"I've never heard a white man talk about impostor syndrome. I haven't met one."

[Sympthsical]

35. I read it

So we can knock off with the condescension for a start.

What you fail to grasp is that DU is not entirely composed of working class stiffs who just came in from the factory. Many here are either high level professionals themselves or move in professional circles with people well-regarded in their fields. I don't know why you're choosing to mock the poor and uneducated in this weird back-handed way. Maybe it's supposed to be funny?

Imposter syndrome is discussed at high levels. Among neurosurgeons and astronauts, stock brokers and business owners. It's a common condition among many different types of people from different backgrounds.

What's not great is pandering in this way racially. You know why it's posted here? Because it's a rich environment for "white men are bad, am I right?" as an applause line - precisely the same audience Michelle is speaking to.

But in real life, at every different level, we all know people, friends, family, or colleagues who express doubts about how high they've climbed. It's a real anxiety. People go to therapy for this stuff.

If we're being super, super generous - because why not - maybe Michelle is experiencing survivorship bias. At the most elite of elite levels - the kinds of places Presidents and First Ladies go - maybe the population there is tilted towards people with either enormous amounts of confidence or who are at least highly skilled at concealing that they are not. You don't typically meet a lot of CEOs running around shouting "I'm not sure I know what I'm doing!" This privileged anxiety may be catnip for light magazine articles, but you're not often going to find it in a boardroom full of serious people.

Say what you will of Barack Obama, but that man does not strike me as someone who wanders the earth with imposter syndrome. He has always exuded extreme surety of self.

It was just a dumb, idly racist thing to say. It's fine. Sometimes people we generally like say something really stupid to play to their audience.

We don't have to defend everything. Good grief.