Simulation
The excerpt from Jean Baudrillard was one of the more dense and not so easy to understand readings we've had this semester, but one of the connections I thought about after reading it was the connection between simulation and digital computing. Digital computing, or digital anything for that matter is all about extrapolating data in order to create a faithful, more accurate representation of something than by analog means.
I think the distinction he makes between simulation and representation bears this point out. Essentially he says that the concept of representation is about the 1:1 correspondence of the artifact and the end product whereas simulation is more dedicated to the concept of obscuring or redefining basic reality. On the surface this seems contrary to what simulation really means, but it is more true because there is room for error and variables when trying to emulate a thing or phenomenon in reality through projections. Either intentional or accidental modifications may show up in the end result, and that will change the perspective of those who experience that end result.
With this connection in mind it is a little easier to understand the concept of the hyperreal as the state of simulations --or simulacra as he put it-- overtaking the realm of what is reality and humanity or human psychology or whatever you may choose being submissive to that simulated reality.
In turn it is easier to understand his Disneyland example. I believe I can say with some degree of good faith and certainty that the designers of the park must have done or at the very least enlisted experts in human behavior or enviornmental psychology in order to correctly plan all of the features and aspects of the park to optimize the submission of the human mind to a reality and change their attitude toward the world that is beyond the amusement park gates sort of saying to themselves that this experience is what reality should be and what we have to endure when we leave this utopia of human experience is truly the departure from reality.
I think the distinction he makes between simulation and representation bears this point out. Essentially he says that the concept of representation is about the 1:1 correspondence of the artifact and the end product whereas simulation is more dedicated to the concept of obscuring or redefining basic reality. On the surface this seems contrary to what simulation really means, but it is more true because there is room for error and variables when trying to emulate a thing or phenomenon in reality through projections. Either intentional or accidental modifications may show up in the end result, and that will change the perspective of those who experience that end result.
With this connection in mind it is a little easier to understand the concept of the hyperreal as the state of simulations --or simulacra as he put it-- overtaking the realm of what is reality and humanity or human psychology or whatever you may choose being submissive to that simulated reality.
In turn it is easier to understand his Disneyland example. I believe I can say with some degree of good faith and certainty that the designers of the park must have done or at the very least enlisted experts in human behavior or enviornmental psychology in order to correctly plan all of the features and aspects of the park to optimize the submission of the human mind to a reality and change their attitude toward the world that is beyond the amusement park gates sort of saying to themselves that this experience is what reality should be and what we have to endure when we leave this utopia of human experience is truly the departure from reality.