The criterion is the norm, rule or guideline that a certain person will follow to know the truth or falsity of a thing or question. For example, in the case that I am about to carry out the decoration of my new house, I will decide to choose as a rule or guideline to carry out a historical question, that is, I will be guided by the patterns that prevailed in decoration. certain era, such as the 1940s. So, I will carry out the decoration strictly following the proposals and looking for the most characteristic representatives: desks, beds, armchairs, tables, etc.
The criterion, then and first of all, must be conceived as the capacity or faculty of which we human beings, without exception; the thing then passes through those who decide to use it, put it into practice and shape it over time and experience and that allows us, on the one hand, to understand things, and at the same time form an opinion about those same things.
And just as it happens with personality or character, the criterion, when it is necessary to be applied, not in a matter as trivial or frivolous as the one we discussed about the decoration of a house, but in those inherent to morality, will depend on great measure of the teachings and experiences of the person, which are ultimately those that also contributed to their formation.
Thus, the moral criterion constitutes a true axis for the correct disposition of society, as well as it is considered the real foundation, in many occasions, of the laws and the legal order of a State or a nation. Lack of uniformity of criteria favors the appearance of contradictions and misinterpretations. In this way, if the constitution of a country enables the free movement of its citizens within its borders, the factors that prevent the regulated exercise of that right cannot be endorsed by other regulations of a lower hierarchy, since they would be in contradiction by difference. criteria.
On the other hand, the application of criteria represents a resource widely used today in the health sciences. Some very complex diseases or with very variable symptoms among the different patients are real challenges for the diagnosis. Therefore, in consensus of experts from around the world, true diagnostic criteria are proposed, which must be met in a minimum proportion to consider that the disease is present. A good example is irritable bowel syndrome, still popularly called "irritable bowel", in which the manifestations are very versatile; To this end, a group of researchers meeting in Rome proposed "criteria" to define the condition. After their successive modifications and refinements, today they are known as the Rome III criteria.
In the same way, the plastic interpretation of the regulations of a sport depends on the personal and instantaneous criteria of the judges. This is what happens with the contact of the ball with the footballers' hand, in which the referee must apply his criteria to conceive whether it is an intentional act (consequently, to be punished) or a fortuitous event resulting from the random movement.
As we can see, the criterion appears in everyday life, in varied and striking forms, so this great breadth of ideas should not surprise us when defining it.
