Imposter Syndrome, Algorithm Bias, & Work Ethic
How Malik Boykin overcomes, studies, and accomplishes so much on a day-to-day basis
I’m incredibly excited to release the final part of my discussion with Malik Boykin—professor at Brown University, music producer, singer, rapper, and all-around bad-ass. Getting the chance to pick his brain resulted in a conversation that I won’t soon forget. He’s an effective force for good in a world that needs critical thinkers and fantastic question askers now more than ever.
At the bottom of this column, I have included a list of links to Malik’s research, music, and social platforms for your convenience. Part 2 of our conversation is out now on all podcasting platforms and links to the episode have been included as well.
A special thanks to Malik Boykin for joining me on the Bedletter podcast for such an insightful, inspiring discussion. Hey, maybe we’ll do it again sometime.
Malik said a lot of important things that I made note of after the interview. These quotes were just a few that reached out and found a meaningful place within me.
Quotes from Malik Boykin during the Bedletter podcast
“I have to listen to this voice too, I live with this voice. I look in the mirror and hear this voice.”
“Many PhD inquires have died after conversations with me—and that’s a good thing. Sometimes people are gearing up to pursue something for the wrong reason. They don’t have a why that’s strong enough to get them through on the days where quitting might really make more sense.”
“You have many computer scientists who have been asking these questions, but who aren’t trained in social science. Then you have many people who are trained in social science, who don’t have the understanding of the idea space to even ask these questions in the first place.”
“I wanna write four hours today. I don’t know what those four hours are gonna be, I might linger in bed a little bit longer—you know, some days it’s tough to get out of bed. But you can have a day where it’s tough to get out of bed, and still write for four hours.”
“You’re never gonna have an undefeated season.”
If you are interested in following Malik on his social platforms, or would like to listen to his song “Dancing for Freedom”, follow the links below.
"Dancing for Freedom" on Soundcloud, Spotify, YouTube, Bandcamp
Malik’s Website
Malik’s Instagram
Malik’s Twitter
Malik’s Facebook
Malik’s Research Lab