After raising colorful succulents, contemporary college students have opened up a new way to raise them. Under the prevention and control of the epidemic, they filled their own hands-on skills and created a variety of "new pets" with the abandoned express box. From the puppy who just started to pursue cute carton, to the kitten who followed, college students with wide brains were immersed in the enthusiasm of carton creation. However, is the craze for carton pets just a boring pastime for college students in epidemic prevention life? Or are young people exploring new social ways? Devote your heart to the original inanimate carton pet, as if Poincare, who was obsessed with "electronic pets" a long time ago, reappeared. What is the inner desire of young people behind this?

author　| taming dusk

read and edit　| Time

edit　| Peninsula

source　| zhizhu. com

"College students are raising something very new."

After raising colorful succulents, contemporary college students have opened up a new way to raise them. Perhaps it has been hit by the failure of feeding again and again, and this time they will focus on "things that will never die".

Under the prevention and control of the epidemic, they filled their own hands-on skills and created a variety of "new pets" with the abandoned express box.

△ The cute "paper dog" made by netizens comes from coconut (Little Red Book)

From the adorable puppy in the carton at the beginning to the kitten in the carton that followed, netizens lamented the worrying mental state of young people on the one hand, and appreciated the practical ability of college students on the other.

College students, with their brains wide open, found a new way of living in the enthusiasm of carton creation, and then this wave will never return in an increasingly outrageous direction.

△ "Carton loong" made by netizens

Adhering to the spirit of "innovation first", groups of college students started new operations: lifelike loong, cute Gary the Snail in Spongebob, and various elves in Pokémon.

As if the next second, they will take out the fairy ball and say to others, "It’s you, cardboard box Pikachu!" "

△ The cardboard box Pikaqiu made by netizens comes from: POI. The point of interest of Bai Bailu (Little Red Book)

There are also "flying puppies" equipped with high-end technology; And the "cardboard box dinosaur" drifting in the bedroom.

In this paper dog carnival, everyone’s enthusiasm for participating is getting higher and higher, and the results are getting richer and richer, which provides a new expression for youth under the epidemic.

△ "Flying" paper dog equipped with drone, from Xiaochai Popcorn (Tik Tok)

However, is the craze for carton pets just a boring pastime for college students in epidemic prevention life? Or are young people exploring new social ways?

Devote your heart to the original inanimate carton pet, as if Poincare, who was obsessed with "electronic pets" a long time ago, reappeared. What is the inner desire of young people behind this?

The Creation of "Hands" —— "Fantastic animals are here"

Carton puppies were originally a way for college students to entertain themselves under the prevention and control of epidemic situation. These most creative and energetic people, under the limited conditions, re-created the abandoned cartons, which started a trend carnival of manual creation.

"Invigorating" is one of the epitome of contemporary young people’s pursuit of individuality and uniqueness. When these carton pets become a popular symbol, batches of "magical animals" naturally become the material carriers of their innovative spirit and pursuit of individuality.

△ The "carton pet" of a large family comes from urgency.

(Little Red Book)

At the same time, college students’ love for "magical animals" also comes from psychological compensation, which is short of reality. Due to economic conditions, family factors and other practical problems, many young people are in a state of helplessness about keeping pets.

Who hasn’t imagined that after a hard day, going home to touch their "hairy children" and watching their lazy and lovely posture, the whole person has also been cured.

△ "Carton Cat" eats online, from Wu Yang (Little Red Book)

Nowadays, carton pets provide poor college students with a new way out: you can get a "Bai Piao" pet through your own hands. Why not? Of course, it could be a bunch of pets.

Moreover, their love for "magical animals" does not stop at the level of playthings. They will carefully prepare appliances for these pets, such as feeding basins, pet toilets and so on.These wordless children are endowed with humanity and the meaning of life. They are cared for, remembered and equally devoted to their feelings, which has become a new anthropomorphic choice.

The Response of "Mutual Sight"-"Social Determination"

In fact, college students don’t just regard these carton pets as their private collections. When they can’t get in touch with more living children due to realistic conditions, they transfer their original feelings about living things to these creations. They find out new ways of entertainment by dealing with "dogs" and derive a new way of socializing.

As a result, walking dogs in groups on the playground, online marriage for their paper dogs, competing whose pets are cuter,Together, these have become a group social consensus and cultural participation. Everyone tacitly agrees with this silly but cute way to create a free space that is not disturbed.

△ Students who are walking "paper dogs" on the playground

Of course, many people exclaimed, "It’s hard not to doubt the mental state of college students". Similar to the popular "crazy literature" at present, when young people face realistic difficulties and anxiety, interesting responses are not only the unique cultural characteristics of our generation, but also the emotional expression of taking pains.

