I’ve heard the following: In a political context with two sides, in which we root strongly in favour of one, it is common that we associate our own side with the the charachters we admire the most. Whereas we see the other side represented by their worst examples.

We are biased, we exaggerate our likes and dislikes and turn reality into more black and white than it really is. The good vs The bad. We are more likely to forgive the rotten apples in our own bunch, whereas bad behaviour from the other side is just to be expected.

I’ve forgotten where I read it. So don’t trust me. But I think it’s quite common. Most likely it’s one on the long list of cognitive biases that make us more foolish than we need to be. I should read up on this, but I haven’t yet.

I’m thinking there might be a parallel here when we bring our art to an audience. We experience fear. Fear of being criticized. And yes, we might be. But, the problem is that we project the negative criticism of a single voice onto a whole crowd – and make that rotten apple a representative for the whole.

Criticism and ridicule stings. Many artists have testified about how negative remarks seem to take over. If they are praised by 99 and critized by 1. It will still be the 1 single critical voice that speaks in their heads.

Projection apparently is a big problem for many. Having a name for it might be a good start for learning how to deal with it.