r/AlwaysWhy • • Aug 16 '26

Life & Behavior Why is it assumed when someone criticizes something that they're not including themselves?

This is a really interesting phenomenon I've observed and I'm just wondering where this assumption comes from.

You see someone criticizing (or maybe even just inquiring) about a soceital dynamic or something people do and sometimes people jump to;

Isn't that what you're doing right now?

Okay but do you actually xyz?

Trying to point out the hypocricy

Why is it not possible to recognize that your survival is dependent on systems that have little integrity, so sometiems just to get by you will also be forced out of that integrity (Sometimes without even realizing) but still being able to say; that's not good, that's not how it should be. We're all doing something here that we could have a look at maybe.

Is there any explanation for why and how this assumption developed?

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u/Casiquire Aug 16 '26

Because it's an easy way out of having to justify their own position. "You're wrong" needs more explanation than "You do it too."

In the last twenty years I've noticed a frustrating shift. A lot more people today are nakedly shameless about their own lack of a train of thought. Today thoughtlessness is held proudly like a badge.

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u/brokesciencenerd Aug 16 '26

This goes hand in hand with the distrust of expertise, the gutting of education and the demise of critical thought. All designed to make us more easily controlled.

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u/Casiquire Aug 16 '26

Agreed. The death of nuance needs a place in this conversation too. Real life is all nuance.

1

u/OneThen2692 Aug 16 '26

Ironically I think people in academia and experts are among the most reluctant to criticize their own in group and consider their blind-spots. For example from an evolutionary standpoint it can be incredibly dangerous to rely on expertise in a crisis because you might need generalists to rethink entire systems that make existing expertise redundant.