Thanks for the interesting article. “Involution” is a difficult concept to understand. I am not sure the English meaning really corresponds to the Chinese meaning. The English dictionary defines “involution” as a mathematical operator that when applied twice in succession, returns the original state. It is also a biological idea, being some organ that returns to its original state.
The Chinese concept reminds me of the Red Queen in Alice’s Wonderland, who runs hard but still remains in the same position. So the Chinese Involution seems to mean “running hard but getting nowhere”, or “putting in a great deal of effort but getting nothing in return”.
I suppose “Involution” is the best translation of 内卷: not achieving any progress despite exerting oneself.
Hi, I agree with you. It's hard to find a 100% equivalent meaning in English, but do you think "rat race" is something similar? By the way, may I know if you are from China or overseas?
Hi, I grew up in Malaysia, but lived elsewhere for many years.
“Rat race” is usually used in the context of a person’s career (in a corporate environment), whereas “Involution” seems to apply to entrepreneurs or firms (in a market environment of the firm or entrepreneur). So I feel “rat race” is not a good translation either.
I suggest “the Red Queen effect”. It’s not a genuine word in English, but English speakers (who have read Alice in Wonderland) will know what this means. I notice Wikipedia has an article on the “Red Queen hypothesis”. Check it out!
I believe it's almost the same thing when you tallk about involution on the context of career or firms,, and it's a little bit different from the Red Queen effect. I checked the “Red Queen hypothesis”. I think a difference is that involution does not necessarily mean that the opponents would be eliminated because of the competition. It's more about every one invovled just have to make more more things but receive less rewards.
Being in a “rat race” doesn’t mean not making progress. But it does imply being self-centred vs cooperating with others, which I suppose overlaps a little with 内卷, except that I understand 内卷 to mean “working hard but not making progress”. Just my thoughts! I may be wrong.
I see your point. The self-centred part is what involution missed and that's the difference! Yeah, they are not 100% the same thing for sure. I guess involution is harder for people to understand so I didn't use that in the headline. Tough choice, haha. Thanks a lot for the suggestion! !
The picture drawn by the second author reminds one of the U.S. in the middle of the nineteenth century. Competition was ruinous, approaching the textbook model of perfect competition. This phase had to end. It ended with the formation of monopolies, known at the time as "trusts" - the Steel Trust, the Sugar Trust, etc.
How will the "involution" phase end in China? One difference is that the U.S. was not the main player in the scramble for imperial domains. Britain, France, and Germany fought that scramble of exporting capita to acquire external markets and secure sources of raw materials. China is already deeply enmeshed in the similar scramble today. It led to world war then.
Thanks for the interesting article. “Involution” is a difficult concept to understand. I am not sure the English meaning really corresponds to the Chinese meaning. The English dictionary defines “involution” as a mathematical operator that when applied twice in succession, returns the original state. It is also a biological idea, being some organ that returns to its original state.
The Chinese concept reminds me of the Red Queen in Alice’s Wonderland, who runs hard but still remains in the same position. So the Chinese Involution seems to mean “running hard but getting nowhere”, or “putting in a great deal of effort but getting nothing in return”.
I suppose “Involution” is the best translation of 内卷: not achieving any progress despite exerting oneself.
Hi, I agree with you. It's hard to find a 100% equivalent meaning in English, but do you think "rat race" is something similar? By the way, may I know if you are from China or overseas?
Hi, I grew up in Malaysia, but lived elsewhere for many years.
“Rat race” is usually used in the context of a person’s career (in a corporate environment), whereas “Involution” seems to apply to entrepreneurs or firms (in a market environment of the firm or entrepreneur). So I feel “rat race” is not a good translation either.
I suggest “the Red Queen effect”. It’s not a genuine word in English, but English speakers (who have read Alice in Wonderland) will know what this means. I notice Wikipedia has an article on the “Red Queen hypothesis”. Check it out!
I believe it's almost the same thing when you tallk about involution on the context of career or firms,, and it's a little bit different from the Red Queen effect. I checked the “Red Queen hypothesis”. I think a difference is that involution does not necessarily mean that the opponents would be eliminated because of the competition. It's more about every one invovled just have to make more more things but receive less rewards.
Being in a “rat race” doesn’t mean not making progress. But it does imply being self-centred vs cooperating with others, which I suppose overlaps a little with 内卷, except that I understand 内卷 to mean “working hard but not making progress”. Just my thoughts! I may be wrong.
I see your point. The self-centred part is what involution missed and that's the difference! Yeah, they are not 100% the same thing for sure. I guess involution is harder for people to understand so I didn't use that in the headline. Tough choice, haha. Thanks a lot for the suggestion! !
The picture drawn by the second author reminds one of the U.S. in the middle of the nineteenth century. Competition was ruinous, approaching the textbook model of perfect competition. This phase had to end. It ended with the formation of monopolies, known at the time as "trusts" - the Steel Trust, the Sugar Trust, etc.
How will the "involution" phase end in China? One difference is that the U.S. was not the main player in the scramble for imperial domains. Britain, France, and Germany fought that scramble of exporting capita to acquire external markets and secure sources of raw materials. China is already deeply enmeshed in the similar scramble today. It led to world war then.