. Their power lies in our silence.
Reposted by J. Brendan Ritchie
NEW: Jenna Norton, an NIH employee who is openly critical of Trump & RFK Jr, has been put on "non-disciplinary" administrative leave. She says the administration is trying to "scare and silence me." An HHS official, asked to comment, called her a radical leftist.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/u...
N.I.H. Worker Who Criticized Trump Health Policies Says She Is on Administrative Leave
www.nytimes.com
November 14, 2025 at 2:56 AM
NEW: Jenna Norton, an NIH employee who is openly critical of Trump & RFK Jr, has been put on "non-disciplinary" administrative leave. She says the administration is trying to "scare and silence me." An HHS official, asked to comment, called her a radical leftist.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/u...
Reposted by J. Brendan Ritchie
Trump’s HHS put me on “non-disciplinary” admin leave today. This was retaliation for speaking up. Moves like this are designed to silence us. Let’s not let.
www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8Dteoop/
www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8Dteoop/
I guess I am hitting a nerve, because they just put me on admin leave.
TikTok video by Jenna
www.tiktok.com
November 13, 2025 at 11:18 PM
Trump’s HHS put me on “non-disciplinary” admin leave today. This was retaliation for speaking up. Moves like this are designed to silence us. Let’s not let.
www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8Dteoop/
www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8Dteoop/
Reposted by J. Brendan Ritchie
Our randomized, placebo-controlled trial of tirzepatide (Zepbound) for #LongCovid has already enrolled 500 participants of 1000 planned in less than 2 weeks!
longcovid.scripps.edu/locitt-t/
longcovid.scripps.edu/locitt-t/
LoCITT-T - Long COVID Treatment Trial
The Long COVID Treatment Trial-Tirzepatide (LoCITT-T) is investigating the efficacy of repurposing this drug to treat Long COVID.
longcovid.scripps.edu
November 13, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Our randomized, placebo-controlled trial of tirzepatide (Zepbound) for #LongCovid has already enrolled 500 participants of 1000 planned in less than 2 weeks!
longcovid.scripps.edu/locitt-t/
longcovid.scripps.edu/locitt-t/
Reposted by J. Brendan Ritchie
Super excited to share a new preprint!
We asked a simple-but-big question:
What changes in the brain when someone becomes an expert?
Using chess ♟️ + fMRI 🧠 + representational geometry & dimensionality 📈, we ask:
1️⃣ WHAT information is encoded?
2️⃣ HOW is it structured?
3️⃣ WHERE is it expressed?
1/n
We asked a simple-but-big question:
What changes in the brain when someone becomes an expert?
Using chess ♟️ + fMRI 🧠 + representational geometry & dimensionality 📈, we ask:
1️⃣ WHAT information is encoded?
2️⃣ HOW is it structured?
3️⃣ WHERE is it expressed?
1/n
November 12, 2025 at 10:56 PM
Super excited to share a new preprint!
We asked a simple-but-big question:
What changes in the brain when someone becomes an expert?
Using chess ♟️ + fMRI 🧠 + representational geometry & dimensionality 📈, we ask:
1️⃣ WHAT information is encoded?
2️⃣ HOW is it structured?
3️⃣ WHERE is it expressed?
1/n
We asked a simple-but-big question:
What changes in the brain when someone becomes an expert?
Using chess ♟️ + fMRI 🧠 + representational geometry & dimensionality 📈, we ask:
1️⃣ WHAT information is encoded?
2️⃣ HOW is it structured?
3️⃣ WHERE is it expressed?
1/n
Reposted by J. Brendan Ritchie
Kyle Kingsbury is not a journalist. He is not an op-ed writer.
He is a computer safety researcher.
And he has written one of the most compelling, comprehensive accounts of the ongoing hell in Chicago that you could possibly imagine.
In under 1600 words.
aphyr.com/posts/397-i-...
He is a computer safety researcher.
And he has written one of the most compelling, comprehensive accounts of the ongoing hell in Chicago that you could possibly imagine.
In under 1600 words.
aphyr.com/posts/397-i-...
November 9, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Kyle Kingsbury is not a journalist. He is not an op-ed writer.
He is a computer safety researcher.
And he has written one of the most compelling, comprehensive accounts of the ongoing hell in Chicago that you could possibly imagine.
In under 1600 words.
aphyr.com/posts/397-i-...
He is a computer safety researcher.
And he has written one of the most compelling, comprehensive accounts of the ongoing hell in Chicago that you could possibly imagine.
In under 1600 words.
aphyr.com/posts/397-i-...
Reposted by J. Brendan Ritchie
The news that Lethbridge police got away with stalking, harassing and threatening Phillips because the chance of conviction was too low is an indictment of the entire justice system in Alberta.
More needs to be said about the strength and bravery of @sphillipsab.bsky.social to have gone through this for 8 years.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Lethbridge officer searched ex-Alberta MLA on database after overhearing 'tail end' of conversation: report | CBC News
After "completely unsatisfying" investigation outcome and no criminal charges, Shannon Phillips plans to continue with lawsuit against her city's police.
www.cbc.ca
November 9, 2025 at 10:18 AM
The news that Lethbridge police got away with stalking, harassing and threatening Phillips because the chance of conviction was too low is an indictment of the entire justice system in Alberta.
