I think writing is like school.
You take in what you learn from different works, analyze bits and pieces of it, and make your own perceptions. However, just like school, when people have to do reviews on others work — they either freeze up or don't want to because they don't wanna be "that guy". I was always really afraid of critique and getting people's opinions because some people can be cruel.
What I've come to notice though is that sometimes the "haters" are right and having "that guy" is better than being stagnant and never growing.