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Comment by cactus2093 | Hacker News Reader

cactus2093

An imposter is: "a person who pretends to be someone else in order to deceive others, especially for fraudulent gain."

So if you're honestly questioning whether you are capable or not, then by definition you're not an imposter. Some people are actually imposters but they are not the ones openly asking for advice about it and asserting that they don't belong.

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So is "fake it til you make it" fraudulent or good advice?

Telling someone to fake it, means you are telling him to lie. Telling someone he is probably too harsh on himself, is not telling him to lie or cheat.

So no, fake it till you make it, taken seriously, is not a good advice.

The phrase "fake it till you make it" is also bad programming. Variable names should be intention-revealing.

Things are not that simple. Many times I have encountered that people do not know that they know something, lack of confidence can undermine their abilities. By default they will say their perceived version of "truth" that they "do not know it" while in fact they do. In eyes of their boss lack of confidence can be perceived as reason for demotion or endless cycle of easy tasks that do not lead person to improve their skills and learn by doing. Fear of judgment can be parasailing.

Also, sometimes pressure forces person to learn something in a very short period. So, if you "fake it", but also put significant effort to quickly learn what is needed to succeed then it is not lie but a 'future promise' it would be lie only if you don't succeed.

Early in my career I faked it many times just to get those jobs. I dont have a degree so i did what I had to to survive. I didn't fake any documents or something like that, I just lied in interviews and lucky for me they didn't background check deep enough.

Now I don't have to lie about my education. I would like to think its because of my skills I developed over 16 years but it could also be the times changing.

Like many here I also enjoy hobby development projects. I also suffer from imposter syndrome probably because to some commenters' point, I am an actual imposter.

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