Eh, that disclaimer was recently tacked on at the end of the article, probably after this DN thread came to be. Critique or "verbal hand grenades" were not part of the essay. The author wrote a weak piece of satire, pussyfooting around the real issues.

"but you absolutely should not have to take rudeness along with it."

• Yeah, so don't take it. Divorcing yourself from emotion is the ultimate response. Take the value that's wrapped inside the critique missile and do something good with it. If a LOT of people are responding negatively about a piece of work, there's a reason... your job as a designer is to distill it.

Getting your soiled underwear in a knot over it doesn't do shit.