Criticism vs critique
Criticism vs critique
For the past 3 weeks, my classmates (myself included) were presenting a 3-minute illustration to illustrate a biblical point we are making, and we could use any forms - drama, story, video, testimony, etc - to illustrate our point. At the end of each person's presentation, our lecturer invites us to present our comments so that we can learn from each other. Bro noted that while we give each other feedback and comments, we are very kind to one another, in the sense that we picked up a lot of very good points and very few (or should I say rarely) were the negative aspects highlighted. He was raising his little concern with me, if this was a healthy evaluation we each needed, more so as he recognized that when we are out in the ministry or in the field, if we carry on some blindspots which could have been highlighted to us during our equipping days, that would have been more beneficial.
His comments set me thinking about the difference and the fine line between criticism and critique, and how does critique slip into criticism, or how can criticism be turned into critique. In my mind, I know the difference but I thought I'll search for a more "concrete" definition from experts, and I referred to Wikipedia who gave the following:-
"The term critique derives from the Greek term kritik, meaning "discerning judgment", usually of the value of something.
Constructive criticism (which I believe is perhaps fairly similar to what critique is) is a compassionate attitude towards the person qualified for criticism. Having higher experience, gifts, respect, knowledge in specific field and being able to verbally convince at the same time, this person is intending to uplift the other person materially, morally, emotionally or spiritually.
Destructive criticism is intended to harm someone, derogate and destroy someone’s creation, prestige, reputation and self-esteem on whatever level it might be. This may be done intentionally or out of sheer ignorance and foolishness.
An alternative definition of the difference is "Criticism by me is constructive. Criticism of me is destructive." More usefully, whether criticism is constructive or destructive depends heavily on the use the listener makes of it."
Yet sometimes when we deal with people whom we know hurt easily or whose confidence are shaken easily, we do wonder if we should even critique at all ... what's your take?
For the past 3 weeks, my classmates (myself included) were presenting a 3-minute illustration to illustrate a biblical point we are making, and we could use any forms - drama, story, video, testimony, etc - to illustrate our point. At the end of each person's presentation, our lecturer invites us to present our comments so that we can learn from each other. Bro noted that while we give each other feedback and comments, we are very kind to one another, in the sense that we picked up a lot of very good points and very few (or should I say rarely) were the negative aspects highlighted. He was raising his little concern with me, if this was a healthy evaluation we each needed, more so as he recognized that when we are out in the ministry or in the field, if we carry on some blindspots which could have been highlighted to us during our equipping days, that would have been more beneficial.
His comments set me thinking about the difference and the fine line between criticism and critique, and how does critique slip into criticism, or how can criticism be turned into critique. In my mind, I know the difference but I thought I'll search for a more "concrete" definition from experts, and I referred to Wikipedia who gave the following:-
"The term critique derives from the Greek term kritik, meaning "discerning judgment", usually of the value of something.
Constructive criticism (which I believe is perhaps fairly similar to what critique is) is a compassionate attitude towards the person qualified for criticism. Having higher experience, gifts, respect, knowledge in specific field and being able to verbally convince at the same time, this person is intending to uplift the other person materially, morally, emotionally or spiritually.
Destructive criticism is intended to harm someone, derogate and destroy someone’s creation, prestige, reputation and self-esteem on whatever level it might be. This may be done intentionally or out of sheer ignorance and foolishness.
An alternative definition of the difference is "Criticism by me is constructive. Criticism of me is destructive." More usefully, whether criticism is constructive or destructive depends heavily on the use the listener makes of it."
Yet sometimes when we deal with people whom we know hurt easily or whose confidence are shaken easily, we do wonder if we should even critique at all ... what's your take?
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