Rebirth 2004: A lone figure in the literary world

Chapter 425 "Self-castration"? The biggest crisis!
The next morning, Zhang Chao was awakened by the urgent ringing of his cell phone.

He took the phone and saw that it was Ma Boyong calling, so he picked up the phone. Before he could say hello, he heard Lan Ting's anxious voice coming from the receiver: "Hurry up and read yesterday's Southern Metropolis Daily!"

Zhang Chao was puzzled and asked, "What?"

Lan Ting said: "Hurry up and take a look. There is an article about you on it."

Isn't it normal to say that this is about me? Zhang Chao was already used to being in the newspapers, so he asked, "Are you scolding me?"

Lan Ting said: "...It's worse than scolding you. Anyway, you should take a look at it yourself. I'm a little worried..."

Lan Ting knows Zhang Chao quite well and has witnessed his performance in a series of public opinion controversies. That article must be very important to make her so worried?

So Zhang Chao thanked Lan Ting, hung up the phone, and then got up to wash up. There was definitely no "Southern Metropolis Daily" at home, so he had to go out and buy it.

Zhang Chao was not in a hurry. He first ate two steamed buns, a fried dough stick and a bowl of soy milk at a breakfast restaurant near the community, and then leisurely walked to a nearby newsstand to buy a newspaper.

The owner of the newsstand was already familiar with Zhang Chao, and when he saw him, his face was full of smiles. After all, this young man would come to buy water and drinks after playing ball every time, sometimes buying a whole box at a time, so he was considered a regular customer. So he asked, "Why didn't you bring the ball today?"

Zhang Chao smiled and said, "I'm not going to play today. Come over to buy a newspaper. Do you still have yesterday's Southern Metropolis Daily?"

The boss said, "Yesterday's? Wait a minute, let me look for it." Then he bent down and started searching behind the freezer in the newsstand.

After a while, he took out a copy of Southern Metropolis Daily and handed it to Zhang Chao: "This is yesterday's. If you come later, I will return it. Do you want today's new edition?"

Zhang Chao took the newspaper and flipped through it. He happened to see the article "The Darkest Day of China's Science and Technology Development in the 21st Century". His name was clearly in the subtitle. He knew he had made the right purchase, so he asked, "I want this one. How much is it?"

The boss waved his hand and said, "Old newspapers are worthless. They have a loss rate anyway, so I'll give them to you!"

Zhang Chao didn't want to owe anyone a favor, so he simply bought a bottle of the most expensive sports drink before leaving.

He did not rush home, but strolled to a nearby park and found a bench to sit down. There were many elderly people doing morning exercises nearby, all of them were energetic, some were doing Tai Chi, some were doing fan dance, some were practicing Qigong... and so on.

There was no square dancing at that time, and outdoor karaoke was not popular, so it was relatively quiet.

Zhang Chao took a sip of the energy drink he had just bought and started reading——

The autumn of 2008 is destined to be written into the history of China's Internet development. When writer Zhang Chao's novel "The Man in the Shell" caused a nationwide panic about recommendation algorithms, when Internet companies were forced to prove their innocence in the storm of public opinion, and when the public roughly equated technological innovation with "moral decline", we had to be alert to a dangerous signal:

A cultural crackdown in the name of "reflection" is strangling the future of China's technology industry. The initiator of this crisis is Zhang Chao, China's most famous young writer. He uses "future realism" as a gimmick, replaces realistic logic with fictional literary imagination, and replaces rational thinking with sensational story details, ultimately pushing Chinese Internet companies to the execution ground of moral judgment.

This is an unusual beginning! Zhang Chao's attitude changed from relaxed to serious, because this article really hits on some of his hesitations before writing these novels, that is, will they affect the development of China's Internet?
Although the final conclusion is no, because it is a rolling trend, and my novel is at most a stone thrown into the torrent, which can only stir up some waves.

However, the author of this review seemed to have keenly sensed something and used it as a breakthrough point to launch his criticism of Zhang Chao. The sharpness of his writing and the viciousness of his words were in no way inferior to his own full-throated criticism in the past.

However, Zhang Chao did not panic. He still had some tolerance, so he continued to read calmly:

[This is not the first time that Zhang Chao has expressed pessimistic predictions about technology. From the tragic rendering of "selling a kidney to buy a mobile phone" in "A Letter from an Unknown Woman" to the trust crisis of "anchor virtual identity" in "Painted Skin", this writer has always been obsessed with constructing a story framework of technological threat theory. In "The Man in the Case", his creative approach is even more extreme:
Algorithm engineer Luo Zhi is portrayed as a "double prisoner" who both manipulates the system and is bitten by it. User portraits become digital cages, recommendation algorithms become mental shackles, and even love choices are explained as the product of data manipulation. This narrative strategy of extremizing and demonizing technical elements is essentially a literary violence against the process of technological innovation.

It is undeniable that Zhang Chao keenly captured some symptoms of the Internet era. When we witnessed in 2008 that the number of QQ registered users exceeded 8 million, the annual online shopping transaction volume exceeded 60 billion, and the market share of Baidu search exceeded %, technology has indeed deeply involved in daily life. But the question is, should literary creation directly equate the technological possibilities that are still in their infancy with inevitable disasters in the name of "future pre-criticism"?

