tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4456348657596914237.post5447746977209513920..comments2024-03-28T03:23:34.100-04:00Comments on Eco-Evo Evo-Eco: I have the Imposter Syndrome.Ben Hallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17875404974157070805noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4456348657596914237.post-29575594792931532982017-08-29T00:18:25.304-04:002017-08-29T00:18:25.304-04:00Jacques, great link, thanks for that. I guess may...Jacques, great link, thanks for that. I guess maybe there are different paths toward imposter syndrome, but it sounds like the endpoint the anonymous writer reached was similar to the endpoint reached by others with imposter syndrome, just sort of from the opposite direction. Yeah, it's a very difficult thing that I think many, even most, academics struggle with. Few academics who I've spoken to about imposter syndrome say they don't feel it. Perhaps the important thing is to learn to work through it – to just keep doing what you need to do despite the feelings of insecurity. I learned to do that, during my PhD, but the feelings never went away, and they undermined some of my enjoyment of the process. Imposter syndrome wasn't the reason why I decided to leave the academic rat race – I could and did work through it. But I sure don't miss feeling that way, now that I'm out of the rat race. In the end, I completely agree with you, Jacques: there needs to be more appreciation for individual strengths, for the ways in which different people are good at different things. Some people are good at talks, some aren't. Some publish a lot, some don't. Some collaborate, others are better solo. But hiring committees seem to often want a single archetype of the Ideal Scientist, who is good at all things, collaborates with everyone, publishes constantly in top journals, brings down huge grants, etc. That is not realistic, and besides giving everybody imposter syndrome, it also drives out a lot of people who don't resemble that archetype, but who would make important contributions to science in their own way. How many of the great scientists of the 20th century would have been rejected by a modern hiring committee? Personally, in the end, I have found a niche that leverages all of my unique abilities, and that I'm really good at, and that makes me happy, and that doesn't give me feelings of imposter syndrome – but I had to give up on the rat race in order to do it. There are not many niches out there like the one I found, and who knows how long mine will last. That is a bad state of affairs for science.Ben Hallerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17875404974157070805noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4456348657596914237.post-25455849596653119082017-08-24T08:20:34.526-04:002017-08-24T08:20:34.526-04:00I know how competitive and difficult this world ca...I know how competitive and difficult this world can be, and there are tons of reasons to make people think you are great and productive and all. <br />But if you change a little bit your perspective on this world, you may see that there are people of different values, different talents, different levels. They are not all that great in every departements.<br />It is difficult maybe to accept that some of them will always be superior to you. But are they really ? It is equally difficult to accept that not all of them are great - meaning, you can judge that you outcompete some people that already got a nice position when you have not, maybe (that guy would be me ;-) ).<br />But Science does not really need a bunch of glorified performers with incredibly long publications list. Science needs people to think about where they do their best, how, by working alone or in connexion.<br />You are the best at talking and showing ? that's not given to everyone, how can you serve Science with that ?<br /><br />As you say: " everyone progresses at a different pace and there is no universal standard of success. "<br /><br />Also, because it seemed to me that you were really concerned with your record list, maybe you should read this paper by Geman and Geman published last year: http://www.pnas.org/content/113/34/9384.extract<br />Jacques Labonnehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13940328283581428346noreply@blogger.com