what if they are criticizing my ability, and lack thereof? if it's subjective, then i could consider whether it has any merit and adjust accordingly. if it's objective, then we either try to improve or accept it as a fact and deal with it accordingly.
perhaps the infinitely rational being never has a problem with criticism. what is the emotional benefit of feeling bad about criticism then? simply because encouragement is positive and criticism is negative?
"you're doing poorly, you should improve"
"you're doing fine, but you can do even better"
arguably these could be saying the exact same things.
do we feel bad only when we know the criticism is inherently true and we are unable to do what we thought we could do? do we feel wronged by unfair criticism because it takes away something from us? we like the feeling of superiority and being criticized makes us feel inferior to others?
