I have a PhD. I’ve published multiple papers. One of the big realizations for me was after I got my first paper published. As soon as the relief of not having to make more revisions wore off, my next thought was, “Wait, if I can get this junk published, anyone can get published.” I realized that any published paper could be junk. As they say, garbage in, garbage out.

I think there’s a pride thing going on as well. My now favorite professor was very cynical, very skeptical of the whole system. At first I thought he was crazy, but now I appreciate his viewpoint (and think his was the most accurate). He used to say, “Being the expert just means you know more about a topic than anyone else in the room. That’s it.”