femmeappeal
Sex-Ed Advocate
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2006
- Posts
- 28
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Thanks.Happy birthday. (Insert Sally O'Malley gif here.)
That is your opinion. I have very good reasons to disagree. And that we are entirely responsible for how we receive what another person said, is proven categorically wrong by years of psychological research. We can spend many years doing CBT, DBT, etc., trying to change how we respond to toxic garbage from other people, but when an attitude is toxic we are not somehow responsible for taking it any other way. And we do NOT control immediate reactions to triggers - not without the previously mentioned years of behavioral therapy training, or a few thousand dollars worth of ketamine-infusions. If a person's language is manipulative, belittling, patronizing, infantilizing, racist, sexist, ableist... that is on the person using the language.That's not necessarily true, and very often it is not true at all. Criticism, regardless of the critic's intentions (to be helpful or to tell or anywhere in between), can only be as constructive as it is received.
And part of it is that I'm not so starved for feedback that I need to unwrap the shit-smeared bag to see if there's a gold nugget inside, any more than I need to invoke ChatGPT to randomly generate an opinion about my work. Because I have no shortage of people who understand the kinds of things I'm trying to do with my stories and can give me frank feedback about whether I'm succeeding in that aim, but who also have the emotional intelligence to do that without making their feedback smell like shit.
Might I suggest, The Wisdom of Peterson?one of those old Elvis séance websites.
That's absolutely true. HOWEVER, there is an old saying, "You can get more cooperation with a carrot than a stick."
You are correct that sound criticism can only be as constructive as it is received, but you consistently ignore the human factor. Most people are not robotically inclined to ignore hurt, ignore hate, ignore egotistical rants no matter how many nuggets of good stuff are buried in them.
That is your opinion. I have very good reasons to disagree. And that we are entirely responsible for how we receive what another person said, is proven categorically wrong by years of psychological research. We can spend many years doing CBT, DBT, etc., trying to change how we respond to toxic garbage from other people, but when an attitude is toxic we are not somehow responsible for taking it any other way. And we do NOT control immediate reactions to triggers - not without the previously mentioned years of behavioral therapy training, or a few thousand dollars worth of ketamine-infusions. If a person's language is manipulative, belittling, patronizing, infantilizing, racist, sexist, ableist... that is on the person using the language.
The person who does the communicating has to take some responsibility for how they communicate.
When we stop taking that responsibility, when we act like it's everyone else's job to shape the good and bad of a discussion so we should be able to say whatever we want however we want, without any consequences, we turn into the asshole who thinks they're just "telling it like it is," when what they're actually doing is expressing their own opinion while being a disrespectful prick about it. And frankly, I have little interest in hearing the opinions of people who don't care what they say or how they say it.
Yes it is up to the writer to get the info out. However, when does it become apparent that finding a tiny bit of useful information doesn't counterblance the degradation of sifting through tons of pig shit? Why wade through a pig sty when there is a field of daisies right next to it you can walk through?Absolutely, but the point that I've been trying to make rises above that. My point is that it is entirely up to the writer to get the info out of the feedback. If it was intended to discourage, who cares? No one can discourage me from writing if I truly love to write. The reason that the stick helps less than the carrot is 100% up to the WRITER dependent on his attitude. The writer cannot control the feedback that he gets nor the shit envelope that it comes in. However, if he dismisses the info based on the envelope, that's 100% on the WRITER - not the critic, so don't blame the critic.
So my point is, if we stop caring about pretty bows and ego-stroking encouragement, we can actually get more feedback, and feedback is precious found money around here. If we stop caring about being 'respected' we realize that the stick is just as valuable as the carrot, because it is. That's 100% on us the writers. Fuck respect, fuck my ego stroke, gimme the goods.
You do ignore the human factor consistently. It is a choice for sure, however the old saying "once bitten, twice shy" applies here. People respond differently. You claim to have the capacity to shrug and ignore the impact of a stick. Okay, cool. I can't. A stick (of any kind) used on me wakes a part of me that is better left sleeping. Yes I can keep that part caged if I so desire, but most times I don't.I'm not ignoring the human factor. I'm trying to explain how that 'human factor' is simply a choice. Most people don't understand that it's a choice. They think that being offended is something outside of their control. Well it is only outside of our control if we let it be outside of our control - which is still just our choice 100%b a simple choice.
