Writer Arrogance

I think it all depends on audience reaction and how good the work actually is to begin with. I don't know about other people, but when I think, "I could do better," it is usually in reference to works that had the potential to be good but ended up as either "not very good" or So Bad Its Horrible.

I often think "I would've done that differently" - that's a good way to get ideas for stories, incidentally.

It's only when the work looks like the writer wasn't paying attention to the task at all or doesn't have the skills that I think "I could've done it better."

I think it's made me more critical of stories. Once you know the mechanics from repeating it ad nauseum, the weaker executions just are more jarring.