The Fallacy of Imposter Syndrome
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The Fallacy of Imposter Syndrome
1–10 of 32 posts
Re: The Fallacy of Imposter Syndrome
#2Thank you, I hope the imposter that took over my brain pats me on the back.
Re: The Fallacy of Imposter Syndrome
#3[deleted]
Re: The Fallacy of Imposter Syndrome
#4This was a nice reminder to look back positively and use it as energy to continue to do better!
Re: The Fallacy of Imposter Syndrome
#5Claiming you have "imposter syndrome" seems to be a popular way to convey modesty or self deprecation. I suspect that many people that claim to have it actually don't.
Re: The Fallacy of Imposter Syndrome
#6Worth considering that all the people you see who look so confident and with-it (which exacerbates the impostor syndrome) are also likely freaking out on the inside. You are not the special lonesome misunderstood soul.
Re: The Fallacy of Imposter Syndrome
#7[deleted]
Re: The Fallacy of Imposter Syndrome
#8Claiming you have "imposter syndrome" seems to be a popular way to convey modesty or self deprecation. I suspect that many people that claim to have it actually don't.
As someone who definitely has imposter syndrome, the enlightening part of this post for me was that YOU are also the horse jockey.
In this light, it's important for me to recognize that you could easily see me as someone falsely claiming imposter syndrome, even if I know I'm not.
Not sure it helps with the imposter syndrome, though...
Re: The Fallacy of Imposter Syndrome
#9Fifteen years ago, I suffered from impostor syndrome. It made me defensive whenever someone criticized me because I thought that they were exposing my ignorance--exposing me as an impostor. I would bristle when other developers would say, "Wait? You don't know about [thing]?" Why didn't I know about [thing]???
After 25 years of coding I know enough about the field to know that no one knows it all. When someone is surprised that I don't know something, I smile to myself that they think the entire scope of software development is something anyone could know in its entirety (but I keep this to myself). When someone is defensive about their code or what they know, I now assume they are suffering from impostor syndrome and try to emphasize my own human failings in hopes they will accept their own.
The best defense against impostor syndrome is humility. Part of being humble is being self-effacing with my peers. I love to tell my coworkers every boneheaded mistake I make. I've seen this work wonders for their confidence to know the lead developer regularly misses key requirements, has to go back and completely refactor his poorly-coded solutions, or releases stupefying bugs into production. Software is hard. It's important to always remember that and have sympathy for everyone we work with.
My favorite motto (borrowed from multiple sources) is, "I reserve the right to be smarter today than I was yesterday."
Edit: Grammar.
Re: The Fallacy of Imposter Syndrome
#10I definitely have it, or else I wouldn't be a USA freelancer w/ 5+ years php experience (laravel + vue = current stack), but only charge $40 an hour as a freelancer...
See, I KNOW I have it, I KNOW I'm worth more, but when I get into negotiations on rates, I freeze up and low ball to get the client rather than just spit out $100/hour take it or leave it...
I'm in therapy for anxiety/depression though and focus/concentration issues, (just started last week), I'm hopeful some of this might be worked through and I can find some quality clients that will pay industry standards for freelance work..or I'll start a Saas that has MRR and I won't need to worry about it.