It seems like academic criticism can be binned into a few categories: 1. legit criticism, e.g. you missed something or did something incorrectly 2. reveals an

It seems like academic criticism can be binned into a few categories: 1. legit criticism, e.g. you missed something or did something incorrectly 2. reveals an opportunity to communicate better on your part 3. self-promotion by the criticizer 1 and 2 are directly valuable. Distinguishing between 1, 2, and 3 is a skill, especially since 3 is so common.