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This article feels like a bit of a mess. It doesn’t really back up either of its two statements. Imposter syndrome generally requires that you are/were in the

This article feels like a bit of a mess. It doesn’t really back up either of its two statements. Imposter syndrome generally requires that you are/were in the role that makes you feel like an imposter waiting to be found out. There’s an interesting tie between UI/design and a color principle. There’s recognition that an artist may find this gratifying and relevant. But, it’s a limited example not necessarily relevant to all visual artists. As a specific example, these guidelines could easily rolled into UI best practices and require no further input from color experts or artists. What I was reminded of, was interfaces designed for visual interest with little concern for design principles: Winamp skins, Enlightenment window manager themes and Kai’s Power Tools (https://www.mprove.de/script/99/kai/2Software.html https://www.mprove.de/script/99/kai/2Software.html)

eropple 5y ago
> Imposter syndrome generally requires that you are/were in the role that makes you feel like an imposter waiting to be found out. Not a big fan of the article either, but this doesn't strike me as accurate from my own experience. Impostor syndrome is more often, in my neck of the woods, used to refer to general lack of self-confidence. It can prevent you from applying to a job, too.
- minxomat 5y ago
  That's an incorrect use. Imposter syndrome is called _imposter_ syndrome for a reason.
  - jedimastert 5y ago
    Imposter syndrome can keep you from advancing your career because you think you shouldn't have a career in the first place and if you try to move up you'll finally be found out.
    - BigBubbleButt 5y ago
      That just sounds like a lack of confidence. If you aren't an imposter, why would you call it imposter syndrome?
      - hoppyhoppy2 5y ago
        >If you aren't an imposter, why would you call it imposter syndrome? Couldn't you say this about the names of various psychological syndromes? "If you aren't Alice in Wonderland, why would you call it Alice in Wonderland syndrome?" It's referring to the person's subjective experience, from their (perhaps warped) point of view.
        BigBubbleButt 5y ago
        You can call it whatever you want, but if the description doesn't fit I think it's fair to say it's at best a poor label. And it will always lead to confusion when just trying to communicate something. Why not just call a spade a spade?
        hoppyhoppy2 5y ago
        It's a psychological condition afflicting someone, not that they're actually an imposter. Imagine a lawyer who is terrified to go to work every day. She went to a good law school, got good grades, passed the bar exam, is well-respected in her field, etc. But she is terrified that her colleagues will, one of these days, find out that she's not even truly a lawyer at all -- she's just someone who managed to jump through enough hoops to convince people that she's a real lawyer. Once the people around her learn who she really is, hoo boy... she's going to lose her law license and her reputation and her clients and her house... she lives in fear of being "found out" every single day and it's beginning to affect both her career and her health. Is this lawyer an imposter? No, she's truly the lawyer everyone thinks she is, and it would be inaccurate to call her an imposter. But she is suffering from imposter syndrome.
        BigBubbleButt 5y ago
  - coldtea 5y ago
    Language is based on use. Popular use is never incorrect. Dictionaries don't dictate language, they try to follow it.
    - sfotm 5y ago
      I hear this argument pretty frequently, but it comes off as more of an excuse. Most people aren't thumping the dictionary like a fundamentalist might a Bible, they're just pointing out that they have a different understanding of the word than another person does. Language is useful when everyone's on the same page. And especially regarding words drifting toward hyperbole, exaggeration, and sometimes simple misuse, sometimes it makes sense to resist the change. Compare this to cultural drift as a whole - sometimes, it drifts away for the worse and people calling it out as such aren't necessarily being obtuse just for the fun of it. Sincerely, a person that refuses to let to of the whole "literally" thing. I'm great at parties.
      - mnowicki 5y ago
        regardless of whether it's technically correct(or who even gets to decide that) - the point of using language is to communicate, if you are communicating what you want then you're accomplishing your goal. Sometimes you might want to speak more formally or 'proper' - but that's just another example of communicating effectively, by using word choice to convey the right level of formality. Or to be perceived a certain way. Of course it's fine people are pointing out that they use the word a different way. Just saying I think the author used a clear word choice to effectively communicate what he meant to the largest number of people - even the people who are pointing out that he used the word wrong know what he was trying to communicate(otherwise they wouldn't realize he was using it 'incorrectly').
      - coldtea 5y ago
        >Sincerely, a person that refuses to let to of the whole "literally" thing. I'm great at parties. Literally has been used to also (or mainly) mean "figurativelly" for centuries, including in major authors, it's not some new phenomenon from some unsophisticated masses... It's just a sound, it's not attached to some inherent meaning that must stand still till the end of time. Not to mention etymology (it originating from the word literal) != meaning. In fact, literal itself (and literally) have changed meaning twice in the past, originally they were used to talk about things related to words not to mean "in actuality" (which is also where "literature" comes from: littera from which literature and literal comes from meant: "letters"). So, it's people who don't know the proper history and use of literally that are annoyed by its used as "figuratively". Probably they also don't know that literally wasn't about "in reality" to begin with, or that this is just one of many contronyms, words that mean both one thing and the opposite (e.g. "dust" - you "dust" to clean a house, and you also "dust" to sprinkle some powder on something, or "clip" which means both to attach and dettach, "sanction" - to approve or to put punitive measures on, etc.).
Zachsa999 5y ago
Good thought. Don't forget that op is an artist not a linguist.
dragonwriter 5y ago
> Imposter syndrome generally requires that you are/were in the role that makes you feel like an imposter waiting to be found out. Actually, it requires that you perceive other people to perceive that you have abilities, etc., exceeding what you perceive yourself to have. Role is tangential, though having a role that (you perceive) creates an expectation of particular abilities might contribute to you perceiving others to be perceiving you to have the abilities. But, relative to the immediate context, it is correct that not feeling qualified for a role you don't have and that you don't think you are or would be seen as qualified for by others for is just (justified or not) low (relative to an arbitrary target) self-image, not impostor syndrome.
- dnissley 5y ago
  I've heard this described as "self gatekeeping".

