没有实质意义的消耗都可称为“内卷”，例如：将简单问题复杂化，低水平的模仿和复制，以及毫无意义的精益求精。

In Chinese, the word “involution (neijuan)”, which is composed of two characters: “inside” and “rolling,” refers to a process in which it is necessary to constantly surpass others. The participants trapped in such a process know they won’t benefit from it.

汉语中的“内卷”一词，由“内部”和“卷动”两个字组成，表示一种需要不断超越他人的过程。受困于这一过程的人知道自己将从中一无所获。

The concept of involution was first used by American anthropologist Clifford Geertz (1906 – 2006) in his summary of the agricultural economy of Java Island. The “involution” the scholars spoke about and the one used nowadays are very different. But they all convey a sense of “lacking significant progress, and coming up to a dead end.”

美国人类学家Clifford Geertz（1906 – 2006）在总结爪哇岛的农业经济时最早使用“内卷”这个概念。学者们所讨论的“内卷”和这个词现在的含义有很大不同，不过都有“缺少明显进步，以走向死胡同告终”的意思。

Involution has recently become a popular buzzword. A lot of people – be they takeout delivery drivers or computer programmers at big tech companies – complain that their work is “too involuted.”

最近，“内卷”成了一个时髦词。不管是外卖送餐员还是在科技巨头公司工作的计算机程序员，很多人都在抱怨自己的工作“过于内卷化”了。