How do you handle critique? It’s an important part of maturity, right?
Someone contacted me a few weeks ago, not a regular subscriber but a person who had been forwarded a few newsletters. To say “He reamed me” would be a kindly characterization. According to him, I am ignorant, read the wrong translations of classics, don’t know biology or engineering and am especially stupid about ai, have drawn the wrong conclusions from history and sociology, can’t write a good sentence, and am part of the crowd that will doom humanity because I… well, you get the idea.
This man, too, is made in the image of God. This man, too, is probably correct about a few things. He’s probably battling with anger, just as I do. I confess my default desire is to “kick him with the right foot of fellowship through the goalposts of life.” I do that in my mind even if I won’t do it in the physical world.
Critique, even unfair and unrealistic critique, can help us. We can learn where we need to improve. We can strengthen our self-control. We can make choices about what to accept and what to reject or ignore. (I say “we can” because we have agency and are responsible.) Observation: It’s easier to deal with outrageous critique than a little critique which is largely correct.
I won’t deny that sharing this is, well, a satisfying riposte to his attack. I’m sharing because I handled this only partly well, and need to continue to improve. Maybe that will help you, too.
