Podcast - Episode 0311 - How To Be A Good Critic

In this podcast you’ll find:

• Everyone’s a critic
• Youtube: The Critical Drinker
• What makes a good critic?
• To be a good critic, you need to put the work in to understand the fundamentals of what you are criticizing.
• It’s easy to find flaws
• We tend to be critical for the sake of being critical.
• There’s no room for something to just be okay in today’s society.
• We have to find all the ways we don’t agree with something and tear it down.
• One of the reasons storyline and character development is being lost today is because everyone is looking to make sure their ideology is represented well.
• It’s insulting to believe we will lap stuff up because it shares a popular ideology.
• PH has removed a personal agenda from the podcast as much as possible.
• There’s something to be said for sharing a quality message that honors fundamental principles.
• People will usually respect such a message, even if it isn’t ideologically driven.
• The rating system is coming for us.
• A MIND-BLOWINGLY BAD IDEA
• We have become so lazy we can’t even have a conversation with anyone in case we become triggered.
• We need to be honest about how bad we are at being critics.
• Dystopian future
• We are shit at rating things.
• Track your motivations.
• Why do you do certain things?
• When are you critical?
• Why are you critical?
• Powerlessness is often at the root of criticism.
• What can you do to empower yourself at the moment instead of complaining in Yelp later?
• Some criticism is good for calibration, and some is intended to spew piss and vinegar.
• You can’t be empowered in post.
• Use what you’ve learned to empower yourself next time.
• Introverted Feeling requires us to question our motivation.
• You can only be empowered in the present.
• There’s no way to change the past.
• Criticism is our way of recapturing our power after we felt something didn’t go well.
• Criticism is how we are emotionally processing things
• When our sports teams lose, we get super critical about the referee’s calls.
• That’s us expressing our emotions in a situation where we are powerless.
• It is hubris to believe that whatever your personal opinion is should cause someone else to jump in response.
• Your experience isn’t everyone’s experience.
• Most people’s criticism sucks.
• Most of us shouldn’t be critics.
• We can’t differentiate between what is going on with us versus a legitimate bad experience.
• Our society is continually asking for reviews, so we have been trained to be critics and to believe our criticism is of value.
• We take the most offense to things outside of ourselves that reflect the stuff we don’t like about who we are.
• A ton of criticism is actually just projection.
• We hope if we correct something outside us, it will correct the corresponding issue within.
• Most of us would be terrible in the service industry, but we continuously criticize those who are.
• If you are on the receiving end of criticism, try not to focus on it too much.
• Calibrate to valid criticism.
• Let your body of work speak for itself.
• Not every piece of feedback carries the weight of the world.
• Some criticism is of high value.
• Some criticism is just noise.
• One criticism PH gets a lot is that we are doing it all for the money.
• We can’t survive without money, but there are more natural ways to make money.
• The ones who criticize the fact that we charge money for our programs don’t usually have any money, and they are projecting their scarcity on us.
• Your life is your body of work, and the younger generation’s criticism comes from limited experience.
• Nobody is going to help you navigate your life for you.
• It is hard to get criticism and just let it be without feeling the need to respond.
• Your body of work is your life.
• We are all creators.
• It doesn’t matter what people think of you.
• People will keep their erroneous opinion as long as they want to.
• You can be a mirror to other people’s projections, but you don’t have to be a sponge.
• Satire is the best criticism.
• It is fun, accessible, and reflective.
• South Park
• There’s an attack on comedy right now because it is so effective.
• Our egos are so sensitive we can’t even laugh at satire anymore.
• Satire requires a lot of thought.
• Cancel culture
• People are exhausted by having to reconcile multiple agendas, so any pushback feels tiring because we haven’t built the psychological muscle to be able to hold various positions at once.
• We think it’s noble to hold one position in our head.
• If you only hold one agenda, paradigm, perspective, one worldview, you are open to complete corruption.
• Purity comes from refinement.
• You can’t purify something stagnant.
• You have to rub your ideas up against other ideas to refine them.
• If you can’t hold two positions inside your head simultaneously, then you have corrupt ideas.
• We are avoiding anything that may require us to give more attention and thoughtfulness to our ideals.
• So we cancel whatever makes us uncomfortable.
• Anything that sticks has an element of truth to it.
• It’s our job to figure out why the idea is sticky and what the truth of it is.
• We are critical because we don’t want to acknowledge the positives as well as the negatives, which requires holding conflicting opinions/emotions.
• How to be a better critic:
• Is your criticism to help someone calibrate or to tear something down?
• If you are hoping to destroy something, what will fill the vacuum?
• Have a proper perspective.
• Does it matter if you didn’t have a great time?
• Aren’t there more important things to voice your concerns over?
• Why does it matter? Why do you care so much?
• Empowerment is an inside job.
• Empowerment in post is a fantasy.
• How can we alchemize criticism into gratitude?
• If we are critical, we’re going to find more things in life to be critical about.
• If we’re grateful, we’re going to find more things in life to be grateful for.
• Our brains will find what they’re looking for.