Blackboxing refers to the process by which objects, scientific constructions or technical works become opaque and obscure due to their own success. When an entity stabilizes, a machine runs efficiently, or a matter of fact is settled, it becomes a "black box"—where focus shifts only to its inputs and outputs, while the complexity within is hidden from view. The term not only highlights the process of boxing but also emphasizes the potential for unboxing. Within the framework of the Technosphere, knowledge and technologies consist of numerous black boxes that appear solid but can be unboxed to reveal the complex network that originally shaped them.

All actants—whether atoms, seeds, cameras, or academic conferences—are ontologically equal and undergo blackboxing. As philosopher Graham Harman notes, even mundane objects like pebbles are black boxes, appearing simple and seamless until unpacked by a geologist who reveals the complex forces of sedimentation and volcanism that formed them. Every actant can be understood either as a black box or as a multitudinous network, depending on the context. This process raises essential questions about pluralism in existence and ontologies, particularly in the Anthropocene, where we must learn to inquire, trace and follow these pluralities. Blackboxing, therefore, captures the process by which knowledge and objects seem self-contained and stable, but are always rooted in the trials, controversies, and transformations that brought them into being.