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The philosophy of survival in the era of involution

The philosophy of survival in the era of involution

This article is from the WeChat public account: Zhiqu classmates, author: Liu Zhiqu, the header picture comes from: "Nagi's New Life"

In United Kingdom writer Louis ·Carroll's famous children's book "Alice's Adventures Through the Looking Glass", the Red Queen said:

"In this country, you have to keep running to stay where you are."

In 1973, United States evolutionary biologist at the University of Chicago, L. ·· Van Van Wallen. van Valen developed the famous "Red Queen hypothesis".

Like Darwin's theory of species selection, the Red Queen hypothesis has a wide influence in the field of evolutionary biology. At its core, it is based on the idea that even in a relatively stable physical environment, species need to evolve themselves to adapt to the competition for survival brought about by other species.

In short, that is to say that species evolve not only to adapt to their environment, but also to other organisms.

And this fierce law of competition for survival in nature is also applicable in the field of sociology.

In order to maintain their status in society or to survive, human beings have to continuously learn new skills and adapt to new environments in order to catch up with the growth and evolution of other individuals, otherwise they will be eliminated and the transmission of genes will cease

Therefore, when the pressure of social competition continues to intensify, the "involution" between the same species will naturally occur. The outcome of this phenomenon is also described by the Red Queen Effect:

Everyone was running as hard as they could, but in reality their relative positions to each other hadn't changed much.

But that doesn't mean that an individual or organization's efforts are truly worthless. The general environment cannot be changed, competition is inevitable, we can still adjust the direction of efforts in this era of involution, and find a new balance in life

Embrace social change

Before we talk about adapting to changes in our lives and work, we must first realize that society itself is a dynamic existence. Economy, Culture, Science and Technology, Politics, Population, Natural Environment, Social Structure, Values...... All of these factors are influencing the direction of social evolution.

Twenty years ago, it was decent people who opened a taxi and worked in a TV station; Ten years ago, college students were admitted to the public examination, and three graduates easily entered the Internet factory; Five years ago, there was a belief that house prices would keep rising

But now, all of that is really changing. Education can no longer be exchanged for a good future as before, ordinary people's real estate has been reduced to a mass consumer product like a car, the rapid application of AI continues to eliminate industries, and young people do not think that marriage is an indispensable topic in life......

The values that people build up yesterday can be overturned tomorrow. Ordinary people in the torrent of the times, as small as a grain of sand, will eventually be swayed by the general environment.

So what we can do is accept the change from the bottom of our hearts and adapt to it. This adaptation is not only a positive response to change, but also the ability to heal itself in the face of failure.

I know that a bachelor's degree is not enough, so I will find a way to go to graduate school; I know that I can't get a good job with a good degree, so I find a way to learn a skill that can make a living in addition to my academic degree; I know that many high salaries are unstable, so I will go all out to take the public examination...... It's a kind of wisdom to go with the flow.

Times sometimes fail a generation, and those who can embrace change enjoy the world first.

Enhance core competitiveness

The situation of one or two decades may not be worth mentioning in the long river of history, but this is the golden period of a generation's life.

In the present, giving may not see growth in the short term. I tried my best, but I found myself still standing in place, and all I gained was exhaustion and loss. But if we leave it in the loop, we will still miss the opportunity when the historical cycle returns.

The effort mentioned here is not simply working overtime to engage in involution, this kind of involution is really meaningless.

Why? Because the only thing that most companies expect from their employees is that you are fully committed to your work, and no other personal life and growth should exist.

This is essentially domesticating man into a machine. If the machine is old and broken, and it can't be restored with simple repairs, it will end up being discarded. So most of the workplaces we see will be abandoned when men can't work overtime like crazy; When women are unable to work overtime, they are abandoned.

What's even more cruel is that even if companies are willing to change this state, in the face of the situation of bad money driving out good money in the market, in order to occupy a place in the market, they can only reduce costs and increase efficiency by squeezing employees.

But if we don't want to be completely reduced to such a machine, we have to find a way to find our core competitiveness.

How to find it? I think the first thing is to recognize yourself and find your own interests, values, and strengths. People like Na Jun in "Mortal Song" who can adapt to and enjoy high-intensity work will go to the workplace, and people like Li Xiaoyue who care more about life experience are not bad to open their own handicraft and baking studios.

I know two girls who used to be art teachers in a training institution in a fourth-tier city, and then the institution was not good enough to open a flower shop and a cake shop in the local area, but unlike other competing products, the things they made were of high quality, aesthetic, and constantly iterative, and the price was even more expensive than in the first-tier cities, but because the products were different enough, it did not affect sales at all.

So, everyone can choose the path they want. The key is to set specific, measurable, achievable professional and personal development goals and to be able to learn and improve on an ongoing basis.

After all, the material base determines the superstructure, and adults must first be able to support themselves.

Society is dynamically changing, even if the class is solidified, there are always people who fall from the highest class in order to realize themselves, and there are people who desperately strive to achieve a class jump in order to be fed and clothed, and the state of involution is not eternal.

Broaden the boundaries of cognition

If improving core competitiveness is to accumulate the depth of the material level, then broadening the cognitive boundary is to increase the breadth of the spiritual level, and it is also the next leval of material pursuit

Competition between peers is sometimes more like a test. It is not only a test of how we can find our foothold in limited resources, but also a test of whether we can deal with challenges with an open-minded mind. Life is not linear, and if you can carry it to the end, you will win.

I have seen many people whose material fundamentals are not bad, and when they encounter adversity such as job loss and relationship breakdown, their psychological resilience is extremely fragile, and they are easily swallowed up by external pressures, unable to establish an evaluation system for self-identity, and their life value is judged by the outside world

Money alienates us, making us "the jungle" and "worshipping money". It seems that if you don't have money and are single, you don't deserve to talk about other spiritual civilizations. This kind of social expectations at the macro level and workplace rules at the micro level are squeezing the living space of the next generation of young and middle-aged people, causing a collapse on life.

But in fact, the differences between individuals are not as great as one might think. Even in super first-tier cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, ordinary people do their best to buy a small house. We work here and leave our youth behind. It's like an intermediary, and the money is just flowing through us.

Everything flows, even the rich, the money flows through them as well, and in the end everyone is experienced by these things equally, and in the end there is no trace.

Even those great men who have rewritten history, his magnificent life is just a page in the history books.

The philosophy of survival in the era of involution
The philosophy of survival in the era of involution

I suddenly remembered that at noon a few days ago, I ordered a rice noodle in the family kitchen of the community, and on the way back, I passed through the small square in the community, and found that I don't know when two benches were installed.

It was these 20 minutes of sitting on the bench in the small square that I was relaxed and happy. In a trance, I felt that life was like this, and that it was only so long.

This article is from the WeChat public account: Zhiqu classmates, author: Liu Zhiqu

This content is the author's independent view and does not represent the position of Tiger Sniff. May not be reproduced without permission, please contact [email protected] for authorization

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