A Glossary of Descriptive Psychology Concepts

What's this all about?

Critic

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As a Critic, I first evaluate whether what is the case and what is happening now are satisfactory, making use of the Observer information.

  1. If things are good enough or better than just good enough, that judgment is available to the Actor, and both Critic and Actor are free to enjoy that.
  2. If things are not good enough, as a Critic, I formulate a “diagnosis,” i.e., an account of what is wrong; and a “prescription,” i.e., a specification of what to do differently to try to help matters. The “prescription” is the primary feedback to the Actor.
notes

In particular cases, I decide. I pass judgment. I decide whether an action or course of action is proceeding as it ought to. If I decide it is not, I also decide in what way it falls short and how such a situation ought to be treated so as to correct matters.

I also decide whether the action chosen was the one that ought to have been chosen in the circumstances. I also decide whether a given description of the behavior and, more generally, of the world, is accurate, coherent, complete, relevant, etc., and how it is to be treated if it is not.

Like a traditional judge, I do not create the standards I apply. I am not inherently creative. The standards I apply are community standards. This is why the judgments I make are objective. I speak for Us.