## Summary Hyperobjects are massively distributed systems or entities that defy human-scale perception but shape our world profoundly—like climate change, capitalism, or the internet. ## Definition Coined by Timothy Morton, **hyperobjects** are things that are: - Vast in time and space - Incomprehensible in totality - Deeply entangled with human and non-human systems ## Core Characteristics - **Viscous** – they “stick” to thought and perception - **Nonlocal** – their effects are felt everywhere, even if the thing isn’t "there" - **Temporally Massive** – they unfold across lifetimes or geological time - **Phased** – you only perceive slices at a time - **Interobjectivity** – exist through a web of relations, not in isolation ## Examples | Hyperobject | Manifestations | |-------------|----------------| | Climate Change | Floods, droughts, sea level rise | | Capitalism | Ads, labor markets, hedge funds | | Internet | Surveillance, memes, server farms | ## Related Ideas - [[emergence]] – hyperobjects often emerge from collective action - "Subscendence" and the flattening of ontologies – object-oriented ontology - Systems thinking & complexity science (e.g., Donella Meadows) - Environmental humanities, posthumanism, and new materialism ## Implications - **Hyperobjects undermine the illusion of control.** You cannot manage them like machines. They require *different metaphysical and political approaches*. - **They destabilize binaries.** Nature vs. culture, subject vs. object, here vs. there—hyperobjects blur all these lines. - **They provoke existential unease.** The awareness of hyperobjects can be uncanny, anxiety-inducing, or sublime. They demand a new way of thinking: slower, more systemic, and less ego-centered. - **They decenter the human.** Human actions are no longer central drivers but part of a vast, entangled web. This resonates with ecological thinking and post-humanist philosophy.