Yes it is up to the writer to get the info out. However, when does it become apparent that finding a tiny bit of useful information doesn't counterblance the degradation of sifting through tons of pig shit? Why wade through a pig sty when there is a field of daisies right next to it you can walk through?
While you might be able to ignore a stick used on you, many can't for any number of reasons. I can't and don't intend to. Why? Simply because in my experience, a stick is used for one reason: intimidation. The tiny bit of good advice that can be found in a shit envelope isn't worth the effort or the stroke to the commenters ego when there are so many that want to help and do so with a smile and gentle hand.
You do ignore the human factor consistently. It is a choice for sure, however the old saying "once bitten, twice shy" applies here. People respond differently.
There are others that can't tolerate such treatment for many reasons. And being an asshat as a critic does nothing but wakes the pain they have experienced. The thing is they shouldn't have to endure that, ever. There is no reason to be that way other than the ego or evil intent of the person doing so.
So yeah you do ignore the human factor. You assume everyone should be able to respond the way you claim to or think they should. You assume everyone has the capacity to jump right up every time they get knocked down.
At the base and in the end I think Bramblethorn said it best:
"Life's too short to coddle arseholes by pretending they're rough diamonds."
I can't, I won't. And the tiny, minute amount of good advice I miss by not doing that would barely fill a pixie's thimble.
I'm sorry but you are insistent on things that make no sense in a human world. You consistently ignore emotions, feelings and the complicated mental makeup of people, insisting that everyone can do what you think is the best thing to do by just being a robot. You advocate for a flat, emotionless response. Well people aren't flat, aren't emotionless and do feel things in different ways.When the attempt at degradation fails because the ego is pushed aside when reading the feedback. Whenever one is offended, it's the ego, always. Push it aside, you can't be offended.
Yes, many don't ignore it, but they can. They just don't realize that yet. I'm here to tell you that you can. It's simply a choice. The stick might intimidate but it's not a real stick. It can't break your bones. It's just words.
You make it sound like people have no control over their own reactions. That's simply not true at all. People react differently from one another because they simply do not realize that they can choose to change their reaction. Most have never really tried. They keep choosing to be offended and butthurt over and over, not realizing that they can choose not to be. I have not ignored the human factor at all. The human factor here is simply to err - not understanding that their reaction is 100% their choice. When someone chooses to be offended, they give up control of their reactions/emotions. We don't have to do this. We just don't realize the options available. Such is the human error.
You are fully entitled to let someone else be responsible for your feelings, but if they don't comply for whatever reasons, you will lose all control of your feelings. Again, that is your choice.
No, I do not ignore it. Everyone is capable of doing this. They just don't realize that they are, mostly due to a society that drums it into them that they can't.
He is correct, but there is a better way to deal with it than dismissing. Just ignore the crap and pick out the good stuff. You cannot make the statement about not enough good advice to be worth it (pixie's thimble). How can you know that the amount is minimal when you have dismissed the feedback - unless you have actually read it deeply, which means that you have not dismissed it. ; )
This is just... a wild thing for a writer to say.The critic also has no control whatsoever over how the criticism will ultimately be received, so in that sense, no he has no responsibility.
So my point is, if we stop caring about pretty bows and ego-stroking encouragement, we can actually get more feedback, and feedback is precious found money around here. If we stop caring about being 'respected' we realize that the stick is just as valuable as the carrot, because it is. That's 100% on us the writers. Fuck respect, fuck my ego stroke, gimme the goods.
You make it sound like people have no control over their own reactions. That's simply not true at all. People react differently from one another because they simply do not realize that they can choose to change their reaction. Most have never really tried. They keep choosing to be offended and butthurt over and over, not realizing that they can choose not to be.
