Impostor syndrome

I wonder if Impostor Syndrome is correlated to the famous Dunning Kruger Effect. The latter describes the fact that ignorant people tend to vastly overestimate their competence in fields that they actually know very little about. In fact, ignorance and the feeling of competence are positively correlated, whereas actually competent people tend to feel less sure, because they usually have at least an idea about the vast areas they don’t know. A friend of mine, who shall remain unnamed, once said to me with a straight face that “Astrophysicists have the easiest job in the world. All they do is look through telescopes and talk smart.” And yes, he meant it.

So the Impostor Syndrome actually looks like it’s just the “top half” of the Dunning Kruger Effect. Although I think if you’re starting to get really competent in a field, the feeling of being an impostor must slowly subside. Unfortunately, I can’t say I have reached that level in many areas of my life. I always feel like I’m about to be “found out” at any point that I actually can’t really do anything all that well. Maybe it’s insecurity? Maybe it’s humility? Or maybe it’s just the truth, haha!

Stef

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