Pardon za délku, líbilo se mi na redditu, ještě jsem výrazně zkrátila :)
hyperobjects are a concept introduced by philosopher timothy morton to describe things so vast in scale, duration, or interconnectedness, existing through such vast expanses of space *and* time that they transcend the biological capabilities of human perception and comprehension. they are objects or phenomena that we interact with but cannot fully grasp due to their inherent complexity and distributed nature. hyperobjects include things like climate change, radioactive materials, global capitalism, or even the internet.
hyperobjects exist on such expansive spatial and temporal scales that they are quite literally everywhere and nowhere all at once. for example, you can experience the effects of climate change (like extreme weather), but you can never point to a single, tangible "climate change" because it is dispersed across the entire globe and throughout time. hyperobjects persist over timeframes that dwarf human lifespans. radioactive waste and climate change remain dangerous for thousand of years, potentially outlasting human civilization.
hyperobjects stick to you and are inescapable. you might try to avoid thinking about a hyperobject, but its presence infiltrates daily life like the slow creep of rising sea levels or the omnipresence microplastics in the air you breathe, the water you drink, and the soil your food is grown in.
hyperobjects exist not in isolation but in constant interaction with other objects and systems. for instance, the carbon cycle connects human industry, ecosystems, and atmospheric chemistry in ways that cannot be disentangled. hyperobjects are real, but they don’t appear fully at once. you can only perceive fragments of them through their effects (melting glaciers or sulfur dioxide in maritime shipping fuel) and through the models used to understand them (e.g., CMIP6).
hyperobjects push beyond what is called humanity’s epistemic horizon, the boundary of what we can conceptually process. they are too vast in both space and time, existing beyond the direct experience of one human lifespan. the geological timescales of climate change make it challenging to fully perceive its urgency or consequences. the causes and effects of hyperobjects are enmeshed in complex systems, making them harder to discern. global warming involves atmospheric chemistry, ocean currents, human behavior, economic systems and things we aren't even aware of. all of which often manifests indirectly, requiring abstract models, simulations, and data interpretation over time for us to engage with them meaningfully.
this sheer scale and complexity often leads to psychological overwhelm or cognitive dissonance, resulting in denial or inaction. humans often approach hyperobjects by breaking them into smaller, more manageable parts like focusing on reducing personal carbon footprints rather than addressing systemic industrial ecocide. even just recognizing a hyperobject requires collective action, interdisciplinary research, and systems-level thinking, again, over time. meaningfully addressing climate change would necessitate coordination between nations, localities, municipalities, industries, and individuals.
art, literature, and philosophy are further ways humans historically seem to engage with hyperobjects. perhaps the abstract, individual, hyperobject-like elements of art itself help to make hyperobjects themselves more relatable and comprehensible, even if only metaphorically. art can influence individuals as well as entire cultures.
COVID-19, UAPs (unidentified aerial phenomena also known as ''the phenomena''), and AI all exhibit hyperobject-like characteristics. Also consciousness.