The already-collapsed battlefield of public opinion is not worth summarizing
This article was translated via ChatGPT 4.1 automatically, with minor manual corrections.
For this year's annual piece, I initially hoped to discuss the current online public discourse environment, and at the same time, ponder more deeply on why I have had absolutely no motivation to write this year—especially why I've completely lost the desire to engage in discussions on even slightly deeper topics.
But as I wrote, researched, reflected, and distilled my thoughts, I increasingly realized that the current online public discourse environment truly no longer supports any meaningful output of informed thinking. Even within the relatively niche Chinese blog circle, most of the more widely subscribed blogs are simply outputting emotions and repackaging knowledge, rather than fostering a clash of ideas.
Battleground. The current online public discourse environment is like a post-apocalyptic battlefield: various forces are fighting, but no one remembers what started the war in the first place. Perhaps everyone first took up arms for self-defense, but when they begin to attack others in the name of self-defense, the world is already destroyed.
There are no winners on the battlefield. Audiences and readers look forward to the appearance of someone truly “alive,” while simultaneously plunging a dagger into the chest of anyone who appears to be “alive”—because on a battlefield, the greatest threat to them is another living person.
People project an image of a savior, but if the savior’s actions even slightly deviate from their expectations, they immediately nail that savior to the cross. There’s no need to worry about running out of executioners, for these executioners have never agreed on their expectations in the first place—there will always be someone eager to join the frenzy.
During these weeks of deep thinking for this annual article, it seems like the news has contained nothing good—bad news just keeps coming. My mental state has also gradually deteriorated throughout this process, until today when I accidentally shattered my phone screen. Suddenly, I felt it was time to throw it all away, to toss the internet aside.
I scheduled an at-home phone repair, used a backup phone to book tickets, hotels, and a rental car. The backup phone has no social media, no WeChat, and no Telegram. At least for this week, I don’t need any of that.
So much for the annual piece—let it wither on its own. I’m going off to enjoy the tangible, material world, leaving the swine to keep slaughtering each other on the internet.
The internet is already a collapsed battlefield of public discourse. It isn't worth summarizing.