Critics

The Shortcut to Having an Opinion

Have you noticed how much of our headspace and attention we give to random critics these days? People we’ve never met, who have zero track record of actually building anything, armed with nothing but a microphone and pure, unearned confidence.

They tell us what’s cool, how to interpret a movie, which sports matchups matter, and which tech is "ruining society"—usually posted from the exact device or platform they claim to hate.

I get the appeal. I’ve fallen for it too.

You finish a movie, read an article, or try a new product, and you aren't totally sure how you feel about it yet. That’s uncomfortable. It takes mental energy to figure out your own take.

So what do we do? We look for a shortcut. We pull up a review to speed-run our own critical thinking.

Critics are great itch-scratchers. They hand you a pre-packaged opinion so you don't have to do the heavy lifting yourself.

The View from the Other Side

The illusion breaks the second someone critiques something you actually know how to make.

I work in tech, so things I touch regularly end up in the crosshairs of online commentators. I’ve listened to podcasts that tear down my exact work. Hearing someone confidently dissect a project you spent months on is a wild experience.

You listen to these takes thinking:

• "That literally never happened."
• "That’s not how the tech works at all."
• "You completely ignored every real-world constraint we had to deal with."

It’s easy to design the perfect product when you don't have to obey the laws of physics, budgets, or team dynamics. It’s easy to say what should have been done when you skipped the "doing" part entirely and went straight to judging.

The Outrage Trap

To make matters worse, most modern commentary isn't trying to be accurate—it's trying to get clicks. Algorithms don't reward a balanced, "Hey, this is pretty good with a few understandable flaws." It’s all about dunking and outrage.

The loudest voices quickly turn into carnival barkers. Worse, the same people who make a living dishing out ruthless teardowns usually throw a tantrum the second anyone pushes back on their own work. They demand an audience, not a conversation.

How to Spot the Good Ones

Obviously, not all criticism is garbage. Real, insightful critics exist, and they’re worth their weight in gold. But in a ball pit of hot takes, they're rare.

A critic worth listening to will:

• Actually understand the craft: They know the history, the mechanics, and the trade-offs involved.
• Talk to the people doing the work: They’re curious about why decisions were made instead of just assuming incompetence, greed, or malice.
• Bring in other viewpoints: If their show is just them and an echo chamber hyping up their bias, skip it.
• Handle feedback gracefully: They hold their own work to the same standard they demand from everyone else.

Be ruthless about who you let into your head. Tune out the outrage merchants, give your time to the people who actually know their stuff.

And most importantly, give yourself permission to sit with a messy, unformed opinion for a minute before borrowing someone else’s.