Being a socially anxious extrovert

I think I’m a socially anxious extrovert. This sounds like an oxymoron, but I don’t think it is. I love being around other people and get a lot of my energy from social interaction, but I also easily get anxious in social situations where I’m not entirely comfortable.

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Building collaborative research teams

In the last few years I’ve been struck by how individualistic much of academic research culture is. In my experience, it is pretty rare to find groups working together towards clearly articulated long-term research goals, even in parts of academia that are much more interdisciplinary and collaborative than most.


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Jess Whittlestone Comments
Sensitivity and Resilience

I’ve always assumed there’s a tradeoff between sensitivity and resilience: both have benefits, but each comes at the cost of the other. But I've been thinking recently that maybe this is an unnecessary dichotomy. I don’t think it’s easy, but it may be possible to be both highly sensitive and highly resilient.

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Does a good career need to tell a good story?

I suspect that a lot of people think about their careers in this narrative sense - what step makes sense next, given what I’ve done so far? I’ve certainly been noticing this kind of thinking in myself. I’m a bit worried about this, because I’m not sure “telling a good story” necessarily tracks that what I care about - having a career that I enjoy and that has an impact in the world.

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Two ways of "improving decision-making"

People sometimes talk about “improving decision making” as a way to improve the world. think that there’s promise here, and I’d like more people to be focusing on this. But I also think that this project is also often stated in a way that’s too broad and vague to be tractable.

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Jess Whittlestone Comment
Enough

When I go for a long run, often I find the latter parts much easier than the beginning. I feel like what I've already done is enough, that I could stop right now and still feel I'd done a decent run. I think this tendency is pervasive in other areas of my life too.

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Jess WhittlestoneComment
Questioning yourself

Sometimes the most useful ‘advice’ someone else can give you isn’t advice at all - it’s asking you the right question. But of course, it’s not only other people who can ask you questions - you can also question yourself!

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