内卷与躺平 Involution and Lying Flat

Involution refers to the phenomenon that a social or cultural model stagnates after reaching a certain stage of development, or cannot be transformed into a higher model. It is an irrational internal competition. This low-level complexity consumes a lot of capacity, energy and resources, but the overall level has not been improved.
For example, when a private car becomes a symbol of status rather than a means of transportation, everyone will try to buy one, even if it is bought on the loans, even if it is of little use to themselves. In some areas, people in the village regard their houses and gates as kind of somethings showing wealth. In order not to be looked down upon, they will raise funds everywhere and build houses and gates in a magnificent manner. The villagers still live in poverty, but the expenses they spend on the gates vary from thousands of yuan to tens of thousands of yuan, which can only lead to the villagers becoming poorer and poorer.

After graduation, college students can't find a job. They can only take the postgraduate examination. After graduation, they still can't find a job. They continue to take the doctoral examination. After graduation, they still can't find a job. Finally, doctoral students have to deliver takeaway. Take applying for civil servants as an good example. There are even thousands of people competing for a position in some places, and there are also many doctoral candidates from famous universities to apply for county-level civil servants in small places.

I can imagine a picture: the farmer raised a group of chickens. He kept 20% of them in one chicken pen alone, and 80% of the rest in another chicken pen. Because of his preference for 20% chickens, the farmer feed 80% of the feed to 20% of the chickens, while only 20% of the feed to 80% of the chickens. In order to survive, 80% of the chickens in the chicken pen have to fight desperately, because you have no alternative, unless you can get out of the chicken pen, unless you choose to lie flat-- you will have to wait for death. And 20% of the chickens in the chicken pen can choose to lie flat because they have sufficient resources and feed, so they don't have to fight and struggle.

Think carefully. What is the root cause of this phenomenon? It is a question of distribution system and top-level design.

In order to compete for limited resources, there will be fierce competition, and there will be involution. When limited resources are controlled by some people, those involved will become more involved, or find a simple and direct way out. The positions that should belong to college students, master students and doctoral students are occupied by people with power and background, which will lead to internal problems and the phenomenon of doctoral students delivering takeaway.

If resources can be reasonably allocated and a fair and equitable competition environment and smooth going up channels can be guaranteed, there will be no involution and lying flat.

内卷是指一种社会或文化模式在发展到一定阶段后停滞不前，或无法转化为更高级模式的现象，是一种非理性化的内部竞争。这种低水平的复杂化消耗了大量的能力、精力和资源，但是整体水平并没有得到提高。

比如，当私家车成为身份的象征而不再是一种交通工具时，人人都会想法设法买一辆车，哪怕是借贷，哪怕是车子对自己来说并没有多大用途。在某些地区，村子里的老百姓吧自家的房子和大门看作是门面，为了不让人小瞧，不惜四处筹款也要把房子和大门盖得富丽堂皇。村民的生活还很贫困，可他们花在大门上的费用少则几千元多则上万元，只能导致村民越来越贫穷。

大学生毕业以后找不到工作，只能考研，硕士研究生毕业后还是找不到工作，继续考博，博士毕业还是找不到工作，最后就出现了博士生送外卖的事情。考公务员也是一个明显的例子，有些地方甚至出现几千人争夺一个岗位的现象，也不乏有名牌大学的博士报考小地方的县级公务员。

我想象出一个画面：农民养了一群鸡，他把其中20%的鸡单独养在一个鸡圈里，而把80%剩下的鸡养在另一个鸡圈里。出于对20%鸡的偏爱，农民把80%的饲料喂给了20%的鸡，而只把20%的饲料喂给了80%的鸡。80%的鸡圈里的鸡为了生存，只能拼命争斗，因为你别无他法，除非你能够走出这个鸡圈，除非你选择躺平，那样就只能等死了。而20%鸡圈里的鸡可以选择躺平，因为它们有充足的资源和饲料，不用争抢，不用努力奋斗。

细细思考一下，造成这种现象的根源是什么呢？是分配制度和顶层设计的问题。

为争夺有限资源就会产生激烈的竞争，就产生了内卷。而当有限的资源被某些人把控，内卷的人会更加内卷，或者寻找一种简便而又直接的出路。本该属于大学生、硕士生、博士生的岗位被有权势有背景的人占据着，这样就会产生内卷，就会出现博士生送外卖的现象。

如果能够合理分配资源，能够保证公平公正的竞争环境和顺畅的上升渠道，就不会出现内卷和躺平的现象。

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