[jongraehl]

For a typical high-achieving man (in other words, a narcissist) to make it through a program where he's even slightly outside the social mode without a persecution complex, he'd have to possess extraordinary emotional poise. And we've seen that fine analytical minds are at least as prone to biases (system 2 reasoning is the rationalizing one, not the automatic system 1).

So, this woman's reaction is not to her discredit. Almost any person would have it. What's maybe a little sad is how much play such "dear diary" reactions get. I guess people really love a good shouting match (see the many flagkilled comments).

Those capable folks who enter a field out of genuine desire and with no obstacle other than a (real) feeling of social friction will stick with it and prevail. Good luck, outsiders. Anyway, ridiculous feelings of persecution (e.g., they think they're better than me with their college degrees - I'll show them all!) can be harnessed for productivity, so if you can't zen away your angst, use it.