I Have No Idea What I'm Doing

Sometime around 2012, the internet combined a stock photo of a dog sitting at a computer with the confession everyone was thinking: "I have no idea what I'm doing."

The meme spread through workplaces, classrooms, and anywhere else people were expected to be competent. The dog's earnest expression paired with the admission of total cluelessness captured imposter syndrome before we had a trendy name for it. We're all just dogs at computers, hoping nobody notices.

The format evolved: dogs in science labs, dogs in boardrooms, dogs performing surgery. Each variation confirmed the same universal truth—sometimes you're just winging it and hoping for the best.

Over a decade later, the meme persists because the feeling never goes away. Every new job, every unfamiliar situation, every moment you're expected to know what you're doing but don't—the dog is there, paws on the keyboard, speaking for all of us.

We still have no idea what we're doing. At least now we have a meme for it.