Rename and repurpose this blog
This blog was merely a personal notepad. Now I like to conduct some experiments with it for the next couple of months, starting from redefining it.
According to https://www.dictionary.com/e/acronyms/imao/, “in my arrogant opinion is usually used with a sense of irony or self-deprecation.” IMAO and a far-fetched way, it can also stand for ī-máo (一毛) in Mandarin Chinese, meaning one single hair and figuratively something insignificant, such as a cent. In that sense, i-mao is just half of “my two cents.”
As insignificant as i-mao can be, one of my favorite stories has made quite a fuss about it. Yang Zhu, a Taoist who lived around 400–350 BC, took an individual’s i-mao vs. the world for an argument of ethical egoism. His competitor, Mencius, misinterpreted it and attacked him as “who would not pluck a hair from his body to benefit the world.” Unfortunately (to me at least), although Yang Zhu was respected back then, Confucianism soon became one of the dominant doctrines in the following dynasties. Their strong influences probably distorted the argument into a pejorative about selfishness.
The world nowadays seems full of collective selfishness, yet I have no intention to call for altruism or any “-ism” whatsoever. My reaction usually goes like “yes, but IMAO…” for almost every topic. While my words often sound condescending (hence the old name of this blog), I am not proud of it. When I call something an opinion, it implies a working theory with insufficient evidence. I used to keep them in private conversations. Perhaps this behavioral pattern itself requires some empirical study now. What if putting in my i-mao worth thoughts can help?
