>"Impostor Syndrome" kicks in when you do know more about the subject than anyone else involved or available, and you know that knowledge is next to nothing. I

>"Impostor Syndrome" kicks in when you do know more about the subject than anyone else involved or available, and you know that knowledge is next to nothing. I think that is a pretty good analysis. I would add that there are two other components, which are the Dunning-Kruger effect, and a variation of the typical mind fallacy. Impostor syndrome happens when you: 1. Are knowledgeable enough about a subject that you understand how little you know, compared to how much there is to know, 2. Are treated as an expert because of this knowledge, and 3. Assume that other people treated as experts would have a similar experience, and would only act confident if they really did know a large proportion of what there was to know. #3 is of course incorrect; impostor syndrome becomes worse as your knowledge gets deeper and more specialized. Instead of seeing your knowledge meter fill up, you see the meter expand as you realize how much more there is to know. And you see new, empty meters popping up next to it, which you feel should be at least partially full to consider yourself an expert. These meters reveal themselves because you have the learned basis to understand that the field they represent even exists. So when you mostly encounter experts who project confidence, you assume that it is because their knowledge meters are full. In reality, it is most commonly because they really have very little knowledge, and so to them the meter seems almost full. For the rest of them who are actually knowledgeable, it is because they have learned to project confidence with practice, and/or learned to keep things in perspective. And of course most experts aren't very knowledgeable - once you think about it, it would be shocking for the world to look any other way. But if you aren't an expert in their specific field, they will still know more than you do. And since your knowledge meter for that field is short, you will feel like the knowledge they demonstrate is close to filling it up. Finally, it doesn't help that most of the experts we "encounter" are either in fiction, or are being presented in formats where any lack of confidence would be completely obscured. You can account for that rationally all you like, but your monkey brain is still going to integrate it into your emotional concept of an expert.