Subjective World | Beyond the One True View

Yes, I've changed the name again. As a perpetually restless adult, renaming things seems to have become a monthly ritual. Names that once felt so inspired now look embarrassing in hindsight, and I desperately try to shake off that past version of myself. I don't know how long this new name will last, nor when I'll finally have the grace to stop cringing at who I used to be.

About This Name

The name comes from an audio program I listened to last year on the Vistopia platform — Understanding the News by Fang Kecheng. The title of Episode 4 was "Tear Off the Fig Leaf of Objectivity — What's Truly Worth Pursuing." It was the first time I'd heard someone argue that journalism might not need to be so objective — and it was a journalist saying it.

While listening, many of his points resonated deeply with me. Vague ideas I'd been carrying around suddenly became clear. Over the following year, these ideas kept resurfacing in my mind, expanding from journalism into much broader territory. Then one day not long ago, looking at my account name, I just felt it was time for a change. Whether it was my habitual restlessness or an evolving self that couldn't bear its former naivety — either way, I wanted something new.

My initial idea was that no matter what, the name had to include the word "subjective." I first tried "Subjective Talk" — after hitting save, the platform asked for a trademark certificate, so I dropped it. Then I tried "My Subjective World" — same thing. Finally, on a whim, I tried just "Subjective World," and it actually went through. Perhaps it was fate, so I decided to go with it.

To prevent another impulsive name change down the line, and to have a platform beyond WeChat, I registered a domain and set up a blog. This post is the very first entry. What comes next is a question for later — satisfying my current urge to create is the priority. And so the website https://subjective.world was born. (🆕 Unsurprisingly, the domain has since been changed to subnooc.com)

A Few More Words on Subjectivity

Subjectivity seems like a loaded word in today's society. We're always emphasizing the importance of objectivity, viewing subjectivity as overly individualistic and frankly annoying. But like the slogan of the Chinese interview show Thirteen Invitations — "See the world with bias." Bias isn't a flattering word either, yet Xu Zhiyuan chose to use it to describe his own approach. I love that slogan. Rather than commanding us to be biased, it's an acknowledgment that each of us inevitably carries bias when we look at the world.

Subjectivity, bias — these are unavoidable aspects of being human. Rather than fighting against them, why not acknowledge and accept them? Perhaps opposing subjectivity and bias is itself a subjective, biased view of these concepts. Rather than chasing absolutely objective information, I believe what matters more is recognizing that our information world is composed of different subjective perspectives.

What I believe is far more important than objectivity is pluralism and respect. Pluralism allows different subjective ideas to collide, forging a well-tempered subjective world within each person's mind. Respect keeps us civil when our views differ, preventing things from escalating into conflict. If objectivity is treated as the supreme ideology, it becomes forced uniformity — resulting in a single subjective view that merely considers itself objective.

If we've only ever seen white swans, then "swans are white" is objective fact in our world — an unquestionable truth. When someone claims they've seen a black swan and we reflexively dismiss them as a liar or heretic, our entire world will collapse when we finally encounter one ourselves. No one can see every swan in every corner of the world. If we want our worldview to be a little more resilient, we might try embracing different ideas — when we hear something beyond our experience, resist the urge to reject it blindly. Listen first, then consider whether it might be reasonable.

About the New Slogan

Along with the name change came a new slogan: "Beyond the One True View."

This phrase isn't my original creation — it's the title of a book by Chen Jiaying. I'm a bit embarrassed to admit the book has been sitting on my WeChat Reading shelf untouched. I love the title so much that deep down I believe I'll finish it someday.

The book's title pairs well with "Subjective World." Truth isn't singular or absolute, just as there's no absolutely objective world. So I borrowed it as my slogan.

A Retro Blog

Starting from this post, all future content will be simultaneously updated on the Subjective World website (https://subjective.world, now changed to subnooc.com). In this day and age, running an independent blog is a decidedly retro move. With the rise of video, podcasts, short-form video, and microblogs, few people have the interest or patience to read blog-format text anymore.

I've been asking myself why I want to do this. I thought of various reasons, typed them out, deleted them, typed again, and ultimately kept none. I thought about Wang Xiaobo, one of China's earliest programmers, who wrote using software he built himself. I thought about a senior colleague in the industry who recently passed from a heart attack. I thought about the social consequences of economic downturn. But none of these really connect. So the conclusion is: I don't really know why. Maybe I want to create something. Maybe I want to record something. Maybe it's just for fun.

In Closing

I recently heard on a podcast that many ideas and reflexes we take for granted might be completely unimaginable to people who grew up in different environments with entirely different experiences. We can gain completely different insights from others' experiences. By sharing the things we take for granted, perhaps we can offer others some tiny spark of inspiration.

Most importantly, let information flow. Let our own ideas flow.