Hauntology
Version 1.0.0 · Updated 2026-07-30
CORE DEFINITION
The past is not truly past, nor is the future truly coming. The present culture is filled with 'ghosts'—the remnants of past futures. For example, the electronic music we listen to in 2024 still repeats the 1980s' imagination of the future. Culture has lost the ability to create new futures and has fallen into a cycle of old times.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
- Innovation stagnation: Why are current movies all sequels and remakes? Because culture suffers from hauntology. True innovation requires dispelling ghosts and reinventing the future.
Anchor fast decisions
Hauntology (coined by Derrida) refers to 'spectral existence'—things that are absent yet still exert influence (unfulfilled promises of the past, repressed possibilities, things that have passed away). It studies how 'absence continues to be present'.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/3Practice this model in one real situation:
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Source support: Explicit
- en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hauntologyverified
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