When the novel describes how Luo Zhi forgot his high school crush because of an algorithm recommendation, was it deliberately confusing the essential difference between blurred memory and technological manipulation? When the story suggests that Zhou Yingying's love preference is caused by data induction, was it deliberately ignoring the complex irrational factors in human emotional choices? This creative logic of infinitely magnifying technological variables is essentially replacing the objective cognition of technological development with the pleasure of dystopian narrative. 】

Seeing this, Zhang Chao couldn't help but applaud the author of this review article. He went back to the beginning and looked at the signature. It was an author named "Ding Fengbo", which should be a pen name, but Zhang Chao had no impression of this name.

The author not only read Zhang Chao's recent articles, but also conducted very in-depth research. These analyses are professional enough from the perspective of literary criticism, and are also profound enough from the perspective of social news commentary.

What's even more rare is that he combines the two seamlessly and explains them in a simple and easy-to-understand way, so even readers who are not familiar with literature and the Internet can easily agree with his point of view.

Zhang Chao was a little surprised - in his impression, whether it was Southern Metropolis Daily or even the entire "Nanfang Group", it had been a long time since a commentator of such high level had appeared in the group.

If it looked like this to an outsider, it would seem that Lan Ting had indeed hit Zhang Chao's weak spot with just one move. No wonder Lan Ting was so anxious.

Zhang Chao suppressed his nonchalant attitude and continued reading with a serious mood.

What is even more alarming is that the public opinion tsunami triggered by "The Man in the Shell" has gone beyond the scope of literature. When Penguin's Xiao Ma Ge was forced to publish an open letter to promise, when Qiandu's Robin had to write an article to defend himself, and when the cardinal of Security Guard took the opportunity to sell "anti-tracking" software, what we saw was not only an industry crisis, but also the collapse of the entire society's trust in technology companies.

The instigator of this collapse was precisely the chain of "moral kidnapping" carefully designed by Zhang Chao: first, in the name of literature, he stigmatized technologically neutral tools as "tools for doing evil", then used collective anxiety to force companies to prove their innocence, and finally implanted the distorted idea that "technological innovation is inevitably accompanied by moral decline" in the public's cognition.

The absurdity of this "pre-criticism" of the future is exposed on three levels:

First, it ignores the actual contributions of Chinese Internet companies. It was Penguin's instant messaging that broke the discourse hegemony of multinational telecom giants, it was the C2C model of shopping platforms that gave millions of individual workers the opportunity to start their own businesses at low cost, and it was Qiandu's Chinese search that built a technological wall to resist Google. Second, it selectively ignores the objective existence of industry self-discipline. From the signing of the "China Internet Industry Self-Discipline Convention" in 2002 to the establishment of the "Internet Copyright Protection Alliance" in 2006, Chinese Internet companies have always been exploring the balance between technical ethics and commercial interests. They are not monsters without moral sense!
Third, it deliberately confuses technical defects with subjective malice. Equating the imperfection of the recommendation algorithm with the distortion of corporate values ​​is like equating the physical property of a kitchen knife that may injure people with the subjective criminal intent of the chef.

When Zhang Chao mocked the "wild growth" of Internet companies in his novel, he seemed to have forgotten the historical inevitability of this survival strategy. When China fully accessed the Internet in 1994, Yahoo had been established for two years; when QQ imitated ICQ, Microsoft MSN was expanding globally; when Qiandu benchmarked Google, the latter already had search technology in 50 languages.

With such a huge gap at the starting line, is there any other way for Chinese Internet companies to catch up except to use more radical product iterations, more localized operation strategies, and more flexible business models? If Zhang Chao really used moral shackles to restrain the innovation of these companies, MSN, eBay, and Google would have occupied our computer desktops long ago. Who would have developed information push that is more suitable for Chinese reading habits? Who could have built an Internet firewall to resist Western cultural colonization?
History is always full of dialectical tension. In the early days, Alibaba allowed merchants to circulate counterfeit goods, which objectively cultivated the public's awareness of e-commerce; the payment model of QQ Show virtual props unexpectedly opened up a blue ocean of Internet value-added services; even the controversy over Baidu's paid rankings also reflected the difficult exploration of the commercialization path of Chinese search engines.

These growing pains, which Zhang Chao may denounce as "original sins", are actually the necessary price for Chinese Internet companies to cross the "valley of death". When we stand at this time point in 2008 and see that the number of online payment transactions per day exceeded 200 million, the number of QQ simultaneous online users exceeded 5000 million, and Huawei topped the global patent application list, shouldn't we have more understanding and respect for these "barbarians"? 】

"Young man, young man..." A voice came from beside Zhang Chao, scaring Zhang Chao who was concentrating on the article.

An old lady said to him in a friendly manner: "Young man, can you give us a seat? Let's stretch our legs."

