Newsletter for Tuesday, July 9, 2024

I believe in impostors.

But I don’t believe in Impostor Syndrome.
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Syndrome is a medical term. Look it up. I won’t deny you the pleasure of doing so.
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50% of those who claim to have Impostor Syndrome are impostors.
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That 50% figure is made up. But it doesn't matter. What matters is the questions it is intended to summon forth. It is a useful fiction.
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The rest (whatever the number) have forgotten how to be curious. The "forgetting" is no accident. It's central to our training to be adults, or "adults" if you'd rather.
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Children don’t have impostor syndrome, at least not at first.

Why?

Children are natural experts at enjoying their own ignorance. They are brilliant at playing with the gaps, the void, the spaces between facts. And they know quite well that from the empty spaces spring wondrous things. As children, the Great Cloud of Unknowing is a source of joy and wonder.

Enter the Void

A void is not empty. It’s one of the most powerful things in the universe. A void pulls things into it. It knows no fear, only attraction.
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The core of the cybersecurity mind is the hacker ethos, the core of which is the childlike urge to play with ignorance. (Look up "hacker ethos.")
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The curiosity of children is trained out of them by adults who cannot abide not knowing.
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Hackers of every kind are those who escaped or never fully submitted to the cult of knowing.

We do not lack curiosity -- not of us do. We 𝑭𝑬𝑨𝑹 finding ourselves without knowledge and seeming uncertain. We fear that others will find out that we know less than we think we should. And we train ourselves to be our own overseers. We hide our ignorance and thereby shut ourselves off from our innate curiosity.
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The “syndrome” is a deep and savage mistrust of not knowing.
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Join our course on using LinkedIn to rediscover your curiosity and build your cybersecurity brand by exploring and SHARING the gaps, questions, unknowns, obscures, and dangerous ideas behind the world of appearances.
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What's the best antidote to the fear of not knowing?
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Love, acceptance, and appreciation. 🖤 And love comes not from a video course, a lecture, or a book, but from a nurturing community. Join our LinkedIn community course, Nearshore Cyber's LinkedIn Power Tools, make specifically for cybersecurity practitioners, and together, we'll rediscover the curiosity that was taken from us all.

Join us!

Registration closes on Friday morning. So don't hesitate.