As I read this essay, I couldn’t help but think of the very relatable vending machine. As if the state of the world wasn’t troubling enough. There is something disconcerting happening in parallel: life goes on. «Witnessing large-scale systems slowly unravel in real time can be profoundly surreal and frightening. […] the routines of life continue, albeit threaded with mind-altering horrors.» This essay addresses this strange feeling and offers the framework of hypernormalization to understand what we’re feeling and why.

From Weekly Filet #532, in June 2025.