What does "lay flat" mean?

In the field of public opinion in the past two years, as long as the topic of epidemic prevention is talked about, the word "lay flat" appears frequently. It is not an exaggeration to say that there are few words that have sparked such endless wars of words, but have never been clearly defined. Sometimes people can't help but feel that people's debate is completely arguing with ducks, and no one has figured out what the so-called "lay flat" really means.

"Lie flat" was originally a new word on the Internet that suddenly emerged in May 2021 (according to the Baidu search index). At first, it referred to the passive rebellious mentality of young people who have no desires and no desires, but it was quickly misappropriated by the Qingling faction. To ridicule the "inaction" of foreign countries in epidemic prevention measures, while their opponents in the debate think that this is just a stigmatizing term, which is too big to hurt and the target is not accurate.

Indeed, whether it is Europe, America, Japan, South Korea, or Singapore, the epidemic prevention policies are far from "nothing". Various preparatory measures were gradually advanced, and finally transitioned to liberalization.

Because of this, in July this year, Weibo big V Li Ziyang once said: "Relegating normal scientific epidemic prevention to 'lay flat' is the most disgusting statement I have heard in recent years—not one of them."

At first glance, this argument is easy to refute, but it has never ebbed in the field of public opinion, and I don't seem to have seen any zero-clearing faction convinced by the facts listed by the opponent. Not only that, after the recent liberalization in China, the abuse of "lying bandits" has been revived again, because many people believe that their plight is caused by these people.

In each round of such scolding battles, the zero-clearing faction is basically in an offensive position, throwing an unwelcome piece of mud on the opponent, while the opponent passively defends "you made a mistake" in defense. It becomes a conversation of the deaf: one party fails to really understand why the other party says what it says, and the other party doesn't want to listen to the other party's justification.

What exactly does "lay flat" mean? For ease of understanding, I made a four-quadrant diagram:

The "laying down" mentioned by the Zero School is fundamentally relative to the active and high-intensity control-in short, this is a world of diodes, which is either closed or laid down, and lying down It also means the collapse of order, which is absolutely not advisable, because they can't imagine how it is possible to let go and order.

That's why they are so intolerant of dissent, because for them there is no choice, and any path other than the one they take is wrong. From this standpoint, they believe that only high-intensity control is reasonable and justified, and everything that fails to do this is considered "laying flat."

However, if the dimension of "professional intervention" is considered, it is not difficult to see that the binary opposition of "control/lay down" is false. Generally speaking, the evolution of foreign epidemic prevention is along the dotted line on the map, that is, gradually relaxing the intensity of control, and improving the professional response of public health, thereby ensuring the openness and mobility of society.

In comparison, domestic epidemic prevention once took a very different path. In an idealized scenario, this approach wants to increase the intensity of management and control and the level of professional diagnosis and treatment at the same time, but in reality, it is constantly strengthening the intensity of management and control. After all, it is unrealistic to improve in two dimensions at the same time, often in one dimension Strengthening comes at the cost of weakening another dimension.

Let's put it this way, in the eyes of the coexistence school, epidemic prevention should be the result of multi-dimensional trade-offs, and finally reach a new dynamic balance. For this reason, there are many aspects that need to be done in social cognition, scientific research, and policy formulation. In the eyes of the zero-clearing school, it is not so complicated, it is just two options of one collection and one release.

The Coexistence faction accuses the Clearance faction of subverting the concept of "laying flat" (letting go ≠ lying flat). This is true, but the irony is that the development of the situation proves that the Clearance faction does understand China better.

It is particularly worth noting that this binary framework of black and white has not disappeared with the domestic liberalization. Instead, many zero-clearers have solidified their original positions, because in their eyes, what they are worried about It has finally become a reality, and their opponents seem to be dissatisfied with this and that.

