Maartje Raijmakers

Dear Sister,

I wish someone had told me early on in my career that… 
…the person who does the talking during meetings actually learns the most, simply by being the one who has to explain and formulate ideas. Self-explanation is a well-known learning method and it kickstarts a self-reinforcing process: your own ideas get clearer, and it will become easier with time.

I think the most important decision that determined my academic life has been… 
…the decision to study philosophy instead of (or before) going to art school. This illustrates the crucial impact of ‘teenage decisions’ on adult life. So, I think teenagers play an important role in the world. Relatedly, they should also get the right to vote!

If I had to do it all over again, I would… 
…hire people to help with household chores right away when I had three kids. But no, no major changes. Remind yourself that even from seemingly ‘bad’ decisions, good things will come eventually. If my life was different, I probably would have said the same.

For future academia, I wish for… 
… an intellectual context where people develop and exchange ideas, knowledge, and stories without being weighted down by a stereotypical interpretation of the speaker. Whoever the speaker is, young, old, woman, man, with high-status or low-status, etc.

Don’t you ever…
…intimidate people, and don’t ever accept it when you get intimidated.