involution

Example Sentences

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Originally an anthropological term, "involution", or "neijuan" in Chinese - literally translated to an inward curling - refers to a social concept where population growth does not result in productivity or improved innovation.

From BBC

On the Chinese internet, the term that has captured the mood is “involution,” previously used by anthropologists to describe agrarian societies that grew in size or complexity without becoming more advanced or productive.

From Seattle Times

He had irreplaceable knowledge about the programming that supported current practice, one weapons designer told anthropologist Hugh Gusterson, who published a paper on the topic of scientific involution across generations of nuclear science.

From Salon

The breasts eventually go through a process called involution that returns them to their pre-pregnancy state and involves massive cell death and tissue remodeling.

From New York Times

Instead, she immersed herself in the Freudian universe of deep, growling desires, her mind pitched at the ego’s involutions and attachments.

From The New Yorker