With etymological origin in the Latin word involutio , involution is a concept that refers to the interruption and regression of some type of evolution . Devolving, therefore, is the opposite of evolving.
The idea of involution appears in multiple areas. When a country stops its progress and begins to show symptoms of deterioration (social, economic, cultural), it can be said that it is suffering from regression. Suppose that a nation This region, therefore, evolved over the years.
Take the case of a footballer who is recovering from an injury . Little by little, this athlete begins to do physical exercises, demanding a little more of himself every day. However, during a workout, I feel severe pain and have to rest again. The player, in short, faces a regression in his recovery process .
With respect to human knowledge and the development of the organism, there are those who consider involution impossible, pointing out that any change that is noticed in our structure must be considered part of an inevitable evolution. In fact, many believe that involution is a concept that is impossible to find in reality and that it alludes, in any case, to an evolution that is difficult to understand in the context in which it occurs.
We must not forget that every living being and every situation must be placed in a context to make sense, to be studied and understood. This leads us to think that perhaps all the examples of involution that come to mind can be interpreted as cases of evolution, although it is difficult for us to accept them that way. Let's return to the case of the soccer player's injury: human beings fear illness and death, which is why we rely on various medicinal knowledge to fight any health problem; However, for nature it is productive that we get sick and die, since in this way we become part of a cycle that benefits the soil with our remains.
This explanation may seem morbid or difficult to understand, but it still reflects the reality that we can observe in the jungle and in the oceans, for example, where human beings have not completely imposed themselves. The progression towards death from a terminal illness is described as an involution if the observer considers it negative, because he or she feels sorry or frustrated about the patient's condition; However, if these feelings that we have so deeply rooted in culture did not exist, we would simply see it as an expected evolution of a very serious condition.
A series of retrograde phenomena that are generated as a person ages is called senile involution . This involution involves the degeneration and atrophy of organs and tissues. Here we are faced with a use of the term involution that, although it does not directly carry a negative connotation, points out a series of natural processes that take place once we reach old age with a nuance that presents it as something unwanted. Of course, it could also be described as part of the evolution that our organism goes through, and in that case there would be no doubt about its character.
Uterine involution , on the other hand, is the process carried out by the uterus when, after childbirth, it returns to its resting state. During pregnancy, the uterus registers an increase in size and weight. Once delivery has occurred, uterine involution begins to occur until the organ once again acquires the characteristics it had before pregnancy.