"There is a hot word called’ involution’ this year. This structural anthropology term quickly became popular after it was out of the circle. Public opinion believes that this reflects a sense of anxiety that swept the contemporary society."
On November 24th, Guo Kaitian, Party Secretary and Senior Vice President of Tencent, shared his views on the phenomenon of "involution" with the theme of "Youth in the Digital Age" at the world internet conference Sub-forum "Youth and Digital Future" held in Wuzhen, Zhejiang.
At the Youth and Digital Future Forum, Guo Kaitian, Senior Vice President of Tencent, gave a speech. Xinhuanet
He believes that the source of anxiety is that the marginal effect of the new economy on social development is decreasing. In the past, the new economy brought people a great sense of gain, because it created long-term inclusive growth through high technology. However, as the "drooping fruits" on the science and technology trees were gradually picked, the development of information technology and the Internet itself entered a "narrow path", and the kinetic energy provided for social progress was also decreasing.
"To alleviate this anxiety and find new kinetic energy for social development, we should continue to ask for methods from science and technology." Guo Kaitian believes that "we should’ upgrade upwards’, pay attention to’ hanging fruits’, see the prospect of new technology transforming traditional fields such as medical care and education, see the future of deep integration of the Internet and traditional industries, and create a digital dividend that takes root in social fabric and benefits more people."
In this process, Guo Kaitian said that Tencent hopes to be a "ladder" for young people to pick scientific and technological fruits and provide upward assistance in the process of picking scientific and technological fruits.
Guo Kaitian introduced that Tencent is relying on technology accumulation in artificial intelligence, cutting-edge algorithms and big data to provide support for young research teams in the fields of drug screening in Covid-19, structural prediction in protein and quantum computing, so as to speed up the research process. The "Science Exploration Award" initiated by Ma Huateng, the founder of Tencent, has funded 100 young scientists in the past two years to encourage young scientific and technological talents to explore the "no man’s land" of basic science and cutting-edge technology.
The following is the content of Guo Kaitian’s speech:
As "digital aborigines", contemporary youth who were born and grew up on the Internet are becoming the mainstay of the digital age. According to the statistics of China Internet Network Information Center, by June this year, the number of netizens in China had reached 940 million, among which the total proportion of netizens aged 20 to 39 exceeded 40%, which was higher than other age groups.
During the COVID-19 epidemic this year, these young people used their innate digital literacy and proficiency in Internet tools to provide solid support for the anti-epidemic work; In the post-epidemic era, they actively participated in economic recovery through new technologies and new formats. We see that young people are not only consumers in the digital age, but also builders of the digital future.
In the process of their growth, the internet is the main entrance to the digital world, which provides young people with the possibility of connecting everything and transforming the future; Major Internet companies, including Tencent, help young people grow by creating digital platforms and tools. The accelerated arrival of the digital age has created a vast space for young people to work hard. We are also thinking about how to make the Internet a better connector for young people to build a digital future in the new environment and help more promising young people create a better future. Today, I want to share some thoughts on this issue.
To be a good connector between youth and the future, the first thing is to be a "ladder" for young people to pick the fruits of science and technology. This year, there is a hot word called "involution", a structural anthropology term that quickly became popular after it came out of the circle. Public opinion believes that there is a sense of anxiety sweeping the contemporary society behind it.
Where does this anxiety come from? The reasons are complicated, but I think the most important point is that the marginal effect of the new economy supported by this generation of cutting-edge science and technology on social development is decreasing. The reason why our new economy can bring people a great sense of gain is precisely because it has created long-term inclusive growth through high technology. However, as the "drooping fruit" on the science and technology tree is gradually picked, the development of information technology and Internet has entered a "narrow path", and the kinetic energy provided for social progress is also decreasing.
To alleviate this anxiety and find new kinetic energy for social development, we should continue to ask for methods from science and technology. We should "upgrade upwards", pay attention to "hanging fruits", see the prospect of new technology transforming traditional fields such as medical care and education, see the future of deep integration of the Internet and traditional industries, and create digital dividends that take root in social fabric and benefit more people.
Tencent has always believed that more and more innovations in the future will come from "technological breakthroughs seeking products to land". As early as 2018, Mr. Ma Huateng discussed with netizens which breakthroughs in basic disciplines will affect the Internet technology industry in the next decade. Similarly, we also believe that the Internet in the digital age will allow more people to enjoy the dividend of scientific and technological breakthroughs, which is the "initial heart" of Tencent’s investment in basic science for many years.
The youth is in the most creative stage of life, is a vital promoter of scientific research, but also the creator of the digital future. So what can the Internet do? In my opinion, the role we should play is like a "ladder" to help young talents jump higher and provide upward assistance in the process of harvesting scientific and technological fruits.
