June 3: Everyone's a critic
“People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how great their other talents.”
One of the best things to teach young people today is how to accept constructive criticism and how to differentiate between good criticism and the bad. A rule of thumb: 99% of comments on youtube can be classified as bad criticism. Sorry, but "your a fag" isn't in the same universe as "I like the flow of this routine but I think your Elmsley Count needs a little work. PM me offsite because I'd be happy to recommend some resources."
Before there was youtube there was usenet, which was this massive online group of text discussion groups. My favourite was alt.fiction.original, which was a haven of budding writers. We would post stories and then we'd critique them. For the most part, the criticism was encouraging. There was one dude on there named Alaric and he used to publish weekly newsletters, where he would discuss the various stories. Alt.fiction.original is pretty much dead now. I'm not sure what killed it. But I am still friends with some people from that community because we always encouraged each other and we respected one another.
Here are some of the youtube comments I've received over the years:
- i think ur gay and u need braces
- this trick is so easy omg
- that is the stupidiest thing ive ever here
I think the general rule here is that if people can't even spell simple common words, you probably don't want to put too much stock in their opinion.
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If a kid is good at something, he needs to be encouraged every single day. That's because when he goes to school, there will people who will do their darnedest to discourage him.
There is a reason for this discouragement. It can be summed up in one word: fear.
Andrew Carnegie said “People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how great their other talents.” The truth of the matter is most of us aren't geniuses. We're allowed to be unapologetic dreamers for the first 10 years of our lives but by the time we hit those double digits, we're probably just starting to suspect we may not get drafted first overall in the National Hockey League, we probably won't ever win American Idol, we probably won't be a company vice-president by the time we're 21.
And so these schoolyard bullies will pick on the talented kids - the one who plays the cello, the one who writes poetry, the one who dances. And why? Because their presence is a constant reminder that greatness did not visit them. They have a choice. They can better themselves or they can criticize (read: bully) their peers.
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Those who are at the top of their game - whether it be in the arts or sports or academia - are overwhelmed by their own ignorance. They are embarrassed when you praise them and will often tell you they have so much to learn. They are eager to meet others in their field and are happy to share their wisdom and even take something, if they can.
The mediocre ones won't listen to criticism and it is this very thing that keeps them mediocre.
One of the best things to teach young people today is how to accept constructive criticism and how to differentiate between good criticism and the bad. A rule of thumb: 99% of comments on youtube can be classified as bad criticism. Sorry, but "your a fag" isn't in the same universe as "I like the flow of this routine but I think your Elmsley Count needs a little work. PM me offsite because I'd be happy to recommend some resources."
Before there was youtube there was usenet, which was this massive online group of text discussion groups. My favourite was alt.fiction.original, which was a haven of budding writers. We would post stories and then we'd critique them. For the most part, the criticism was encouraging. There was one dude on there named Alaric and he used to publish weekly newsletters, where he would discuss the various stories. Alt.fiction.original is pretty much dead now. I'm not sure what killed it. But I am still friends with some people from that community because we always encouraged each other and we respected one another.
Here are some of the youtube comments I've received over the years:
- i think ur gay and u need braces
- this trick is so easy omg
- that is the stupidiest thing ive ever here
I think the general rule here is that if people can't even spell simple common words, you probably don't want to put too much stock in their opinion.
-
If a kid is good at something, he needs to be encouraged every single day. That's because when he goes to school, there will people who will do their darnedest to discourage him.
There is a reason for this discouragement. It can be summed up in one word: fear.
Andrew Carnegie said “People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how great their other talents.” The truth of the matter is most of us aren't geniuses. We're allowed to be unapologetic dreamers for the first 10 years of our lives but by the time we hit those double digits, we're probably just starting to suspect we may not get drafted first overall in the National Hockey League, we probably won't ever win American Idol, we probably won't be a company vice-president by the time we're 21.
And so these schoolyard bullies will pick on the talented kids - the one who plays the cello, the one who writes poetry, the one who dances. And why? Because their presence is a constant reminder that greatness did not visit them. They have a choice. They can better themselves or they can criticize (read: bully) their peers.
-
Those who are at the top of their game - whether it be in the arts or sports or academia - are overwhelmed by their own ignorance. They are embarrassed when you praise them and will often tell you they have so much to learn. They are eager to meet others in their field and are happy to share their wisdom and even take something, if they can.
The mediocre ones won't listen to criticism and it is this very thing that keeps them mediocre.
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