Climate Change is a Hyperobject — And that is Why It’s Difficult to Understand

And opponents of cancel culture make it difficult to solve.

Have you ever thought about something so big that it seemed unfathomable, and maybe even unreal? Well, if so, you have likely encountered what is called a hyperobject. According to eco-philosopher Tim Morton, hyperobjects are those “…things that are massively distributed in time and space relative to human.”

I admit, it does sound a little complicated but it might sound familiar because humans are currently dealing with a dangerous hyperobject: climate change. A ‘thing’ of massive proportion that seems out of reach for us organism who live only a short 100 years if we are lucky.

So let’s talk more about these hyperobjects, why climate change is a particularly dangerous one, and what all of this means for solving the problem in the face of cancel culture.

Okay, What is a “Hyperobject”?

The other day I was thinking about pennies. Not a single penny — all of them. I am talking about every single penny that exists today and will exist into the future (old, new, out of circulation, the whole lot).