Escaping the Trap of Infinite Possession: Unraveling the Roots of the Dilemma of Educational Introversion and Strategies for Overcoming it

The involution of education is rooted in the logic of subjective construction based on infinite possession of objects, which origin lies in modernization. Such logic leads to a self backlash in the development of human subjectivity. The involution of education is the co-effect of both educators' and learners' tendency of infinite possession. From this perspective, the specific mechanism of the involution of education is manifested as the excessive investment of simple capital, which features low cognitive threshold, easy mass manipulation, and no cognitive cost, and in turn excludes complex capital. The essence of human subjectivity lies in conscious creative practice through the objective relationship with the object. To overcome the involution of education, it is necessary to clarify the essence of human subjectivity, reconstruct the educational purpose and, from such ideological base, adopt practical strategies to promote the formation of complex capital, strengthen the professionalism of subject teaching, broaden the diversity of individual development paths, and respect the long-term and implicit nature of educational practice.