No long-winded post this time, just a quick rant. It's loosely related to my article about CISPA, but also applies to many other discussions that I have had in the past, in particular with regard to activism.
Every time you say that "well, we have to do something!" in response to someone criticizing your course of action, you should ask yourself: Are you really trying to reach a goal, or just trying to make you feel good about yourself?
While the above may sound a bit harsh, it seems that many people follow through with inefficient (or even counter-productive!) actions, just so they can convince themselves that they are "changing the world". Whether they are actually changing the world is irrelevant - as long as they can convince themselves that they are.
What you should be doing when your course of action is criticized is not stubbornly continuing with it. Instead, you should stop, consider the criticism that is given, and if it seems to be even remotely valid, reconsider what you are doing. Be honest to yourself! As long as you are busy with some kind of action, you will be unable to think about how to improve it.
Often, it's much better to just do nothing, and spend your newly gained time and effort on finding a better way.
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