The God of Hyperstition: Accelerationism as a Philosophy of Autocatalytic Secularization

What role does religion play in accelerationism? Is accelerationism a theory of secularization? If so, how does this function?

Nick Land's concept of accelerationism states that in order to neutralize any given system, one must accelerate its most extreme and essential elements.^[1] The theory has been at the center of various academic and public controversies and discussions in the last decade, specifically those surrounding the concepts of late-stage capitalism, crypto-fascism, and posthumanism. Land is typically read within the context of political theory, with little respect paid to his concepts of religion and its place in his post-acceleration utopia. I propose a reading of Land's accelerationism which positions his philosophy in a lineage of post-Taylorian theories of secularization.^[2] In particular, I locate Land's post-capitalist utopia within the realm of philosophy of religion.

“Hyperstition” is a term coined by Nick Land to describe the process of truth-making through circulation and acceptance. Hyperstition theory states that predictions of the future, especially those regarding technological advancements, through proliferation and repetition, eventually become materially real.^[3] This creates a feedback loop between the collective imaginations, social imaginaries, and technologies of any given society. This positive feedback loop self-accelerates autocatalyzes, and moves towards somewhere entirely unknowable.^[4] Land’s model of accelerationism as a directionless force of atomization may help us better understand the complex nature of secularization.

Through analysis of Land and his CCRU contemporaries' writings on hyperstition, technology, eschatology, and progress, I hope to link such concepts of progress to Charles Taylor's "Secularism 3" as described in "A Secular Age".^[5] At its simplest, Land’s accelerationism can be understood as a radical form of secularization, where the forces of capitalism and technicalism^[6] supersede traditional religious structures. Through the concept of hyperstition, Land presents a new mode of myth-making that shapes reality in the absence of religious narratives. In this framework, capitalism becomes a secularized version of divine providence, while technology takes on the role of eschatology, promising a future beyond human comprehension or control. Far from being a simple rejection of religion, Land’s accelerationism transforms religious structures into secular forces, creating a new theology for the post-modern age.^[7]

I intend to analyze both Charles Taylor’s and Marcel Gauchet’s theories of secularization, in particular, Taylor’s understanding of the change in the “conditions of belief” as a primary force in the process of secularization. By placing the Taylorian concept of secularization in synthetic conversation with Nick Land’s popular theory of Accelerationism, we may better understand postmodern religiosity in late capitalism and secularization’s role therein. This is an inherently interdisciplinary project: I will be examining sources ranging from published academic articles to archived blog posts, social media posts, speculative fiction, forum chat logs, rave music, experimental film, and more to piece together the history and scope of accelerationist theory as it relates to secularization and beyond.

Blakely, Jason. 2021. “Radicalizing and De-Radicalizing Charles Taylor.” International Journal of Philosophical Studies 29 (5): 689–704. https://doi.org/10.1080/09672559.2021.1992476.

Bohmann, Ulf, Gesche Keding, and Hartmut Rosa. 2018. “Mapping Charles Taylor.” Philosophy & Social Criticism 44 (7): 725–33. https://doi.org/10.1177/0191453718779498.

Cave, Stephen, Kanta Dihal, and Sarah Dillon, eds. 2020a. AI Narratives: A History of Imaginative Thinking about Intelligent Machines. 1st ed. Oxford University PressOxford. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198846666.001.0001.

CCRU (Cybernetic Culture Research Unit). 2015. CCRU Writings 1997–2003. Falmouth: Urbanomic/Sequence Press.

Cloots, Andre, Stijn Latré, and Guido Vanheeswijck. 2015. “The Future of the Christian Past: Marcel Gauchet and Charles Taylor on the Essence of Religion and Its Evolution.” The Heythrop Journal 56 (6): 958–74. https://doi.org/10.1111/heyj.12081.

Fukuyama, Francis, and Marcel Gauchet. 1998. “The Disenchantment of the World: A Political History of Religion.” Foreign Affairs 77 (3): 131. https://doi.org/10.2307/20048891.

Galindo Hervás, Alfonso. 2016. “Delay or Accelerate the End? Messianism, Accelerationism and Presentism.” International Journal of Philosophy and Theology 77 (4–5): 307–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/21692327.2016.1262783.

Heidegger, Martin. 1977. The Question Concerning Technology and Other Essays. Translated by William Lovitt. New York: Harper & Row.

