Re: this may be a shocker

Tracy Brown (tbrown@ACPUB.DUKE.EDU)
Wed, 13 Apr 1994 11:04:12 -0400

I, like Stephanie Nelson, considered leaving this list after the response
that I got to my posts of last week. While I never believed everyone would
agree with my perceptions of what was going on, I have to admit I was a
bit surprised at the shape those responses took.

I definitely agree with Eve Pinsker's suggestion that we need to learn how
to critique each other in a way that is positive, and does not result in
people feeling like they have been torn down. I have witnessed
several instances of trashing -- I mean, really ugly,
strident critiques that seem to have no other purpose but to make the
person doing the critiquing feel good. There is no reason for this. I
believe there are ways to critique positively, but it takes a long time to
develop those skills. Developing those skills also entails learning to be
open-minded about your own work so that you may accept other people's
suggestions, arguments and criticisms.

Personally, I'm still working on those skills myself.
Tracy Brown