iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Owen Chevalier @owenc.bsky.social · 24/09/2025

At a conference in Netherlands in June an expat from Australia remarked that the first time he got really angry to be slowed down in NL by cyclists, he passed them agressively and then realized these little kids were in front and he was the problem. Car culture really doesn't encourage empathy.

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Owen Chevalier @owenc.bsky.social · 23/09/2025

Seeing an influx in AI medicine coverage in the news the past couple days which is poignant given the US Governments new official stance on autism. AI can certainly be a powerful tool for healthcare, but I wonder if it will always be correlated to anti-intellectualism.

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Owen Chevalier @owenc.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

When the "idea" for bus lanes is just doing the same tired thing that people have been doing since the 50s which got us into this mess.

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Owen Chevalier @owenc.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

Presenting Dr. Billie Anderson!!! B successfully defended her dissertation on Wednesday on monstrosity and disability in film. I've been blown away by her dedication and passion for this project, and I'm so excited to see where her research goes next. Congrats @billieanderson.bsky.social

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Owen Chevalier @owenc.bsky.social · 24/07/2025

Not for any particular reason. Just that if you own a Toyota Rav 4, then there is literally no scenario in which you can envision yourself using the crosstown. That's why it should be underground away from you, and that's why all transit investment is a waste of money to you.

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Owen Chevalier @owenc.bsky.social · 24/07/2025

Not a new thought probably but realizing a lot of transit decisions in TO boil down to the fundamental belief that car drivers will never be anything else. The crosstown wasn't built to be enticing to Forest Hill residents, but as an option to shuttle poor and homeless through to downtown.

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Owen Chevalier @owenc.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

I liked this article, and appreciate @paulbloomatyale.bsky.social pointing out that AI friends don't mean the end of human friends for everyone, but that some people who may otherwise have had friends will struggle. A more measured take in a polarizing field. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

newyorker.com

A.I. Is About to Solve Loneliness. That’s a Problem

The discomfort of loneliness shapes us in ways we don’t recognize—and we may not like what we become without it.

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Owen Chevalier @owenc.bsky.social · 09/07/2025

So it turns out a handful of business owners CAN use free AI tools and handmade signs to completely dismantle a necessary transit improvement. No city as big as Toronto should be so easy to manipulate. Just embarrassing. www.torontotoday.ca/local/transp...

torontotoday.ca

City waters down RapidTO bus plan, limiting dedicated lanes to south of Bloor

Staff no longer recommend the Bathurst and Dufferin TTC routes get their own RapidTO lanes all the way to Eglinton

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Reposted by Owen Chevalier

Matt Elliott @graphicmatt.com · 19/06/2025

Cool study from @bikewaysto.bsky.social detailing a traffic count on Bloor Street taken on June 11 with a camera at 412 Bloor West. During the peak of the afternoon rush, bikes outnumbered cars. I repeat: bikes outnumbered cars. drive.google.com/file/d/1ctd4...

Bar chart showing traffic counts on Bloor Street West in Toronto during the afternoon rush on Wednesday, June 11, 2025. For each hour from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., the number of bikes and motor vehicles (cars, trucks, motorcycles) was recorded. At 4–5 p.m., there were 643 bikes and 849 motor vehicles. At 5–6 p.m., 930 bikes and 832 motor vehicles. At 6–7 p.m., 919 bikes and 909 motor vehicles. At 7–8 p.m., 726 bikes and 935 motor vehicles. Bike counts exceeded car counts from 5 to 7 p.m. The chart was created by Matt Elliott for City Hall Watcher using data from the Toronto Community Bikeways Coalition.

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Owen Chevalier @owenc.bsky.social · 16/06/2025

I think the counterpoint to the "young people are lonely, lazy, and addicted to TikTok" rhetoric is that public services all over Toronto are seeing massive boosts in popularity. Young people want to be outside, social, and connected to their communities. Politicians should take note!

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Owen Chevalier @owenc.bsky.social · 16/06/2025

They need to have more philosophers on autocorrect development teams!

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Owen Chevalier @owenc.bsky.social · 14/06/2025

Loved getting the chance to speak at this conference and learn more about current research in epidemic injustice in psychiatry, lived experience expertise, and potential futures for the field that improve both its ethical and epistemic outputs.