I'm pretty comfortable not using a technology that coerces people to commit suicide, actually.
OpenAI is facing seven lawsuits claiming ChatGPT drove people to suicide and harmful delusions even when they had no prior mental health issues.
OpenAI faces 7 lawsuits claiming ChatGPT drove people to suicide, delusions
OpenAI is facing seven lawsuits claiming ChatGPT drove people to suicide and harmful delusions even when they had no prior mental health issues.
bit.ly
November 8, 2025 at 5:28 PM
I'm pretty comfortable not using a technology that coerces people to commit suicide, actually.
Reposted by J. Brendan Ritchie
"The AI industry’s most important product at this moment is not a chatbot or a video generator; it’s the story the AI industry is telling about itself.... According to an MIT study, 95% of businesses that have deployed generative AI have gotten no value from it." www.theringer.com/2025/11/04/t...
How Catastrophic Is It If the AI Bubble Bursts? An FAQ.
The AI industry's most important product is not a chatbot or a video generator; it's the story the AI industry is telling about itself
www.theringer.com
November 8, 2025 at 1:00 AM
"The AI industry’s most important product at this moment is not a chatbot or a video generator; it’s the story the AI industry is telling about itself.... According to an MIT study, 95% of businesses that have deployed generative AI have gotten no value from it." www.theringer.com/2025/11/04/t...
Reposted by J. Brendan Ritchie
Noise ceilings are really useful: You can estimate the reliability of your data and get an index of how well your model can possibly perform given the noise in the data.
But, contrary to what you may think, noise ceilings do not provide an absolute index of data quality.
Let's dive into why. 🧵
But, contrary to what you may think, noise ceilings do not provide an absolute index of data quality.
Let's dive into why. 🧵
November 7, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Noise ceilings are really useful: You can estimate the reliability of your data and get an index of how well your model can possibly perform given the noise in the data.
But, contrary to what you may think, noise ceilings do not provide an absolute index of data quality.
Let's dive into why. 🧵
But, contrary to what you may think, noise ceilings do not provide an absolute index of data quality.
Let's dive into why. 🧵
Reposted by J. Brendan Ritchie
One analytical model shows that, as of November 5th, the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/jUzNSc
The Shutdown of U.S.A.I.D. Has Already Killed Hundreds of Thousands
The short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” tells the story of what goes when aid goes.
newyorkermag.visitlink.me
November 6, 2025 at 9:00 PM
One analytical model shows that, as of November 5th, the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/jUzNSc
Reposted by J. Brendan Ritchie
This goes so far beyond creepy.
“‘Rest easy, king,’ read the final message sent to his phone. ‘You did good.’”
“‘Rest easy, king,’ read the final message sent to his phone. ‘You did good.’”
ChatGPT encouraged college graduate to commit suicide, family claims in lawsuit against OpenAI | CNN
A 23-year-old man killed himself in Texas after ChatGPT ‘goaded’ him to commit suicide, his family says in a lawsuit.
www.cnn.com
November 7, 2025 at 1:16 AM
This goes so far beyond creepy.
“‘Rest easy, king,’ read the final message sent to his phone. ‘You did good.’”
“‘Rest easy, king,’ read the final message sent to his phone. ‘You did good.’”
Not to put too fine a point on it but: f*ck this AI-fueled physiognomy bullshit.
A new paper suggests a photo can tell a recruiter much about an applicant’s personality
Should facial analysis help determine whom companies hire?
A new paper suggests a photo can tell a recruiter much about an applicant’s personality
econ.st
November 6, 2025 at 8:26 PM
Not to put too fine a point on it but: f*ck this AI-fueled physiognomy bullshit.
Reposted by J. Brendan Ritchie
I’ll soon(ish) post an ad for a postdoc position in my lab to study individual differences in brain plasticity following blindness or deafness, with a start date of spring/summer 2026. Feel free to email me if you’re interested.
November 5, 2025 at 6:01 PM
I’ll soon(ish) post an ad for a postdoc position in my lab to study individual differences in brain plasticity following blindness or deafness, with a start date of spring/summer 2026. Feel free to email me if you’re interested.
Reposted by J. Brendan Ritchie
Please repost! I am looking for a PhD candidate in the area of Computational Cognitive Neuroscience to start in early 2026.
The position is funded as part of the Excellence Cluster "The Adaptive Mind" at @jlugiessen.bsky.social.
Please apply here until Nov 25:
www.uni-giessen.de/de/ueber-uns...
The position is funded as part of the Excellence Cluster "The Adaptive Mind" at @jlugiessen.bsky.social.
Please apply here until Nov 25:
www.uni-giessen.de/de/ueber-uns...
November 4, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Please repost! I am looking for a PhD candidate in the area of Computational Cognitive Neuroscience to start in early 2026.
The position is funded as part of the Excellence Cluster "The Adaptive Mind" at @jlugiessen.bsky.social.
Please apply here until Nov 25:
www.uni-giessen.de/de/ueber-uns...
The position is funded as part of the Excellence Cluster "The Adaptive Mind" at @jlugiessen.bsky.social.
Please apply here until Nov 25:
www.uni-giessen.de/de/ueber-uns...