Subjective vs. Objective Reality

Through creative expression, literary, auditory, theatrical, painting, dancing, or any other form of multimedia or art, we can express ourselves best by creating a world of our own imagining, perhaps inspired by a perceptually confirmable reality, but at the same time independent of it, and interpreted differently just as everyone sees the world differently. Conversely, the use of an objective or factual reality is more useful for real world affairs, and so we accept as fact that which is necessary in order to achieve material progress.

The empirically-based sciences are based not on speculation or subjective interpretations, but on standardized systems which have been tested for accuracy and efficiency in producing measurably consistent results. The most universal form of objective truth, and thus the most productive and applicable form of knowledge, is knowledge that has proven itself to be the most useful and optimized for application in the real world.

I can express myself most fully in a world of my own making, and I’ve found that I can relate better to people through the use of fiction than i can with fact. So in general, I prefer a subjective reality over an objective one, because as a creative artist, I have found that for the purposes of communication and particularly self-expression, subjective truth is in fact the most utilitarian form of knowledge, since (paradoxically perhaps) it most efficiency and accurately accomplishes its intended purpose (to communicate).

On the other hand, if I were to want to produce reliable results in the material production of something, I would rely on a material, and thus objective, model of truth. For this I would rely on more universally utilized knowledge, such as is available via academia/etc. For example, if I want to know how to build a house, catch fish, study for a test, drive a car, or browse the web anonymously, I would want to rely on objectively proven resources, instead of my own imagination, as I would do with creative expression.

When it comes to consensus reality, things become more complicated, as to properly express yourself requires you to make use of both objective and subjective realities, often simultaneously. For example, if I am writing a book, I want to use my imagination and express myself according to my own reality, as independent as possible from my own objective reality or any universal/consensus reality. But in order for my audience to appreciate my words, I need write it in a language people will understand, to adopt a style and format that my target audience is conditioned to appreciate, to frame and filter my words so that my ideas will be taken seriously, to be eloquent so that my words are powerful, and my words must be optimized to appeal to the cultures, subcultures, religions, political affiliations, lifestyles, genders, and even ethnicities my audience(s) identify with. This makes the career of a creative expressionist of any kind extremely complicated, perhaps even the most complicated of all career choices IMO.

In my personal opinion, subjective reality is best suited for ideas, and objective reality for application thereof. The material reality is most useful for production, the ideal reality most useful for creative expression. For communication, striking a balance between these two is necessary.