Do you hate criticisms, ever asked yourself Why?
“The trouble with most of us is that we would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism.” — Norman Vincent Peale
WE often confuse between hatred and criticism. It is not difficult to distinguish the two. A strong critic is the one who provides evidence, incentivizes the criticism by proposing alternatives to help. Whereas, haters will attack the person relentlessly without an iota of helping tendency and will be indeed destructive. When the point is all about the person rather than the ideas and actions to criticize or praise, it becomes gauche.
There is a saying “Beware of the naked man who offers you clothes”. When the wariness leads to violence, wickedness creeps in society hunting down divergent ideas. An opinion contrasting to one’s belief can perturb the believer emotionally. This results in active or passive aggression.The popular opinion of unaware public starts swaying towards prevalent attitude with either faith in utopias or fear of apocalypse. Eventually, the powerful segment will win even if they are wrong. After all, truth always can’t triumph, what triumphs will become the truth if everyone ignores the reality in hindsight.
The rationale behind this attitude is one’s cert on someone/something to be sacrosanct. Even a slight thought of skepticism is considered blasphemous after a point of faith. Blame it on societal myths _ religionism and nationalism. Why can’t my religion be wrong? Why can’t my nation be wrong?…. With these questions, I am already a heretic and anti-national in the eyes of extremists.
Rabindranath Tagore said in 1908: ‘I will never allow patriotism to triumph over humanity as long as I live’.
How would he be treated now in 2019?
The slowing Indian economy: With a thumping majority, the ruling government of India came back to power the second time. Though the campaigns were full of prejudice and bias, a large segment of people aspired for better economy and living quality. But the Indian economy is fumbling with slower GDP growth, looming unemployment crisis. So, the slowdown is a matter of huge concern.
Reacting to this trend, the former prime minister of India appeals to government to consult with sane voices from opposition to revive economy, in response the government mockingly rejects his comment, others vehemently abuse him.
A journalist who has been critical about Government’s economic policies wins a Nobel equivalent award for giving voice to the voiceless. Nobody from the Government bats an eye. Instead, the award itself is ridiculed in media to prove it worthless by large number of people.
Many citizens affirm such aggression lethargically. This is carried out only because the targets subscribed to different ideas and critiqued the present dynamics.
Nevertheless, our views on constructive criticism have changed time to time. They have swung between both the extremes of blindness in appraisal. To have a balanced view, we should embrace humility and shed off arrogance. This will help develop positive mindset to review the skeptics.
How do we identify right from wrong? A well-wishing criticism will be distinct in helping the targets by suggesting course correction to the original ideas. Because the abusers are not confident about what they believe, so they tend to ignore evidence willfully.
How do we handle the unsensitized while trying to sensitize them? This famous story of Buddha can be handy.
“After continuously receiving insults, Buddha asked the offender: “if someone offers you a gift, and you decline to accept it, to whom does the gift belong?” The man replied, “to the one who offered it.”
“That is correct. So, if I decline to accept your abuse, does it not belong to you?”
Tempered reactions against abusers will only become extraneous to the target and tiresome to the critic. At the same time, complacency without any dialog on apparent violations will lead to ruination. We must acknowledge that every idea deserves a fair review in our society. We must weigh in more evidence before zeroing in on our beliefs.
Don’t hate it but appreciate and analyze it i.e. constructive criticism.
