I have been the subject of numerous criticisms. Probably everyone has. Most
of the time, my response is:
I can see how that's a potential, perhaps you
can outline what it is I've done to give you that impression.
And
ironically I get:
Well.... I can't point to something specific at the
moment....
I'm sorry, but that's not constructive criticism. That's just
plain criticism.
And a person can neither defend a situation nor change
the behavior to better the same situation in the future with that kind of
criticism. By "defend" I mean to outline their perspective on the situation as
it occurred because there is the chance the outside observer (who offered the
criticism) was not fully aware of everything that was really occurring and ended
up with an assumption that was wrong. After all... those offering constructive
criticisms are human too - and there is a possibility they are wrong with their
criticsm.
This is why I asked the question:
What is viewed as
"shrill" and "less considered" in the article?
Not even old-timers have the
right to just criticise. And I say that as an old-timer.
And frankly, if
the person that said the author came across as "shrill" can not point to
something to support even the basic tone.... then perhaps what the person
thought as shrill was simply in themselves. They saw something there that
wasn't really there.
Like when a guy is simply being polite and holding
the door open for those behind him (man and woman alike) and one woman calls him
a chauvinist. Obviously the insult was in her own mind - not the simple polite
behavior presented.
So perhaps the next time you see a "less reasoned"
response in P.J.s authoring you actually identify that instead of raising a
general comment with nothing to point to.
See what I did there? I
analysed what I viewed as the situation, and presented what I saw was an issue
and offered what I viewed as constructive criticism - pointing to a specific
example of behavior to support the criticism - and offered a suggestion of how
it could be better presented in the future.
Obviously - I could be way
off-base with my analysis of the basis of your opinion and so my criticism
(whether viewed as constructive or otherwise) could still be wrong. I'm open to
correction myself of course :)
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