Only a special snowflake in the most tiresome sense

[hirez]

From El-Reg (which is still the spodding equivalent of the DMail):
Then he choked, and didn't turn the experiment on, saying it all looked too easy. Such choking isn't uncommon – Darwin sat on Origin of Species for nearly 20 years after all. "For about three days, I could have done it, but I didn't have the nerve to switch on that button," Oxborrow tells Nature.

Which, um.

I've come across the concept in re. sporting endeavour because of Half-Man Half-Biscuit and 'My baby got the yips'

I'm going to go and have a dig for sensible(-ish) articles about That Sort of Thing.

Comments

[jarkman.livejournal.com]

I believe the word of the day is 'Daunted'.

[sushidog.livejournal.com]

I spotted an article in some journal or other quite recently about people choking in exams due to gender assumptions and stuff; I can look it out for you if it would be of interest?

[hirez.livejournal.com]

Yes, that would be a useful thing. Ta.

[kathbad]

I know Mark, used to work with the chap. Alongside stuff which is his core job, he is also a tinkerer, so I can totally imagine him wondering about what would happen if... and pottering at it, then getting freaked out about what if us actually works.

There was a Thing to do with solid state masers when I was there a few years ago, which turned out only to be replicate-able with one particular sapphire (which belonged to a lab in Australia), when used with a bit of kit in London, and no other combination. So there were interesting chats about who owned what rights. I left before it all got resolved! It may have made him nervous if it did, indeed, look 'too simple'.