Konior, Bogna M. 2019. “Apocalypse Memes for the Anthropocene God: Mediating Crisis and the Memetic Body Politic.” PDF, 32pp. https://doi.org/10.21983/P3.0255.1.05.

Puiggrós, Adriana. 2019. “¿Aceleramos?” In La Escuela, Plataforma de La Patria. CLACSO.

Roberts, Sarah T, and Mél Hogan. 2019. “Left Behind Futurist Fetishists, Prepping and the Abandonment of Earth.” UCLA.

Sogas, Anna Rafecas. 2023. “Left Accelerationism as a Messianism: A Dialogue between Left Accelerationism and the Messianic Turn to Saint Paul.” Edited by Arjen Kleinherenbrink. Radboud University Nijmegen.

Taylor, Charles. 2007. A Secular Age. Cambridge, Mass: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

Wijarnarko, Andrean Ferry, and Septiana Dwiputri Maharani. 2024. “Human’s Relationship with Technology in Nick Land’s Accelerationism.” Jurnal Filsafat 34 (1): 1. https://doi.org/10.22146/jf.86596.

[1] Nick Land, Robin Mackay, and Ray Brassier, Fanged Noumena: Collected Writings 1987–2007 (Cambridge: Urbanomic, 2018), https://public-ebookcentral-proquest-com.proxy3.library.mcgill.ca/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=5628805.

CCRU (Cybernetic Culture Research Unit), CCRU Writings 1997–2003 (Falmouth: Urbanomic/Sequence Press, 2015).

Various articles in #ACCELERATE and the CCRU publication “Digital Hyperstition”.

[2] Alfonso Galindo Hervás, “Delay or Accelerate the End? Messianism, Accelerationism and Presentism,” International Journal of Philosophy and Theology 77, no. 4–5 (2016): 307–23, https://doi.org/10.1080/21692327.2016.1262783.

Stephen Cave, Kanta Dihal, and Sarah Dillon, eds., AI Narratives: A History of Imaginative Thinking about Intelligent Machines, 1st ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020), https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198846666.001.0001.

Sarah T. Roberts and Mél Hogan, “Left Behind Futurist Fetishists, Prepping and the Abandonment of Earth” (UCLA, 2019).

[3]Andrean Ferry Wijarnarko and Septiana Dwiputri Maharani, “Human’s Relationship with Technology in Nick Land’s Accelerationism,” Jurnal Filsafat 34, no. 1 (2024): 1, https://doi.org/10.22146/jf.86596.

[4] In nuclear fission, the nucleus of a heavy atom (like uranium-235) is struck by a neutron, causing it to split into smaller atoms, releasing energy and additional neutrons. Those newly released neutrons then strike other uranium-235 nuclei, causing them to split, release more energy, and emit even more neutrons.

This leads to a self-reinforcing chain reaction:

Initial neutron: A single neutron triggers the fission of one uranium nucleus.
Release of neutrons: Each fission event releases multiple neutrons.
Accelerating reaction: These neutrons strike more nuclei, causing more fission events in an accelerating cascade.
Exponential growth: The reaction quickly goes from slow and controlled to an explosive release of energy if not carefully managed.

[5] Charles Taylor, A Secular Age (Cambridge, Mass: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2007).

Andre Cloots, Stijn Latré, and Guido Vanheeswijck, “The Future of the Christian Past: Marcel Gauchet and Charles Taylor on the Essence of Religion and Its Evolution,” The Heythrop Journal 56, no. 6 (2015): 958–74, https://doi.org/10.1111/heyj.12081.

Jason Blakely, “Radicalizing and De-Radicalizing Charles Taylor,” International Journal of Philosophical Studies 29, no. 5 (2021): 689–704, https://doi.org/10.1080/09672559.2021.1992476.

Ulf Bohmann, Gesche Keding, and Hartmut Rosa, “Mapping Charles Taylor,” Philosophy & Social Criticism 44, no. 7 (2018): 725–33, https://doi.org/10.1177/0191453718779498.

[6]Martin Heidegger, The Question Concerning Technology and Other Essays, trans. William Lovitt (New York: Harper & Row, 1977).

Anna Rafecas Sogas, “Left Accelerationism as a Messianism: A Dialogue between Left Accelerationism and the Messianic Turn to Saint Paul,” ed. Arjen Kleinherenbrink (Radboud University Nijmegen, 2023).