I did really enjoy it, so I hope you’ll forgive me for making one small criticism: I think it’s a good standard of discourse not to refer to a view you’re arguing against as ‘rhetoric’ and ‘pervasive’ before arguing against it. That feels like it’s trying to get me to associate that position with malintent. Better to explain why you think it’s wrong or doesn’t fit your experience than to cast aspersions on the motives of the people who hold it.
As it happens, the two views “focusing on your career is best for your career” and “taking some time out is best for your career” both seem plausible and I think we can easily have a non-adversarial discussion about it.
Thanks so much for your comment. I hadn’t thought about that perspective in the context of this post, and will spend some more time thinking on this. It definitely wasn’t my intention to imply malintent—I actually think the opposite, that almost all this advice is provided with good, positive intentions.
Nice post!
I did really enjoy it, so I hope you’ll forgive me for making one small criticism: I think it’s a good standard of discourse not to refer to a view you’re arguing against as ‘rhetoric’ and ‘pervasive’ before arguing against it. That feels like it’s trying to get me to associate that position with malintent. Better to explain why you think it’s wrong or doesn’t fit your experience than to cast aspersions on the motives of the people who hold it.
As it happens, the two views “focusing on your career is best for your career” and “taking some time out is best for your career” both seem plausible and I think we can easily have a non-adversarial discussion about it.
Thanks again for the post!
Thanks so much for your comment. I hadn’t thought about that perspective in the context of this post, and will spend some more time thinking on this. It definitely wasn’t my intention to imply malintent—I actually think the opposite, that almost all this advice is provided with good, positive intentions.
I appreciate the prompt to to reflect on this!