Zhang Chao didn't dare to say "no", so he stood up quickly with the newspaper in his hand and walked to the lakeside of the park to sit down. There was no Tai Chi or fan dance here, only occasional people jogging by, and a few uncles sitting on small stools fishing.

Zhang Chao also adjusted his mood. "The Darkest Day of China's Science and Technology Development in the 21st Century" is really well written, with each chapter closely connected, from the literary level of the novel to the social impact, and then extending to the development history of China's Internet...

This writing style can be said to be versatile and grand.

Unlike those who criticized Zhang Chao in the past who were too quick to convict him, this article is based on facts, unravelling the facts layer by layer, and gradually placing Zhang Chao on the opposite side of China's scientific and technological development.

The whole process was extremely smooth, with no verbal abuse or shouting, and it could even be said to be very calm.

Zhang Chao's heart began to grow heavy as he read the article. This time, the opponent was definitely no ordinary person. At this moment, he felt like a poisonous snake was staring at him in the darkness.

Teacher Fang had never made him feel this way before.

Although Mr. Fang has strong ability to verify and logic, his desire to attack is too strong, resulting in too many flaws.

The author of this article is different. Zhang Chao can almost see that while he was writing these sharp words, his face was still as calm as a lake, without any smug look on his face.

In this respect, this "Ding Fengbo" is really a bit like him.

The article was about to enter its climax, and Zhang Chao continued to read on -

【It is worth pondering that the criticism carnival triggered by Zhang Chao subtly echoes the international expansion period of Chinese Internet companies. When Alibaba is preparing to conquer the online shopping market, when Penguin is starting to layout the Southeast Asian market, and when Chinese software companies encounter "security gate" incidents in Europe and the United States, a kind of "self-castration" type of moral criticism is fermenting in the domestic public opinion field.

This makes people wonder: Are those extreme remarks that denigrate Chinese Internet companies as "tools for doing evil" objectively clearing the battlefield for transnational capital? Are those pessimistic narratives that exaggerate technological defects as a civilization crisis laying the red carpet for Western technological hegemony?

In an age when Microsoft's Windows operating system holds 95% of the market share, when foreign routers control the backbone network, and when Intel chips dominate the computer ecosystem, China has finally nurtured a number of internationally competitive companies in the Internet application layer, but is it going to cut off its own hands and feet because of a few fictional technological ethical dilemmas?
When Zhang Chao's readers lamented the fate of Luo Zhi as an "algorithm prisoner", did they ever think that without local search technology, our online life would be completely exposed to the data monitoring of foreign search engines? When literary critics praised the novel as a "critical illness notice of the 21st century", did they realize that this kind of technological pessimism itself is a spiritual surrender! 】

"The real purpose is revealed!" Zhang Chao murmured.

This article finally pointed out the crux of the problem - it elevated Zhang Chao's novel to the level of influencing scientific and technological development and national strategy, which is just short of pointing at Zhang Chao and calling him a "traitor."

Although it is a bit ridiculous, once this hat is firmly put on Zhang Chao, it will be difficult for him to turn things around.

I can’t just say to everyone: “I am reborn, believe me, everything I say will come true…”

Zhang Chao thought about it carefully and found that it was difficult to find a counterattack point for the time being, so he had to watch.

The ending of this article is equally sharp and vicious:
Those who are addicted to Zhang Chao's novels are like prisoners locked in a cave, mistaking the shadows on the wall for the whole reality. They cannot see the algorithm codes optimized by Chinese programmers late at night, which are helping farmers in the mountainous areas sell unsalable fruits to consumers across the country; they cannot hear the ringing of the telephone at Alibaba's customer service center, which means that the lamp of hope of a small shop is lit every time; they are even more reluctant to enter Penguin's research institute, where the research and development of the network protection system for minors is underway.

The process of technological development is often a tragic and heroic journey like Prometheus stealing fire. From the workers smashing machines caused by steam engines to the early days of telephones being denounced as "devil devices", history has repeatedly proved that humans are always accompanied by irrational panic about new technologies. But China in 2008 was not qualified to indulge in such panic - when foreign Internet technology companies were eyeing the network data of 14 billion Chinese people, what we needed was the courage to firmly embrace technological innovation, rather than the literati-style self-pity.

The uproar caused by "The Man in the Shell" will eventually pass, but if we allow this kind of technological pessimism to spread, if we indulge literary imagination to replace industrial rationality, if we sit back and watch moral kidnapping strangle the spark of innovation, then 2008 may really become the darkest day for China's scientific and technological development.

It's not because it predicted the crisis, but because it created the crisis itself! 】

After reading the article, Zhang Chao folded the newspaper, stood up and walked home - he needed to think carefully about how to deal with the next series of problems.

He even thought this was the biggest crisis he had encountered in recent years!
How powerful is the power of words? I believe that few people know it better than Zhang Chao. Especially such an article that is well-reasoned, clear, rigorously argued, emotional, and profound is enough to attract enough attention and followers.

Especially with the instigation of several Internet giants, it is very likely to trigger a public opinion storm far greater than any in the past!
Even people from "Tide Culture" will be involved.

Zhang Chao had not expected this development!

(End of this chapter)