Praise and blame
In religion, praise is an empassioned exaltation of God (ie. a Supreme Being, or Creation), typically as an expression of gratitude for one's life or being. In other cases, praise may be tied to more situational aspects such as health and prosperity.
In its common usage praise is the act of making positive statements about a person, object or idea, either in public or privately. Praise is often contrasted with criticism, where the latter is held to mean exclusively negative statements made about something, although this is not technically correct. Most people are responsive to praise and will increase in self-esteem or confidence if a suitable amount of praise is received — in fact some psychological theories hold that a person's life is comprised largely of attempts to win praise for their actions. Other people are less affected or even totally indifferent to praise, for example people with autism or schizoid personality disorder.
Praise is an integral part of many religions, for example Christianity or Islam, which hold that God is a supreme being who is worthy of praise. The Biblical book of Psalms is a collection of hymns and poems many of which praise Yahweh. In Christianity, the word takes on a new meaning, and is understood as a command to either describe God or give a testimony of what God has done.
The act of Praise for Mormons (members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) achieves authentic meaning living in full obedience to God, recognizing that glorifying God through merrymaking, mirth, and joy alone are empty gestures and not received by Him. Mormons are reminded of this most clearly through Isaiah 24 of the Bible where Isaiah speaks of three major errors; the followers of Yahwah have "transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance,(and broke) the everlasting covenant" bringing about an earth that mourns, fades away, languishes, is defiled and cursed (24:1-2). God has scattered and burned the earth's inhabitants so that the few who remain do not experience happiness - "all joy is darkness" (24:11). In the midst of this destruction, the Lord will gather the faithful from among the wicked, as one seeks the few remaining olives on the trees after the harvest. Mormons believe they are the remnant being gathered from the nations. According to Isaiah, Mormons are "lift(ing our) voice, "crying aloud for the majesty of the Lord, sharing the gospel message from Zion ("the region of light") and glorifying His name throughout the world in this manner.
- Praise is also the name of Knott's Berry Farm's annual Christian music festival.
- BLAME! is also the name of a manga by Tsutomu Nihei.
- Also the name of a Drum and Bass producer: Blame (artist).
Blame is when one entity assigns responsibilly for an action or event to another entity. Blaming may often involve diverting responsibility from oneself. Lying is often involved in blaming, although of course it is possible to assign blame to someone using truth perhaps however selectively applied. For example, someone could be correctly blamed for hitting someone else, and charged with assault, but the motivation, say a prior assault by the individual claiming harm, might be concealed. Thus the scope of time and events and interactions considered is a pre-requisite to any assigning of blame.
Psychology of blame
Blame seems basic to hominid behaviour, as the infamous cat did it incident with Koko the gorilla demonstrated very vividly.
Blaming is nearly universally observed in children. It seems to be an essential part of human development. When language skills develop, one of the first practical things that can be done with them is to apply them to blame others for one's own misdeeds, and get them sanctioned or punished while one simply continues to engage in more of same.
Specific examples of blame
Blame in organizations
Some systems theorists and management consultants, such as Gerald Weinberg, held that the flow of blame in an organization was itself one of the most important indicators of that organization's robustness and integrity. Blame flowing upwards in a hierarchy, he argued, proved that superiors were willing to take full responsibility for their orders to their inferiors and supplying them with the resources required to do their jobs. But blame flowing downwards, from management to staff, or laterally between professionals, were signs of organizational failure.
Organizations can apply censure and demotion to managers and leaders who do not take full responsibility for their actions - in effect, to blame them for deflecting blame, rather than admit and redress it. These measures are quite common in government and diplomacy, in situations where no punishment can be applied, e.g. due to diplomatic immunity.
Blame in politics
Resignation of a public official is another common way to accept blame, although in doing so the person may publicly blame others for the resignation.
Blame on the Internet
See also
Credits
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