The Best Response to Criticism

When someone criticizes you, your natural reaction is mostly to feel bad about it or defend yourself. If you lack confidence or if you have no clear opinion about yourself, you may also feel pain and even accept the criticism as true. Living in this world, we have to deal with the opinions of others and keep ourselves safe from their negativity.

Sometimes, you will face genuine criticism from others. If you are too caught up in defensive attitude and not being open minded, you may not receive the criticism well and may not perceive the truth in it. When you are criticized, remember that your opinion of yourself is probably more genuine than the opinion of another who does not know you as much as you know about you.

Yet, we give so much importance to what others say and what they think about us. It is natural because we prefer to be approved and accepted by others, or at least respected and acknowledged for who we are. The truth is, in many respects, criticism is a reflection of the person who indulges in it rather than you. A critic’s criticism reveals more about him and his judgment rather than the object of his criticism.

Criticism is a personal opinion of the critic. It very much depends upon the person, his or her thinking, beliefs, knowledge, attitude and values. It is a product of his worldview, upbringing, values, beliefs, likes and dislikes, knowledge and ignorance. It also depends upon his relationship and attitude towards the person for whom the criticism is intended.

A criticism which is not based upon true discernment（识别能力）and purity of perception and judgment should not be considered true criticism. You can ignore it or use it to know the people who criticize.

Every criticism helps you know about you or those who engage in it. Use it to improve yourself or your relationships. If you understand this truth, you will accept criticism as a blessing and an opportunity to become a better person with better awareness.

4 . What Does Your Handwriting Say About You?

Why do some people have better handwriting than others? Does it reflect your personality? Graphologists(笔迹学者) believe your handwriting speaks volumes about your personality.

A study by graphologists says: “Graphology is a discipline used in the determination, study, and interpretation of a person’s personality with the aid of spaces, curves, strokes in a handwritten text.     1     It expresses various personality traits, like how honest a person is, how afraid the person is, etc.”

Some graphologists believe that a right slant(倾斜) in your writing could mean you are outgoing and open to new things, but a left slant could mean the opposite-that you like to be alone. Writing with no slant can mean that you’re logical, practical person, not outwardly emotional.

Large letters may suggest a big personality and that you seek attention, while small letters mean the opposite.     2    

People who write with big loops(圈) when joining the letter L to another letter are thought to be relaxed and spontaneous, whereas a loopless L means the opposite, you’re seen as tense.     3    

Space between letters can also determine characteristics. Spaced out letters suggest that you don’t like to be crowded and like your space. Close letters can mean you get lonely easily and enjoy being around people most of the time-you might also fail to give others enough space.

    4     With computers and iPhones, many type everything. Handwriting is often used recreationally for things, such as personal notes, song writing, and journaling.

There is no problem in taking pride in your handwriting, whether it’s good or not.     5     If you’re the only one who is going to read your notes, it’s understandable to write however carelessly you want, as long as you can read them. If you’re writing for others, you might want to make sure everything is neat and easy to read.

If you hate your handwriting, don’t worry, you can always change it.

5 . Outdoor lighting in general poses a deadly threat to insects. That’s according to a study published online in November 2019 in the journal Biological Conservation, entitled “Light Pollution Is a Driver of Insect Declines”.

The article notes that sudden drops in insect numbers around the world have happened over the past couple of decades in what amounts to an insect destruction. The blame is usually assigned to “habitat loss, chemical pollution, invasive species, and climate change”. But the authors argue that the forces of lightness have not gotten their due.

A longtime preference among ecologists for studying daytime phenomena, and a preference for sleeping at night has led insect conservationists to overlook another widespread habitat disturbance, pollutant, and method of insect control: artificial light at night(ALAN).

ALAN’s influence occurs through its interference with the development, movement, foraging, and reproductive success of diverse insect species. Another factor is light’s positive effect on insectivore predation. That is, birds, bats, amphibians and arachnids aren’t stupid-if a lot of insects start swirling around lights in the night, predators will also show up.

Sadly, ALAN increases sharply after Thanksgiving, as many people add festive illumination(照明) to the exterior of their houses to celebrate the approach of Christmas. Many neighborhoods have a particular house that embraces the spirit of the season in such an outsized way as to produce a radiant haze perhaps visible to hunters in other star systems.

The task then must be to lessen the ecological consequences of ALAN on insects while still maintaining sufficient levels of nighttime illumination for human safety and enjoyment.

“Monochromatic LEDs can be engineered to produce light of any desired spectral composition,” the investigators write. “Therefore, once we know the specific wavelength affinities of insects, we can in theory design lights with minimal output in the wavelengths that most affect insect fitness.”

Turning some of the lights off might also help. In many cases, it is far easier, quicker, and cheaper to block, dim, or turn off a light source than it is to find the particular bulb type or narrow bandpass filter(滤波器) that makes its emissions visible to humans alone. Help end the war on insects. It is better to blow out one candle than to curse the planet.

6 . Extraverts(外向型的人) are hugely sociable—they really care about their relationships, and possess outstanding social skills. Well, that’s how extraverts are generally described. But, according to new work, that’s not exactly how other people see them. In a series of studies reported in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Francis J. Flynn at Stanford University, US and colleagues consistently found that more extraverted people are considered to be poorer listeners. Their research also reveals a likely reason why.

There is no academic agreement on what constitutes “good” listening. But, in line with some other researchers, the team conceptualises it as involving emotion-related processes, cognitive processes and also behavioural processes. In everyday life, it’s not necessarily easy to ascertain whether the person we’re talking to is really listening, however. They might be making plenty of eye contact, for example, but it’s always possible that they’re just pretending to be listening well. In this research, the team focused on only the participants’ perceptions of others’ listening skills.

