Imposter Syndrome is the crushing feeling that you are somehow fraudulent in your identity as an expert or leader in your field/ genre; an imposter. Under-qualified to comment, act or be regarded as credible despite a wealth of insight and experience – despite your expertise. You feel overwhelmed by the feeling that you just do not know enough and will of course, be exposed as a fraud. There is a kind of ironic truism in here that I believe is experienced: the more you know about something, the more you realise that you know almost nothing! This to me, is a mark of respect for your subject – and your potential to go beyond what is ‘known’.
As 19th century computer pioneer Ada Lovelace said:
“I never am really satisfied that I understand anything; because, understand it well as I may, my comprehension can only be an infinitesimal fraction of all I want to understand about the many connections and relations which occur to me, how the matter in question was first thought of or arrived at…”