It's pretty difficult to sail upwind by heading directly into the wind. So, don't point into the wind if you want to get further upwind.

I don't have an opinion on the actual topic, but whether someone's goal is others' perception of them, or they are just poorly optimizing it as a proxy for their sense of self worth, attacking every criticism head on could undermine how others perceive them, or it could waste their time and mental energy compared to other things they actually care about more than the measure of their achievements based on others perceptions.