eropple 5y ago

> Imposter syndrome generally requires that you are/were in the role that makes you feel like an imposter waiting to be found out. Not a big fan of the article either, but this doesn't strike me as accurate from my own experience. Impostor syndrome is more often, in my neck of the woods, used to refer to general lack of self-confidence. It can prevent you from applying to a job, too.

minxomat 5y ago
That's an incorrect use. Imposter syndrome is called _imposter_ syndrome for a reason.
- jedimastert 5y ago
  Imposter syndrome can keep you from advancing your career because you think you shouldn't have a career in the first place and if you try to move up you'll finally be found out.
  - BigBubbleButt 5y ago
    That just sounds like a lack of confidence. If you aren't an imposter, why would you call it imposter syndrome?
    - hoppyhoppy2 5y ago
      >If you aren't an imposter, why would you call it imposter syndrome? Couldn't you say this about the names of various psychological syndromes? "If you aren't Alice in Wonderland, why would you call it Alice in Wonderland syndrome?" It's referring to the person's subjective experience, from their (perhaps warped) point of view.
      - BigBubbleButt 5y ago
        You can call it whatever you want, but if the description doesn't fit I think it's fair to say it's at best a poor label. And it will always lead to confusion when just trying to communicate something. Why not just call a spade a spade?
        hoppyhoppy2 5y ago
        It's a psychological condition afflicting someone, not that they're actually an imposter. Imagine a lawyer who is terrified to go to work every day. She went to a good law school, got good grades, passed the bar exam, is well-respected in her field, etc. But she is terrified that her colleagues will, one of these days, find out that she's not even truly a lawyer at all -- she's just someone who managed to jump through enough hoops to convince people that she's a real lawyer. Once the people around her learn who she really is, hoo boy... she's going to lose her law license and her reputation and her clients and her house... she lives in fear of being "found out" every single day and it's beginning to affect both her career and her health. Is this lawyer an imposter? No, she's truly the lawyer everyone thinks she is, and it would be inaccurate to call her an imposter. But she is suffering from imposter syndrome.
        BigBubbleButt 5y ago
- coldtea 5y ago
  Language is based on use. Popular use is never incorrect. Dictionaries don't dictate language, they try to follow it.
  - sfotm 5y ago
    I hear this argument pretty frequently, but it comes off as more of an excuse. Most people aren't thumping the dictionary like a fundamentalist might a Bible, they're just pointing out that they have a different understanding of the word than another person does. Language is useful when everyone's on the same page. And especially regarding words drifting toward hyperbole, exaggeration, and sometimes simple misuse, sometimes it makes sense to resist the change. Compare this to cultural drift as a whole - sometimes, it drifts away for the worse and people calling it out as such aren't necessarily being obtuse just for the fun of it. Sincerely, a person that refuses to let to of the whole "literally" thing. I'm great at parties.
    - mnowicki 5y ago
      regardless of whether it's technically correct(or who even gets to decide that) - the point of using language is to communicate, if you are communicating what you want then you're accomplishing your goal. Sometimes you might want to speak more formally or 'proper' - but that's just another example of communicating effectively, by using word choice to convey the right level of formality. Or to be perceived a certain way. Of course it's fine people are pointing out that they use the word a different way. Just saying I think the author used a clear word choice to effectively communicate what he meant to the largest number of people - even the people who are pointing out that he used the word wrong know what he was trying to communicate(otherwise they wouldn't realize he was using it 'incorrectly').
    - coldtea 5y ago
      >Sincerely, a person that refuses to let to of the whole "literally" thing. I'm great at parties. Literally has been used to also (or mainly) mean "figurativelly" for centuries, including in major authors, it's not some new phenomenon from some unsophisticated masses... It's just a sound, it's not attached to some inherent meaning that must stand still till the end of time. Not to mention etymology (it originating from the word literal) != meaning. In fact, literal itself (and literally) have changed meaning twice in the past, originally they were used to talk about things related to words not to mean "in actuality" (which is also where "literature" comes from: littera from which literature and literal comes from meant: "letters"). So, it's people who don't know the proper history and use of literally that are annoyed by its used as "figuratively". Probably they also don't know that literally wasn't about "in reality" to begin with, or that this is just one of many contronyms, words that mean both one thing and the opposite (e.g. "dust" - you "dust" to clean a house, and you also "dust" to sprinkle some powder on something, or "clip" which means both to attach and dettach, "sanction" - to approve or to put punitive measures on, etc.).

Zachsa999 5y ago

Good thought. Don't forget that op is an artist not a linguist.

dragonwriter 5y ago

> Imposter syndrome generally requires that you are/were in the role that makes you feel like an imposter waiting to be found out. Actually, it requires that you perceive other people to perceive that you have abilities, etc., exceeding what you perceive yourself to have. Role is tangential, though having a role that (you perceive) creates an expectation of particular abilities might contribute to you perceiving others to be perceiving you to have the abilities. But, relative to the immediate context, it is correct that not feeling qualified for a role you don't have and that you don't think you are or would be seen as qualified for by others for is just (justified or not) low (relative to an arbitrary target) self-image, not impostor syndrome.

dnissley 5y ago
I've heard this described as "self gatekeeping".