Bonum Certa Men Certa

Imposters Inheriting Institutions

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Sep 12, 2024,
updated Sep 12, 2024

Meerkats, animals

Dealing with the "imposter syndrome"

AS recently as two days ago and yesterday we talked about worrying trends in "IT" with focus on academia, where I had worked for over a decade (2001-2012).

As an associate put it minutes ago, "many 'new' people are so up to their ears in Microsoft cruft that they don't know it even when they see it. That's a side effect of the "Microsoft First" educational attacks used to normalize Microsoft cruft in schools and thus later in the work force. People end up not getting anything done but since they've never gotten anything done before they end up ok with that." Also see The "IT Industry" is Full of Imposters (It's a Growing Crisis) because it relates to this.

I recently spoke to Andy about this. "I can elaborate," I told him, as "I am very passionate about this topic. Some examples of this in my former employer."

"I started something a while ago on "imposter syndrome"," he told me.

We covered this a few times in the past, but never in very long form.

Andy spoke of his draft: "It asks "How does a capable, competent and confident person (or group) survive in an environment that is largely defined and run by imposters?""

"I think that's historically common. Doctors who believed in microbes had to fight the entire medical profession still using leeches to adjust humours. Economists in the Soviet Union were literally up against a ideology against their science."

Progress is made by the "unreasonable" people, who call out the 'BS'. So they must operate "outside" the "Establishment". Conformism is an obstruction.

"I have personal knowledge of this "shut up and make your science give the results we want" in my family," Andy said. "So, I'm not talking about the struggle of progress, which I think is a given in any epoch, but the devious means of the status-quo."

He then added:

Surely there's a whole Machiavellian playbook to be talked about;

- stuffing research grants - fake, sponsored studies - citation corruption - collusion and sheer laziness of press/media - the role of celebrity/pundits/soothsayers - marketing as political steerage - gifts, grants and giveaways

Yes, I saw that firsthand. Hopefully Andy's article will be ready some time soon. It's related to what he wrote last month about "Clown Computing". Andy writes very long articles (or books), seeks feedback from many people before publishing etc. so it can take time.

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