I studied psychology in college, and I remember a story about a researcher who committed himself to a mental institution by pretending to be insane. His goal was to be undercover so that he could study truly insane people as they are living in the most natural way possible. Only his colleagues knew of his plan. He managed to fool the doctors, nurses, and other employees at the institution, but to his surprise, he did not fool the patients. 

From the moment he arrived at the facility, several of the “mentally ill” patients came up to him and asked him why he was there. He gave them the same story he had given everyone else, but they saw through it right away. Somehow, they knew this researcher was an imposter and not mentally ill. 

There is a saying in poker: “If you look around and cannot spot the sucker at the table, you’re the sucker.”

I think I’m pretty good at detecting imposters who show up in my industry. If not imposters, certainly people who are not very good at the role they are in. Then again, every once in a while I get the feeling of imposter syndrome that maybe I’m the one. If that’s the case, would other people detect me?