Now, they emphasize that "the country has done its best", accept the reality and stop complaining, otherwise it will be a "giant baby" mentality. In the WeChat group a while ago, a group member expressed this opinion:

The government can't afford everyone. I can't always feel that I should have 100% freedom, not only comfort, but also 100% medical services when I'm sick. This is too utopian, and even gods can't do it. The giant baby has bad ideas.

In his view, those people want all kinds of benefits: "Whether I am yin or yang, I have to be free. If I go out and infect ten or eight, it is my freedom, but I must scold. Freedom is also necessary, and service Want it, want it all, this kind of thing is lying bandits."

If this is the case, then what he said can be regarded as "laying flat in the pastoral field"-I am afraid that what he himself did not realize is that this kind of "dual-track system" that wants to have both benefits can only be conceived in this era Because in the final analysis, this is a common "institutional arbitrage" phenomenon in a society where the old and the new are mixed. A truly independent and self-reliant individual neither wants to impose interference nor wants to go beyond what he is entitled to. free.

The irony is that from the perspective of individualism, the zero-clearers are the "giant babies" who "lay flat": zero-clearing means that the authority has provided an absolutely safe external environment, so that there is no need to worry about their own health Yes, a gift from God that requires almost nothing to do. Many people's gratitude comes from their hearts because of this. For them, "the country has done its best, and now you are the first person responsible for your own health" is a language they can understand.

For the warm feeling of being protected by the mother's body, they still miss it. For them, independence is an involuntary passive process. For this reason, they resent the heretics who have put themselves in such a difficult situation.

A few days ago, I was in "Who is the more cruel and selfish person?" " The article emphasized that letting go is the norm. If a person wants to obtain absolute security, he can also seal it up himself. As a result, some readers scolded me in private letters: "I would like to seal myself, but is it peaceful? Are you thinking that I have been starving because I haven't gone out to buy groceries? You are rogue logic! You are ruthless!"

Clearly, it seemed to her callous to assert that letting go would put her in a state of fear, and failing to satisfy this absolute security.

Why does Chinese society have such a special mentality? I think the reason may be that Chinese people have historically lacked public life, and people’s main life has always been shrouded in an intimate and small social space like the family. In this case, the family actually provides a prototype for many people to understand politics. Many parents have a strong desire for control and can meticulously "care" about all aspects of their children's lives, but few consciously train their children to gradually become independent.

In this way, if the children's self-awareness is not strong, they will agree that the parents' high-intensity intervention is justified and for their own good. What they worry about is not that the parents control too much, but that they "let go" of themselves , because according to this logic, "tube" means "love".

To be fair, situations like this have also occurred in foreign history. In 1958, in the wave of decolonization after the war, Guinea, a small African country, declared its independence and refused to stay in the French Community. At that time, French President Charles de Gaulle immediately withdrew all French experts and capital—don’t you want independence? That's up to you now. Let's see how you can be independent without me.

That is to say, this kind of "laying flat" that is completely let go, and that kind of high-intensity intervention are exactly the two sides of the patriarchal system. As someone ridiculed, this is like "Your baby has only had one month's milk, and you throw him a pot helmet and say you gnaw it yourself. Whose problem is that?" You have to learn to grow up by yourself. Slowly Eat it.'"

True letting go does not mean swinging between these two extremes, but means doing something and not doing something on the basis of respecting the boundaries of the rights of others. There is a common question in English: "Can I help you?" (Can I help you?) When I was a beginner when I was a child, I always found it strange, because it seemed awkward to express it in our society, and I realized it when I grew up. Even if you want to help others with good intentions, you still need to seek the opinions of others, because the other party may not necessarily need your help. This is the sense of boundaries.

In this sense, the connotation of the concept of "lying flat" may be a special understanding of Chinese society, but we cannot stop there. In fact, Chinese thought has already given the answer, but we need to understand correctly: "Wuwei" does not mean "doing nothing" (do-nothingness), but to fully understand the "road" (law of nature) ), let nature take its course, and don’t overdo it, in order to achieve better results.