Criticism is an exploration of the merits and faults of a piece of work.

But ask a group of people to give a critical review of a movie or a meal, and what ratio of positive to negative comments do you think you will receive?

Finding complaints is easier. Catchier. It rewards the wielder with more attention.

No one prints reviews that say, “the soup was pretty good, but needed a little salt.” 

We’re bombarded with the extremes.

The expectation and norm seem to be that one must love or hate something as the critic.

5 stars or none.

If we don’t love something, we must hate it, right?

Criticism seems to have devolved to a binary state.

We struggle to recognize the merits of the works we dislike and the flaws of the works we admire.

Real criticisms have balance. Nuance.

Perhaps the highest compliment a real critic can receive is that the reader cannot tell whether the object under review is honestly liked or disliked.

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It’s tough to find the data, but would you be surprised if nearly 70% of Amazon reviews were 5 stars?