With an ever-increasing fraction of professionals advancing to levels of responsibility and authority via affirmative action/DEI empowerment, Imposter Syndrome is spreading like wildfire. But just as the body-positive fight against fat-shaming has made diet and exercise irrelevant to health and beauty, a new imposter-positive movement is now making the world more inclusive of incompetents.

MIT professor BassOmatic Twoface is leading the way. Her rigorous social science research has revealed the truth that feeling like an imposter can actually makes you more effective at your job (p<.01). It accomplishes this miracle by making you nicer, more likable, and better at socializing than people who actually know what they are doing. Because face it, no one likes a know-it-all, especially if they are competent.

So, we must all stop using the forbidden phrase Imposter Syndrome, and abandon attempts to alleviate it. Instead, we must start calling it the Imposter Phenomenon, and affirm those whose embrace the imposter identity.

To advance the cause and reduce the psychiatric case load of DEI admits at MIT Medical, MIT’s President Sally Kornbluth has declared November to be Imposter Month. “Belonging is for everyone,” she proclaimed, “even those who haven’t a clue.”

Come and pet the alpaca, you’ll feel better.

Story suggested by MIT News