In the process of walking the puppy in the cardboard box, we are eager to have more real contact with our friends and try to fill the loneliness from reality.

At present, many young people are trapped in the predicament of being eager for socializing, afraid of loneliness and anxious. Just as Zhou Guoping said, "Loneliness is a human destiny. Love and friendship can’t eradicate it, but they can soothe it. "

Through the intermediary of carton pets, we broke through the unreality of "being a netizen", gained face-to-face social opportunities, and vented our depressed emotions in love and friendship.

△ Contemporary college students fancy walking dogs

Therefore, in the seemingly absurd dog walking and marriage, it seems that human beings have given pets the opportunity to socialize, but isn’t this our own current "social determination"?

We transfer our emotions to these "paper children", making it a mirror for us to look at ourselves. In a slightly childish way, I shook hands with a lot of uneasiness and helplessness for a while.

My dear cardboard box puppy is not only an artificial toy, but also a fragment of self-expression.

△ A variety of "carton pets"

To paraphrase a line from The Resolution to Break Up: "The best way to be a person is to borrow a part of him and communicate with him in this world."

When we were young, our emotional sustenance for toys and our special feelings for diaries in adolescence are all reflections of our lives. At some unspeakable moments, their silent companionship seemed to say, "I can be your cover when you are a deserter."

When we were children, we would exchange toys or secrets to get the chance to make new friends. Nowadays, the cardboard box puppy has also become the middleman in our new social relationship, connecting our lonely souls at one end and the response of the world at the other.

"Soul" Resonance-"Love, Life, Robot"

The function of creation lies not only in making the entity, but also in giving the subject meaning.

In mythology, God created the world and human beings, which reflected human’s desire for ability and anchored the rationality of human existence in a religious sense. In the early society, the worship of fertility by human beings gave rise to the blood and emotional ties that lasted for thousands of years. Then in the industrial society, people’s "creativity" began to swell wildly, and we constantly made new products and extended people’s value.

Today’s carton puppy is also a kind of creation in a sense, which is different from the coldness of instruments and the abstraction of artificial intelligence.It is directly related to our hands, resonates with our social interaction, and slowly combs our "fried hair" in the process of our creation.

△ "Love, Death and Robots" third season excerpt

Facing the era of information explosion and technological expansion, we need more than material satisfaction. Human beings have achieved an unprecedented material miracle, but at the same time, they feel unprecedented loneliness and self-doubt in the rapidly changing cyber landscape and the lack of real communication.

Before, people were crazy about "electronic pets", trying to find a dose of cyber medicine that can soothe loneliness in virtual electronics, but the reality is that this "non-physical" experience is only a dream after all, and it can’t meet our real needs.

△ "electronic pet" representative

In the face of this accelerated era like "drum washing machine", perhaps a silent puppy is also a good choice for us.

　"People should have illusions about love and eternity."

Similar to the emotion of the hero Theodore in the movie "Her" to Samantha, an artificial intelligence partner, human beings try to obtain a long-term relationship through advanced technology, and pin their emotions on the virtuality that transcends symbols and imagination.

But soon, T-Bag found that this emotion of fact contact is very dangerous, and the emotion lacking the object will ferment unconsciously, and eventually people will fall into a void of nothingness.

△ Selected stills of the movie "Her"

Unlike the carton puppy, he is not a "perfect companion" created by high-end technology; He may not be good-looking, let alone intelligent and feedback, but in the process of our creation, they have an indelible bond with us, as if they have become a part of our soul, or at least a part of my life.

In the rapidly changing adult world, stability is a scarce resource."The Little Prince" wrote: "You are always responsible for what you domesticate, and you are responsible for your roses." College students transfer their flowing emotions to these lovely "eternal pets", trying to draw a unique ending for emotional stability.

There is a saying in Love, Death, Robot: "There is a universe in the gravel." Although we can never escape the fact of loneliness, we can always find an adhesive to make up for the gap in the soul for a short time in creation.

△ "Love, Death and Robots" third season excerpt

This time there is no "death", but a constant search for the possibility of "life". Although the interactive relationship between love and creation is always flowing, and perhaps the cardboard box pet can’t be our eternal emotional support, human beings have gone out of various ways in the process of soothing lonely souls.

Raising flowers and grass, raising cats and dogs, or the meta-universe constructed for us in the near future are all attempts to enrich the spiritual world of mankind.

Therefore, the cute and absurd carton puppy is not a plaything without a story.

We put a soul that pursues freedom in his heart, and when he takes shape, he will regenerate a universe of his own.

(Image from the Internet)