"Fictions that make themselves real"
A hyperstition is a concept coined by the Cybernetic Culture Research Unit (CCRU). It describes ideas, narratives, or fictions that, through collective belief and cultural propagation, bring about their own reality. Unlike superstitions (false beliefs), hyperstitions are fictions that become true through their own existence and spread.
The widespread belief that computers would fail at the turn of the millennium created real economic effects—billions were spent on prevention, careers were built around it, and social anxieties materialized into concrete action. The fear itself shaped reality.
When enough traders believe a stock will rise or fall, their collective actions make it happen. Technical analysis patterns work partly because enough people believe in them and act accordingly, creating the very movements they predict.
The tech industry's narratives about disruption, exponential growth, and inevitable technological progress function hyperstionally. By believing these futures into existence, founders and investors create self-fulfilling feedback loops.
Nations are perhaps the most successful hyperstitions—imagined communities that became undeniably real through collective belief. Maps, flags, and anthems are the ritual technologies that maintain these powerful fictions.
Currency has value because we collectively agree it does. This shared fiction enables real exchange, builds economies, and shapes lives. The hyperstition of money is so successful that questioning its reality seems absurd.