At present, Tencent is relying on the accumulation of technologies in artificial intelligence, cutting-edge algorithms and big data to provide support for young research teams in the fields of Covid-19 drug screening, protein structure prediction and quantum computing, so as to speed up the research process. In addition, not long ago, we held the second "Scientific Exploration Award" awarding ceremony, which is a public welfare project led by scientists and has funded 100 outstanding young scientists in the past two years. The starting point of setting up this award is to explore the long-term mechanism of social forces investing in basic scientific research, encourage young scientific and technological talents to explore the "no man’s land" of basic science and cutting-edge technology, support them to explore freely and enjoy it, and make science and technology more independent, self-reliant and self-reliant.
In the future, on the road of young scientists’ free exploration, we will continue to build a "ladder"; At the same time, as Mr. Ma Huateng said, Tencent will also strive to make science fashionable and innovation the pursuit of youth.
The second is to be a "magnet" for young people to embrace traditional culture. Never forget history to open up the future, and be good at inheritance to be good at innovation. Developing through inheritance and inheriting through development are the requirements of the state for society and youth. What we need to inherit is excellent traditional culture, and it is also the most important pillar of our cultural self-confidence. In the combination of development and inheritance, it is the responsibility of young people to embody and continue excellent cultural genes more.
Last year, we conducted a survey and found that nearly 90% of young people are interested in traditional culture, which shows that we have a good foundation in establishing the connection between young people and tradition. The survey also shows that 80% of young people use the Internet as a channel to understand traditional culture, which also shows us that the Internet has the ability to provide attraction between young people and traditional culture like a "magnet". In the digital age, using digital advantages, the Internet platform has unique advantages in helping young people understand and share traditional culture.
Today’s tradition is the trend of the past. What Tencent wants to do is to re-stimulate the popular factors in tradition in a digital way and attract more young people to become "volunteers" to spread traditional culture.
To this end, we also try to move China culture and the stories behind it to the Internet, and use digitalization to facilitate the spread of traditional culture. Not long ago, the digital video work "The Grand Canal Through Time and Space" produced by Tencent was unveiled at the China International Fair for Trade in Services in 2020. Users can listen to stories, see details and learn history on small programs. Through modeling and analysis, we find that the innovation and convenience brought by the form of "frolicking with the tide" by the combination of numbers and traditions have been affirmed by young users, and this group has spontaneously moved closer to traditional culture.
We are also fully involved in creating a new model of "Chinese civilization in internet plus" and making traditional culture younger by digitalization. Now, we have launched the "Digital Silk Road" project with Dunhuang Research Institute. While using cutting-edge technologies such as AI to digitally protect Dunhuang cultural relics, we also seek the "greatest common denominator" between tradition and youth through animation dramas that young people love and enjoy, so as to enhance each other’s "gravity" and make young people more interested and willing to understand and share traditional culture. This blend of technology and culture also appears in our cooperation with IP of famous cultures such as the Forbidden City, the Qin Tombs and the Great Wall.
Finally, it is a "window" for young people to broaden their horizons. Young people facing the future need a broader vision. Over the years, economic globalization has been full of twists and turns, and the epidemic situation has made this particularly prominent; But looking around the world, we still see many forces pushing the arrival of a new cycle of globalization. Therefore, under the development pattern of "double circulation" at home and abroad, grasping the opportunities brought by globalization with a global perspective is an important quality for young people to grow up and grasp the future.
On the one hand, in the past decade, major Internet companies have been "translators" of culture, translating and decoding high-quality content of different cultures, so that multiculturalism can reach young people and open a window for them to understand the world.
On the other hand, Tencent is doing something different, that is, actively building a window for China youth to talk with the world, so that the world can also see the wisdom of young people in China through this window. In August this year, Tencent joined hands with the United Nations to hold the "Youth Union Parliament 2020", which is one of the series of activities of the United Nations "China Youth Dialogue World". It gives young people in China the opportunity to participate in solving global problems such as environmental protection and poverty alleviation on the global stage. During the preparation of the event, 700,000 young people from China participated in the application and submitted more than 10,000 proposals. We are very happy to see that holding such activities has provided China youth with an opportunity to communicate with the world, and has also effectively inspired young people to understand and help the world in practice.
The digital age creates infinite possibilities. In the process of change, the YMCA will usher in more glory and dreams. Tencent will continue to be a "ladder", "magnet" and "window" and become a connector between youth and the digital future. At the same time, in the face of the challenges brought by the digital age, Tencent will continue to exert its efforts in the fields of youth protection and digital dividend, so that more young people in China can embrace the future with a calm attitude.
