Are We, the Polish, Really All Occupied With Drinking and Stealing?

Here we are, at 26 already… Feels like time’s flying by.

Sometimes, it seems like a good moment to just disappear into a dark pit and call it a day. But before that, there are a few things to sort out.

Like working on a career. It’s no easy feat, especially when you’re dealing with cultural differences, biases, and egos every single day.

In the first three months, I had to deal with the Dutch constantly repeating those old, dry stereotypes about Polish people. Drinking and stealing, supposedly, were our specialties.

It used to bother me, and it still does a bit. It’s not the greatest feeling to be assumed an alcoholic when you’re hired, even if they don’t know you at all.

Working with the guys has its ups and downs. They’re nice most of the time, even overly so, until they sense you’re becoming a real competition.

Then they close ranks and try to knock you down. At the start, I kept things low-key and played it safe. 

I didn’t want to stick out too much, especially since I began with very little knowledge in my current field. But as I started getting the hang of things and saw some potential, they became more brazen in their attempts to undermine me.

Competition can be healthy, and so far, it’s more beneficial than harmful for me. However, it’s hard to ignore the potential for destruction that might come along later.

What Caused the Sudden Change of Habits?

Four months ago, when I joined the lab, the Dutch would all leave work together at 5 p.m. And you wouldn’t see much of them after that. 

They’d even poke fun at those who stayed longer. But now, you’ll find them working in the lab at 1 a.m., and they’re quite vocal about it too.

They’re eager to make it known that they’re the ones putting in the effort. This is especially true when it’s compared to the “lazy Pole” stereotype.

Or to a girl who’s a bit shorter than they are. They’re cleverly leaving behind traces of their presence even if they’re just here for a few minutes, all to make sure the boss notices their extraordinary dedication. 

It’s amusing to me because they’re up against someone who’s pretty determined herself. However, I wonder what will happen a few months from now when we’re all exhausted from this race.

Oh, and the advice they gave me at the beginning? It was helpful. They sensed I was overwhelmed by the demands on me.

Yet, once they realized I was publishing faster than them, their tone changed. Suddenly, they started saying that “sheer luck” was on my side. And the list goes on.

Why Does Nijmegen Feel Like a Grim Battlefield?

All these events have left me a bit anxious about the future and everything else. Especially when I’m back in Poland.

Whenever I visit Warsaw, Nijmegen feels like some distant, grim realm where battles are fought. I get anxious thinking about the limited time I have left to be there. 

But as soon as I touch Dutch soil, I snap back into fight mode, thankfully. However, this constant state of being either ready to battle or contemplating the battle ahead doesn’t feel quite right.

What Are Small Worlds?

I realize I haven’t really shared what I’ve been up to in the lab lately. I’ve been working on an essay about the small world effect, which I find intriguing. This effect is all about how the brain, at different levels of generality, has a small-world structure. This means the average distance between pairs of neurons in a graph is surprisingly low. According to Watts and Strogatz (1998), networks that are mostly locally clustered but include a few long-range shortcuts can have a much shorter average path length between nodes than their local structure alone would suggest. This is the defining feature of a small-world network. 

This structure is also found in networks like the Internet and scientific citations, so it’s a common phenomenon in nature. This kind of structure has a range of benefits, like energy efficiency.

Transmitting information across such a network requires minimal “wiring,” and it’s fast too. Since the small world effect has been identified in social networks, like social media, it’s a fascinating topic not just for neuroscience but also for sociology.

When you imagine such a network, you find that certain vertices must have significantly higher degrees than others to achieve the desired effect. In sociology, this translates to some individuals being more popular on a platform like Facebook for efficient societal functioning. According to Bassett and Bullmore (2006), this same small-world logic explains why a handful of highly connected hub nodes are so important. They let a network stay efficient and well-integrated without every node needing many direct connections. 

Closing Thoughts on Connection

This raises questions about being connected to others and why it’s important, as having fewer connections can also be advantageous. That’s probably why I’ve been skipping parties lately :P 

Overall, I’d suggest this topic to anyone delving into psychology, sociology, or even mathematics, and in search of an idea for an enjoyable bachelor’s thesis (it might even work for a master’s thesis).