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Owen Chevalier @owenc.bsky.social · 24/05/2025

My conspiracy theory is that they’re using AI to write these things, which is both a fascinating and terrifying thought. A new regime founded on LLM definitions for complex ideas.

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Owen Chevalier @owenc.bsky.social · 24/05/2025

Not the official death date printed on this Scarborough RT cardboard model 😭😭😭

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Owen Chevalier @owenc.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

...the mandatory "Christian Ethics" classes were such a waste of time is that a teacher with a general B-Ed is not a theologian or an ethicist. Wondering if it would be helpful to have an expert engage in the challenging material in either case. Would that mitigate any of these testimonies?

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Owen Chevalier @owenc.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

This is super interesting! And I think important to consider as a broader, evidence-based response to the "Everyone could use therapy" ethos. One question: Is part of the issue that teachers aren't qualified to teach mindfulness? Thinking back to my catholic school days that part of why...

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Owen Chevalier @owenc.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

To me this constitutes a pretty huge deal. If local consultation can’t even happen without AI disinformation campaigns how can we ever hope to have a reasonable democratic society again? Summerhill Market should face some kind of consequence for this.

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Owen Chevalier @owenc.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

These are things we can offer as instructors. So the question becomes: How can we fill that gap? My hypothesis is if I am approachable, open to discussion, clear with my feedback, and genuinely curious and interested in my students, then they might choose me sometimes over a chatbot.

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Owen Chevalier @owenc.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

At one point I just asked how my students were using chatGPT, and almost everyone listed things that didn't replace their thinking, but their relationship with an instructor. They use it for essay feedback, counterarguments, understanding concepts better.

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Owen Chevalier @owenc.bsky.social · 06/05/2025

My wife is only a cyclist because there are big bike lanes with enough space to make her feel safe with both e-bikes and cars. Building more of this infrastructure WILL convert non-cyclists into cyclists.

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Owen Chevalier @owenc.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

Also, as someone born and raised prairie who now lives out East, don’t confuse a general hatred of everything Toronto with a desire to be American. I’d venture to say many Sask folk would sooner call themselves REAL Canadians before they’d give up the country for the US.

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Owen Chevalier @owenc.bsky.social · 29/04/2025

The Toronto School Board has a deficit of $70 million. Wonder if any of this money could instead be going to keeping the schools in Canada’s largest city open?

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Owen Chevalier @owenc.bsky.social · 29/04/2025

Very funny to see American news celebrating Carney’s decisive victory when this is kind of a nightmare result for a parliament. You Americans really live with this kind of polarization all the time eh?

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Owen Chevalier @owenc.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

Oh man I didn’t realize the lack of bike share docks was because of competing business interests! I always thought it was because they didn’t want to have to do maintenance out there or something.

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Owen Chevalier @owenc.bsky.social · 21/04/2025

The first publication on perceptions of diagnosis and social media use of youth in psychiatric treatment is out now! We are now conducting interviews with these patients and the conversations have been fascinating. Very excited to share those results soon. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

sciencedirect.com

Self-diagnosis in the age of social media: A pilot study of youth entering mental health treatment for mood and anxiety disorders

To understand young adult patients' perspectives around the importance of mental health diagnoses and use of online material to self-diagnose.Prior to…

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Owen Chevalier @owenc.bsky.social · 19/04/2025

Would love to write an Atlantic-style article (light on the facts, heavy on the sensationalized opinion) about how American culture is no longer dictated by Hollywood but by the LDS. Everything from fashion and celebrities to cookies seems to be coming out of Utah these days.

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Owen Chevalier @owenc.bsky.social · 18/04/2025

Just nice to see Canada’s national public media stand up to the bullshit. We don’t have to give space to people whose agenda is to destroy our democratic institutions.

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Owen Chevalier @owenc.bsky.social · 18/04/2025

From Rosemary Barton re. “The post-debate scrum has been cancelled due to an altercation”: “Let me be clear, this was not a fight between journalists, these were right wing extremists with their own agenda who harassed us”

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Owen Chevalier @owenc.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

Also remember that parliamentary democracy can produce vastly different outcomes from merely winning or losing. A conservative plurality in the house could result in a progressive coalition. We’re not a monarchy like the US, and it’s much harder to have a mad king.