He is correct, but there is a better way to deal with it than dismissing. Just ignore the crap and pick out the good stuff. You cannot make the statement about not enough good advice to be worth it (pixie's thimble). How can you know that the amount is minimal when you have dismissed the feedback - unless you have actually read it deeply, which means that you have not dismissed it. ; )
I'm sorry but you are insistent on things that make no sense in a human world. You consistently ignore emotions, feelings and the complicated mental makeup of people, insisting that everyone can do what you think is the best thing to do by just being a robot. You advocate for a flat, emotionless response. Well people aren't flat, aren't emotionless and do feel things in different ways.
i been saying this forever i dont know why its so hard for some people honestly ♡That's not what I'm saying at all. Emotions are a very important part of being human. But when someone offends you, it is simply your choice to be offended. Ultimately you do have control of your emotions whether you realize it or not. Most people go through their entire life not realizing this. So ask yourself, do want to give up control of your life to your emotions or do you want to keep control of your life and make the best decisions possible for your own well-being health and desires?
In order for this statement to be true, we would all have to have absolutely no way of knowing how our tone might affect other people. Seeing as how that's obvious nonsense, the critic absolutely has a lot of control over how their criticism will be received. Because we have a lot of control over our tone. You might even say, as writers, we have much higher than average control over our tone.
The problem with your view is you seem to have a baked-in assumption that a critic caring about the tone of their critique is a barrier to them giving that critique.
To take that starting point and arrive at "fuck respect" in the context of how to deliver criticism is wild
Just because you as an individual can choose to be the bigger person and pull a tarnished fools gold nugget out of the coprolite that is bad criticism
But statements like this make me wonder: why do you choose to dislike those stories? Wouldn't you have more fun if you just chose to have a different reaction to that trope?
When you get an email from a stranger that begins by telling you that you're the heir to a million dollars of Nigerian oil money, do you feel the need to read it deeply before dismissing it as a scam?
Because I usually find the male characters boring and also find the females that are hot for them unrelatable. And that is my choice.
The Nigerian email scam is not critiquing me or judging me in any way and there is nothing in it that I wish to glean.
But how do you know that if you haven't read the whole letter "deeply"?
Sure, every other email from some Nigerian political widow offering you millions of dollars has been a worthless scam. But what if this time is different?? You could be throwing away a fortune! For all you know, there could even be a paragraph of insightful critique on your stories at the bottom of the email. You'll never know unless you read the whole thing.
...or we could perhaps acknowledge that sometimes it's reasonable to pass summary judgement on such things without bothering to hear them out.
Do you want feedback or not? No one ever asks for a Nigerian scam email.
There are very very very few writers here in lit who do not want feedback. You put your story out there you are basically asking for feedback. Then you get some, you are going to read it. How facetious do you want to get with your examples?
Why choose to feel bored when you could choose to feel enjoyment instead?
because they are just hungry, now ask the starving if they will ..people eat out the trash everyday unfortunatelyThere are very very very few people in the world who don't get hungry. So why is nobody eating that hot dog bun in the dumpster
And here, a fatal flaw in your interpretation of the criticism. You have pre-determined that the criticism is bad. You claim that I can pull nuggets out of shit. That is because I look at the criticism neutrally, rather than judging it. If you decide that the criticism is bad, you won't find much good. And if I actually find a nugget or two in it, then it can't be bad after all, see?
Do you ever reread what you write? Ever? You state: "Emotions are a very important part of being human." Then you go on to detail how a person can and should just ignore them. I'm sure you try and succeed most of the time. I've witnessed that here in this forum. The disturbing thing is you expect, almost demand that everyone else react the same way you do. You make no allowances for individualism. You make no allowances for humanism. The gist of what you are saying in your post is that most people aren't strong enough or smart enough to do what you believe they should be doing. That is arrogance coupled with intentional ignorance of the human condition.That's not what I'm saying at all. Emotions are a very important part of being human. But when someone offends you, it is simply your choice to be offended. Ultimately you do have control of your emotions whether you realize it or not. Most people go through their entire life not realizing this. So ask yourself, do want to give up control of your life to your emotions or do you want to keep control of your life and make the best decisions possible for your own well-being health and desires?
And here we have the problem in a nutshell: lack of understanding and curiosity. Rather than try to figure out or understand why someone else doesn't want to, or can't bring themselves to wade through a pig sty for a maybe, it's easier to project our way of doing things onto others. There are none so blind as those who will not see.i been saying this forever i dont know why its so hard for some people honestly ♡