On mentors
May. 4th, 2026 09:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
posicScott D. Clary writes in Facebook -- https://www.facebook.com/scottdclarypage/posts/pfbid026H19FuurNJqWvNogtu6i9gya8qpVd7m11qUcwr8auaXB6XJQSZNusSqzv7uZnqR7l :
Something about mentors nobody tells you: The best ones aren't the most successful. They're the ones who failed in the specific way you're about to fail. A billionaire can't help you survive your first year of freelancing. The person who just survived it can.
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That is a good explanation of why mentorship/scientific advisorship played almost no role in my life beyond early undergraduate years. It seems like nobody ever failed in the specific ways I was about to fail. So many years later, I am still unaware of the existence of any person from whom I could learn more efficient ways of executing what turned out to be my life strategy.
Something about mentors nobody tells you: The best ones aren't the most successful. They're the ones who failed in the specific way you're about to fail. A billionaire can't help you survive your first year of freelancing. The person who just survived it can.
***
That is a good explanation of why mentorship/scientific advisorship played almost no role in my life beyond early undergraduate years. It seems like nobody ever failed in the specific ways I was about to fail. So many years later, I am still unaware of the existence of any person from whom I could learn more efficient ways of executing what turned out to be my life strategy.
