A hype adds a narrative and sense of urgency to a [[Trend]] or [[Future Vision]] to sell them and attract resources (people, investment, etc.). As such, a hype is a [[Business Strategy]], not really a future exploration.
At best, it can give legitimacy or desirability to a vision, turning it into a trend, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Sometimes a hype uses a form of [[Futures Appropriation]] to add a sense of inevitability.
A hype without the intention of fulfilling the vision, but to bind competitor resources, is a [[Domesticated White Elephant]].
## Hype as scale
This is from Johannes Klingebiel and his article [The five Levels of Hype (johannesklingebiel.de)](https://johannesklingebiel.de/2022/01/12/hype-as-a-scale.html)
> One important component of hype is thus a set of promises of what the technology can achieve in the future for you dear reader. These might range from solving a particularly annoying problem to creating new markets, making you heaps of money, or even revolutionizing a whole field and changing society as a whole.
>
> Hype thus moves on a scale from overpromising to overselling, and even irrational exuberance.