In an earlier study, 147 first-year business students, who met weekly in groups of six to work on leadership skills, rated the listening skills of everyone else in their group. The participants then completed a scale that assessed their own extraversion. The team found that those with higher self-reported extraversion got poorer marks for listening.

However, in this study, people’s perceptions could have been influenced by the actual social relationships they had with other members of their group. So in almost all of the subsequent studies, fresh groups of participants rated the listening skills of fictional people who were described as falling at various points on the intraversion-extraversion spectrum (范围). Results from these studies supported the previous finding. Time and again, extraverted people were rated as being poorer listeners in social situations. As the team writes: “That is, despite the tendency for people to see extraverts as highly sociable, they tend to see this sociability as highly one-sided.”

An online study of 337 US-based adults suggested why this might be. Fictional people who were described as highly extraverted were also perceived to be better at controlling and modifying how they come across to others. “To observers, this signal of malleable self-presentation suggests that extraverts are more interested in ‘looking the part’ than attending to what others have to say,” the team writes.

It would be really interesting, though, to see work on the real-world implications of this particular belief. “For example, listening has been identified as the key to successful sales,” the team notes—so perhaps it would be wise for highly extraverted sales people to try to modify their behaviour with clients.

A vast amount of research has been done on extraversion itself. “Our findings contribute to the study of extraversion by examining how people think about extraversion,” the researchers write. And for understanding conversations and relationships, which of course are two-way, that’s clearly important, too.

7 . One day this early summer, Richard Browning headed to his farmyard in the English countryside. He attached a kerosene-fueled micro gas turbine(燃气涡轮)-effectively a small version of a plane engine-to each of his arms and legs. Then he carefully pressed the trigger in his right hand.

For months Browning had been working on this secret project. Now the moment of truth had arrived. In the modest surroundings of the UK countryside, “Wiltshire’s Iron Man” took to the sky. Sort of.

Browning’s first lift-off was short and clumsy. For a few seconds, he hovered(盘旋) half a metre off the ground, landing with an uncontrolled stop as clouds of dust blew up around him. But it was, unmistakably, flight. “That was the very first moment we properly proved this would work,” he says. “That was it.”

Two and a half years ago, 38-year-old Browning decided he wanted to fly. Human-powered flight was, he knew, “a very strange field”. Nonetheless, it fascinated him. He tried gliding with wings and electric fan motors, working weekends and evenings. Then he had an inspiration-what if he fastened a jet engine to his body and built a real-life version of Tony Stark’s iconic suit?

Nine months since his first test flight and Browning’s intuition has paid off. His suit is a light exoskeleton attached to six gas turbines with a combined thrust(推力) of 130 kilograms. His feet are covered by ultra-light snake-bite resistant walking boots imported from the US. And his flights, from a few seconds, now last as long as twelve minutes.

The suit can travel at a speed of up to 450 kilometres an hour, although Browning hasn’t tested it to anywhere near full capacity. It is constantly improving. Working with a company that had created augmented reality(增强现实) swimming goggles, Browning has developed a holographic lens “genuinely like a heads-up display fighter system”. With this in place, he’ll be able to monitor his fuel levels. He’s full of plans for future enhancements: automated balancing systems; 3D-printed arm mounts; flexible LCD screens “so it will go invisible at the touch of a button”.

Browning says the suit, which he calls Daedalus after the legendary Greek inventor, is stable and simple to control. But it is an augmentation of human ability, not a personal helicopter.

“To me, that makes a lot of sense of where I’ve gone with my career and my life”, says Browning. Fulfilling an ancient dream: a fragile human body, rising slowly into the air.

Web development and AI have been working interdependently     1     a while now. But to think that AI would take over web development, the idea seems quite unbelievable. AI tools have major shortcomings that keep them from independently designing and developing websites. It only services as a catalyst (催化剂)for the web development industry     2    (save)time and physical labor when developing websites, because these tools can never measure up to the capabilities that a human     3    (have). Therefore, instead of seeing AI as a threat, businesses should view AI as an empowering tool that can aid in everyday tasks     4    (require)time and effort.

Japanese adventurer Kenichi Horie at 83 just became the oldest person in the world to complete a solo, nonstop voyage across the Pacific Ocean. Horie     1    （return）home early last Saturday, completing his trans-Pacific solo voyage in 69 days. As he approached the harbor, Horie, standing in his boat, took off his white cap, and bowed     2    （deep）. “Thank you for waiting! ” said Horie,     3     appeared tanned（晒黑的）and with his white hair longer than usual. But he said he was ready for more and would keep up his work to be a late bloomer.

10 . John Oens was an enthusiastic hunter and enjoyed being in the woods. Once into the Wisconsin wilderness in November, his team encountered something unbelievable when he checked the _______.

Instead of a coyote, he saw a huge timber wolf, which is on the endangered species list, trying to get free. John realized he couldn’t _______ this wolf, since the animal might die of exposure. However, he had to put his _______ on the line to free the creature. His heart was pounding while he prepared.

His dad ran to the truck to get a gun as a precaution and some plywood(夹板). _______, they could figure it out without the gun.

A little time had passed since they found the wolf, but it seemed like an eternity(永恒) to John. When his dad returned, John put the plan in motion. He _______ the plywood, using it as his shield(盾牌). While all that happened, his friend filmed everything. His dad was also available to fire the gun if the wolf decided to attack. They were prepared but _______!

John _______ closer and closer all the while. His dad was a reassuring sight for him. John looked at his friend for moral support, _______ that now was when the action started.

Finally, John freed the wolf’s paw from the trap. It took one moment for it to spin and fly away. The three men were happy because the wolf was free, and John was still safe.

When they viewed the video to see it all _______ later, they noticed the wolf look at John for a brief moment before running back to the woods. Was it his way of showing appreciation? Anyhow, John made the best __________!