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Owen Chevalier @owenc.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

Now granted this is a pretty unusual election in many ways so that makes accurate prediction harder. But you certainly shouldn’t feel pessimistic. The sense I got from last night is Poilievre can’t shake the Trumpy language that’s turned off voters.

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Owen Chevalier @owenc.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

English debate is tonight so last night’s debate doesn’t really “count” (please don’t kill me Quebeckers). Common poll sentiment is that the Liberals are doing definitively well and barring a major event tonight, it’s unlikely to move the numbers enough to give the Cons a win.

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Owen Chevalier @owenc.bsky.social · 06/04/2025

I keep seeing people comment, in earnest, “If tariffs are so bad then why does the rest of the world impose them on the US” and I guess it would genuinely be wild for a MAGA to learn that the whole thing is a lie. There’s no grand plot against American free trade anywhere but in the White House.

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Owen Chevalier @owenc.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

It’s always fascinated me that TO has several major news outlets that all cater directly to suburban rage for the city. Normally I wouldn’t care but it’s especially bad when the province has the power to destroy the city based on what these people think Toronto is.

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Owen Chevalier @owenc.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

I like to maintain a balance of party colours that could become purple. Chow was easy because her colour was already purple.

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Owen Chevalier @owenc.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

When TikTok diagnoses me with a mental disorder, is it because TikTok is a stand-in for the doctor or are they like a well informed buddy?

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Owen Chevalier @owenc.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

When we talk about social media algorithms we often ascribe them agency (e.g., TikTok knows me better than my parents; TikTok wanted me to see this) But it’s unclear what people generally think their relationship to these agents are. Are they the experts? Are we equal partners?

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Owen Chevalier @owenc.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

Got to share some of my thoughts for this piece in Western’s undergrad magazine. It was great to chat with Hannah, and to see students thinking critically about how social media shapes their identities, especially relating to mental health.

westerngazette.ca

How gender bias and social media have shaped ADHD accessibility

While the stigma around ADHD has diminished, its normalization on platforms like TikTok risks turning it into a trend. Students are advocating for better institutional support, reduced barriers to dia...

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Owen Chevalier @owenc.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

Well and I certainly don’t want to suggest that Doechi doesn’t “get it” or invalidate the real experiences she may be approaching the song with. But I agree that maybe it’s something to do with the representation or the intended “vibe” the song elicits that matters.

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Owen Chevalier @owenc.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

But art can also promote empathy, especially when it’s made intentionally. So I would want to explore that distinction a bit. What are the features that distinguish empathy-promoting vs. empathy-demoting (?) MH representation?

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Owen Chevalier @owenc.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

My worry is and always has been that by showing mental illness to be something rich, successful, sexy people experience, there might be an empathy gap for (the majority of) people who are unable to turn their suffering into profitable recovery. 2/3

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Owen Chevalier @owenc.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

As someone who also has personal experience with mental illness I’ve always categorized MH art into the ones that “get it” and the ones that are doing it because it’s trendy. E.g., FJM’s new song “Mental Health” fits with how I think and talk about MH personally. 1/3

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Owen Chevalier @owenc.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

Thank God Toronto has that “SDZIBO can park anywhere” bylaw otherwise this driver might be doing something illegal and dangerous by parking in the Bloor bike lane 🥰

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Owen Chevalier @owenc.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

A peculiar justification for the US declaring war on Canada is that it will hurt Canadians, and this is evidence that they’ve somehow taken advantage of the US all these years. It’s like punching someone in the face and then using their nosebleed as evidence that they’ve taken advantage of you.

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Owen Chevalier @owenc.bsky.social · 15/02/2025

The thing about the “You need a car for winter in Canada” crowd is that my car is the first thing I stop using when TO gets 50 cm of snow. Why would I risk my life and sanity trying to drive right now when every other option is easier?

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Owen Chevalier @owenc.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

They're going to make us use AI in our writing whether we like it or not eh?

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Owen Chevalier @owenc.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

You’re right so you can be patriotic buying a $1 can of tomatoes too but the point is I got to feel superior buying stuff and isn’t that what a trade war’s all about? 😂

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Owen Chevalier @owenc.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

Oh thanks for the info I’ll revise it: Tim Hortons is a Canadian-American company with potentially most of the revenue going to a few wealthy Brazilians. A shining example of the power of free trade honestly. It takes 3 nations, maybe more, to sell the world’s worst coffee.

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