[dusted]

Yeah, at first I thought "ah, it's a bit on the lyrical side" but a few paragraphs down I just dropped out, it's too close to unreadable for comfort. I recognize this kind of long-winded, superfluous style from my own way of writing, it becomes too much like some conversational monologue that devolves into incomprehensibility, not out of a want for sounding smart but rather the lack of the talent that is brevity. English is not my first language, and I suspect that plays a part too, it may be the same for the author of that article.

Now, on imposter syndrome, I've often thought of myself as having this, but, the comfort that thought gives me makes me wonder if I'm not just seeking validation and trying to put myself up there with those brilliant people who supposedly had it too..

[Jensson]

> Now, on imposter syndrome, I've often thought of myself as having this, but, the comfort that thought gives me makes me wonder if I'm not just seeking validation and trying to put myself up there with those brilliant people who supposedly had it too..

Sanity check: have you done something you got praised for and later thought you weren't worth that praise? That is the core of impostor syndrome, if you haven't experienced it then you don't have impostor syndrome. When a brilliant person has impostor syndrome its because others thinks the brilliant person is brilliant, but the brilliant person doesn't see himself as brilliant. But if you fail the first step meaning others don't see you as brilliant, then you can't have impostor syndrome since the syndrome means you don't think you deserve the praise you are getting.

[dusted]

It might be that the person doing the praising is not brilliant either.

Praise is such an ingrained part of our culture, I feel like my generation has been praised throughout our lives for every little, entirely normal thing we do. It takes so very little. It feels hollow and fake, social norm that is followed.

I cannot construe praise to be anything beyond "affirmative, the task was done and there was nothing so wrong with it that it needs mention".

I don't like to receive "high praise" it feels patronizing at the very least.

[asxd]

In software at least, just landing a nice paying job seems to cause impostor syndrome, especially if it's one of your first. I guess getting a job offer is a sort of praise though, which fits your point.

[dusted]

I agree, especially because there are people out there doing hard work all day who earn a fraction.

We sit in nice offices, sipping coffee and play with computers..

[Jensson]

If you feel you don't deserve your job then that is impostor syndrome, yeah.

[_carbyau_]

That's an issue with many self judgements.

Do I really have [XYZ]? Or am I simply trying to rationalise something to myself?

[robocat]

Or perhaps it is imposter imposter syndrome? A deep flex? Maybe just a plain imposter with no syndrome? You could give yourself an anxiety disorder worrying about it too much. </tongue-in-cheek>

[dusted]

I didn't mean it as a flex, more a general observation that we're biased towards narratives that comforts us. So maybe when I'm feeling useless, I take comfort in the idea that super bright people also feel useless once in a while, and so, that puts me in a category with super bright people, we have this in common, so maybe I'm also super bright! ;)

Except, of course I am not, and of course I'm not explicitly thinking that way, but I do think that my brain unconsciously makes that connection on some level, irrational as it may be.

It's such an alluring thought, that maybe I'm not incompetent, maybe I'm just having this "syndrome" that so many other bright people have too... A lot easier to accept than the truth.

[robocat]

The article is dense, needlessly complexified, and impenetrable (requiring specific arts to read it), making the article useless.

This whole thread is brilliant - I really admire the one or two people that tried to summarise/translate sections. That said, I find something weird about people that write about imposter syndrome.

Something similar to imposter syndrome is normal for anyone who is highly skilled:

* To be highly skilled you are continuously improving you skills, by fixing the flaws in your work and fixing your own flaws, from the large to the small.

* To successfully fix flaws, you need to be able to recognise the flaws, in finer and finer detail, as you become more and more skilled. The irony is that while external parties can genuinely admire your work, you yourself can only see more and more that is wrong with your work.

* If you can’t see flaws, you don’t fix the flaws, and you don’t progress.

There is a gorgeous section of one interview with Jim Keller (a legendary/genius chip designer) where he talks about how he knew how deeply flawed his work is. He is really inspiring because he he is so insightful about his thought processes, and there is no entangled bullshit like the article we are commenting on. I also love this quote of his: "Imagine 99% of your thought process is protecting your self-conception, and 98% of that is wrong.". Quote is at @1:23:00 of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nb2tebYAaOA