Theories of Simulation

"I have an obsession with the idea of simulation and ideology taking over our thinking processes, actions, and making us slaves to society. Here is a journal I wrote on the idea of simulation."

The world and the representations in which we hold have been manipulated by simulation. Over time, the over-use of simulation has become one with reality, making the simulated undistinguishable from the real. The term simulacrum is a term that “is never that which conceals the truth – it is the truth that conceals that there is none” (365), as stated by Jean Baudrillard. What is meant by this is that truth exists behind the images of simulation, although not as a representation, but as a simulations itself. With representation taking over and being re-created and adjusted through generations, representation may as well be reality.

A map creates a representation of a land mass, creating an image of what we know that land to be. It may be perfectly calculated to show roads, cities, and other significant land marks, but the map itself only remains a simulacrum of what it is meant to represent. The map remains a reflection of reality as it is only a mere representation of the real, but in its essence it serves a purpose unique to what it was designed to do.

The creation of religion is a perfect example of simulation making the real, or creating a simulation of reality. With symbols and images, the Christian religion is told through stories and ideas which were thought to be protected by its images of representation. As an attempt to abolish Christianity, early Romans attempted to do so by destroying symbols or images relating to the ideology. The symbols, a simulation for the religion did not possess any real; rather they signified an interpretive underlying truth. Even if every Christian image was destroyed this would not change the mentality held in the minds of believers, as the true interpretation remains within the minds of individuals. The ideas have already died, but continue to exist with images and simulations that have been created to be a reflection of truth.

We are all victims of simulation, becoming part of a simulated game of non-existence. Most of what we know, or believe, is false as it is merely a simulation created by the simulacra of politics. We are a society that runs on the creation of equity and capital. Although we have an idea of worth and capitol, the product in which we base our own worth on is a non-existent phenomenon. We work our entire lives for capital gain which is nothing more than a shared belief within society, but the shared belief creates the reality of realism. By participating in the economy, we are all unknowingly part of a simulated game and organization. Advertising, media, and the constant flow of images creates the interpretations and meanings which we hold as a believed truth.

Jay G.