Ingrid Yeung ‘23
Nowadays, stress seems to be an experience shared by everyone, no matter your role in society, whether working or still in school. Competition is everywhere, and often stress becomes unhealthy as people begin to compete just for competing. Involution is a term not commonly used in the English language, but it describes the internal friction in our society, which leads to a harmful and stressful environment. Anthropologist Clifford Geertz originally uses involution to depict the stagnant phenomenon in agriculture when the amount of labor dedicated does not yield proportional economic return. Later, anthropologist Alexander Goldenwiese refers to culture to experience involution when it “cannot (or does not) adapt and or expand its economy, but continues to develop only in the direction of internal complexity and inefficiency” (Hui, 2009). This term has gotten extremely popular in China, especially among younger generations, to describe the stress and anxiety in competition and how people focus on defeating others rather than self-improving. The helplessness people feel when facing competition is an exact embodiment of Involution. So, how do we change this culture of Involution? Do we simply take ourselves out of every competition?
In order to change the culture of Involution, it is necessary to understand why it happens. Often, involution results from the unhealthy competition: a competition that occurs at the expense of one’s well being. It can also result from “involuntary competition” when people are forced to participate in a contest they didn’t sign up for. This is much like school, where people are placed in a basket, evaluated only based on their performances. When we are stuck in a competition cycle, no one gains from working harder, but rather wasting energy and time on one task. For example, Student A and Student B are studying for the same test. Student A studies for one hour and B for thirty minutes. In the end, B receives one less point than A. In the next test, B strives to study more than A to make up that one point, so he reviews for three hours, but A sees him and proceeds to review even more. In the end, A still gets one more point than B, but none of them see significant improvement from their last test. This scenario illustrates how involution applies in real life, putting an overly large amount of effort into a competition but gaining no concrete returns. The idea of diminishing marginal returns from Economics can also explain this situation. There is an optimum input effort that can yield the most significant output. As more input is added, the marginal returns will eventually decrease, resulting in people feeling unaccomplished from all the hard work they put in.
There are several ways to combat the culture of involution other than simply quitting the competition. One of which I see the most important is determining what is the most important to you. Is your math mid-term more critical? Or is it your small-stake project from another class? Prioritizing tasks can pull you out of many involuntary competitions as you divide up your time accordingly, avoiding over-investment in assignments that might not yield as much return. Another key to combat unhealthy competition is to accept imperfections. People often place themselves in the endless competition cycle by spending significant amounts of time perfecting a straightforward task. When you make a simple problem way more complicated than it should be, it signifies involution taking up your academic life. Realizing that perfecting every task is not what makes you learn the most. Instead of producing perfect works, accept potential flaws and create scholarly and thoughtful pieces. Another aspect of fighting involution is to deal with the anxiety such competition makes. A simple resolution is to focus on the “now” and focus on your health. Often, anxiety happens when people anticipate the future and the outcome, and having the present mindset, focusing on your effort now, will significantly reduce the stress. Remember that physical health contributes significantly to mental health. Maintaining a regular exercise routine and a healthy diet also helps increase stress tolerance.
As a junior in St. Mark’s, I feel the pressure of academic, athletic, and social anxiety that mounts in living in a highly competitive and intellectually challenging boarding school. However, it is up to us to either accept it and live with the anxiety or find ways to fight against it. Utilize the resources offered on campus; school counselors, advisors, and academic support are all great companions in your fight against the culture of involution. So don’t give up; instead of quitting the challenge entirely and becoming a couch potato, try to focus on the present and your wellbeing while achieving academic goals.
