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"'Involuted society' "is a social phenomenon illustrating how people nowadays are trapped in continuous internal competition. In 2019, the word was first invented and used on the Internet by university students in China. Many college students now refer to irrational internal competition or "voluntary" competition. This term has been widely used among college students and has triggered intense discussions. According to CGTN, the latest illustration came in the form of a viral photo taken at China's prestigious Tsinghua University, where a student was seen using his laptop while riding on a bike. The story behind the picture indicates how much pressure the students have to graduate at the top of the class, making "time-consuming" things like communicating between university facilities unacceptable.

The general idea refers to the stagnation in the development of social and cultural models. After the absence of incremental resources, the entire society's competition for stock resources is intensified. Involution means that even there is a limit close to the boundary, but people or industries are constantly self-inspiring, complicated, and refined. It can be understood as Marginal Utility in economics, where people pursue maximum efficiency. The vagueness of the concept is one reason why there are ineffective discussions and some people falling into the dilemma of endless anxiety. Whether to define involution as an unhealthy or healthy competition, it is essential to search for the answer - what kind of people the education system should train today.

History
Involution as a social concept was introduced by anthropologists to describe a process of inward over-elaboration in agricultural development, where population growth did not result in growth in productivity or a more advanced economic model. Without significant breakthroughs, society spirals into a state of internal friction, with increased complexity but not expansion.

After the end of the second industrial revolution, human society has paused at the stage of using fossil energy for decades; thus, productivity has gradually stagnated. Under such circumstances, countries around the world have fallen into increasingly fierce competition for stock resources. This competition for stock resources has not only led to continuous geopolitical conflicts but also made some developed countries full of hostility and anxiety towards the industrialization process of developing countries. The essence of the stock game is a "zero-sum game", and the strong is always strong because it plunders the resources of the weak.

In  agricultural civilization the resources that different societies compete for are mainly land and population. As long as owning land and huge population, people can produce more food, silk, and porcelain. In the agricultural civilization stage, the so-called wealth is based on more land and people. The backward productivity can only guarantee very few people can live a comfortable life. The industrial revolution is the first leap in human productivity. However, in the fossil fuel stage, the current productivity level can only allow a relatively small number of people to live a more comfortable life (although this ratio is much higher than in the agricultural era).

There are 7 billion people worldwide, and the total population of developed countries is roughly 1 billion. If the ratio of poor in developed countries decreases and the wealthy people in developing countries increase, there will be no more than 1 billion people living a comfortable life because 1:7 is the current situation where the level of productivity has reached its extreme. After World War II, only a few countries were able to avoid the so-called "middle-income trap" to enter the club of developed countries. In essence, the increase in human productivity development after World War II only allows such a slight increase in the population to lead a comfortable life. Suppose people from other countries want to jump into developed country clubs. In that case, the premise is to use core competence to squeeze out a club member.

Forms
The involution can be seen in every aspect of society and all age groups of people in China.

Early Education
Gaokao is the college entrance exam that most Chinese high school students take. There were ten million examinees in 2020, and only 7.1% of them got offers from the top 152 universities in the country. Gaokao's fierce competence has pushed Chinese parents' pressure to outcompete others begins at an early age to an extreme. The competition starts at their early age. From kindergarten to universities, Chinese parents believe that getting into a "key school" guarantees a job that pays well enough to afford their kids' comfortable life.

The transparent competition, which begins at children's early age, triggers enormous education market demands. Take the early education market as an example, its target customers are mainly kids age 0-6 years old. From 2010 to 2019, the early childhood education industry's market size in China has increased year by year, with an average annual compound growth rate of 15.44%. In 2017, it generated 190 billion RMB, and the number rose to around 250 billion yuan in 2019. Most parents see the expense of their children's early education as a way of investment for their future.

Workplace
Into the real world, the grinding " 996" (or in some cases, "007") work culture awaits – a common practice lauded by some of China's most prominent figures in technology. Infinite overtime, pre-mature balding, and hospital admissions are all but part of everyday professional life for the nation's brightest.

The deaths of Pinduoduo employees and China's "996" overwork culture show how vulnerable tech workers have become. It leads the protest of involuted culture in the workplace to a climax. According to BBC News, 'Millennials in China are well-educated, more aware of their rights and seek work that has value. As such, they are reacting negatively to the "996" rule. People of this generation are more aware of the life-work balance. In contrast, some people believe that working overtime is unavoidable in this competitive society where people more intelligent than you work harder than you.

Reasons
The overseas practice of anti-monopoly supervision has clearly shown that it has the characteristics of dynamic changes and historical stages. This situation reflects the impact of globalization on anti-monopoly supervision practices; the disorderly expansion of capital on certain platforms in China will bring about a new, more "involuted society. However, to improve international competitiveness and technological innovation capabilities, it will not be considered disordered or toxic.