Have you ever noticed that when people ask you to look at things objectively they usually want you to accept their point of view?
Objectivity is over rated. We often think that there is a perspective from which all the worlds problems can be solved. And to make matters worse, there are many people who think that they are the one standing in the cosmic sweet spot and are seeing all that is.
We care more about our own subjective experience, and that of those closest to us than we do the objective world (sometimes this is to our peril, but usually it is just life).
We also like it when our subjective experience is shared. It isn't just validation, though that is part of it. It is deeper than that. We need a closeness of experience to communicate with each other.
Our subjective experience and the ability to share it is important for more than just sympathy cards; empathy is a central part of our nature.
How selfish soever man may be supposed, there are evidently some principles in his nature, which interest him in the fortune of others, and render their happiness necessary to him, though he derives nothing from it except the pleasure of seeing it
(Adam Smith, Theory of Moral Sentiments, p.60).
It is also part of the way we organize ourselves into social groups.
Sharing subjective experience allows us to share knowledge; not just dry, numeric, “objective” knowledge, but shared impressions. Most situations that we are concerned about are framed not by objective facts (though they are all there and generally relevant) but by peoples subjective experience. We deal mostly with a world of vague impressions and uncertain conceptions and we need to share our perspectives on them.
Rather than retreating into (often imagined) objectivity, we have the option of advancing into to a shared subjective understanding. This allows us to deal with the problems that really affect us.
