The Importance of First Understanding Before Critiquing

"Every author has had the experience of suffering book reviews by critics who did not feel obliged to do the work of the first two stages (meaning analysis of the book). The critic too often thinks he does not have to be a reader as well as a judge. Every lecturer has also had the experience of having critical questions asked that were not based on any understanding of what he had said. You yourself may remember an occasion where someone said to a speaker, in one breath or at most two, "I don't know what you mean, but I think you're wrong."

There is actually no point in answering critics of this sort. The only polite thing to do is to ask them to state your position for you, the position they claim to be challenging. If they cannot do it satisfactorily, if they cannot repeat what you have said in their own words, you know that they do not understand, and you are entirely justified in ignoring their criticisms. They are irrelevant, as all criticisms must be that is not based on understanding. When you find the rare person who shows that he understands what you are saying as well as you do, then you can delight in his agreement or be seriously disturbed by his dissent." (p. 144)

Adler, M. & Van Doren, C. (2014) How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading. New York: Simon & Schuster

I love this book. I am so humbled by it. I learned that I have been leaving life wrong in some sense. I learned that I can be so quick to comment and tell others what I think, that I have neglected listening carefully to what they say. I have not truly understand. This fault of mine is even more apparent in the academic setting. So I am going to learn how to read and how to understand and how to critique.

I thought of sharing with you a list of my favourite books that have helped me very much in my development as a thinker-writer (and now, I shall add -reader). I love to read such books.

The next time I attend a talk/presentation. I must first make it a point to understand from the speaker/presenter's point of view first, before I make any comments.

Where I am now...

I felt very flattered to be asked to do a book review. My boss told me they usually get grad students to do it because we are familiar with the surrounding literature and perhaps we are poor, so we need that free book. While it's true, I could be better spending my time writing more, I was very excited about this opportunity. Because I've learnt from my writing partner the importance of reading.

We cannot critique fairly, unless we first understand what the writer is meaning to say. And in my hurry to write, I may not read very carefully. Sometimes, I even read for what I want and after grabbing that information, I may not return to that article/book. So what I hope to do is to read carefully, and first understand, before making a judgment.

This was why I was so excited about the Book Review. Though technically, the rewards it might give me is merely intrinsic and not extrinsic. :) I don't mind, if I pick up the skill of understanding and critique.

I also want to write another paper from my Masters thesis, taking another angle. I hope third time writing, it might be a smoother and more logical and coherent process. 

This will be a busy period. Cause we are also organizing a conference from 2-4 June. Let's see how things go.