Our last key concept for the semester is simulation, a topic popularized by theory Jean Baudrillard but picked up by many people in media and communication studies. Here are a few of his key definitions and categorizations covered in our text for today.
“Simulacra and Simulation” breaks the sign-order into 4 stages:
- faithful image/copy: a sign is a “reflection of a profound reality”
- perversion of reality: the sign an unfaithful copy, which “masks and denatures” reality as an “evil appearance,” obscuring reality which the sign itself is incapable of encapsulating.
- masks the absence of a profound reality: the sign pretends to be a faithful copy, but it is a copy with no original.
- pure simulation: the simulacrum has no relationship to any reality whatsoever.
Simulacra and Simulation identifies three types of simulacra and identifies each with a historical period (from Hegarty, Paul (2004). Jean Baudrillard: live theory. London: Continuum):
- Renaissance (premodern): representation is clearly an artificial placemarker for the real item.
- Industrial revolution (modern): distinctions between representation and reality break down due to the proliferation of mass reproducible copies, turning them into commodities that threatens the authority of the original.
- Late Capitalism (postmodern): simulacrum precedes the original and the distinction between reality and representation vanishes. There is only the simulation, and originality becomes meaningless.
Our activity for class today is that each table group should find one example of simulation that wasn’t outlined explicitly in our text and explain how it functions in relationship to the terms above but even more importantly, how it functions rhetorically. “Comment” on this message with your group’s example and provide at least one external link to the concept or source.
what.is.a.text? 
This is an example of perversion of reality, pure simulation, and the absence of a profound reality because the video only highlights certain experiences that this couple has. It idealizes a relationship to make it seem perfect and thrilling through showing them doing extravagent activities, but it doesn’t show them doing normal, everyday activities such as running errands or even arguing. People with the hashtag #relationshipgoals, so it is distorting people’s view of what a relationship should be. They are also only 17, so this lifestyle is not realistic.
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Microsoft Flight Simulator is a popular at-home video game that sets its user into a virtual reality space. The simulation acts as a perversion of reality, made to look and act like the cockpit of an airplane.
http://store.steampowered.com/video/314160/
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Pinterest:
A visual simulation of a cork-board/scrapbook. Users interact images that link to websites and other domains. Users can “pin” other users images that link them to more information. The images can be organized into “boards” that help them keep track of their content. Users can manage their own boards an re-orangize them at any time. Pinterest’s “virtual reality” simulates a cork board, yet users are still aware of the electronic medium.
http://www.pinterest.com
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A good example of simulation in the renaissance category is a zoo. Because a zoo is obviously a placeholder for an experience in nature. In nature, it is unsure whether or not you’re going to see he animal but in a zoo you’re always going to see the animals because they don’t have anywhere to go. Furthermore, there are other types of simulations in zoos- for example, when they play fake animal noises out of a speaker to help put the tourists in the place of the zoo. Or they might add extra, fake trees to the exhibit because they’re easier to maintain than real trees. The rhetorical aspect of this is that there is a sensory experience that is provided for the visitors because they are fully immersed in the fake jungle- there are tons of trees, sounds, and sometimes even misting humidifiers. It is an illusion perpetuated by the zoo as a rhetorical device to help them make money and to soothe the feelings of their visitors (no one wants to face the reality that the animals are trapped helplessly in the cages).
This website provides specific examples of how this illusion is perpetuated in JungleWorld, a zoo in the Bronx: http://www.transparencynow.com/zoos2.htm
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Google Maps could be an example of a modern simulation. You have to decide in developing it, what certain aspects of the images should be removed or kept, in order to portray enough of a reality simulation.
http://framesynthesis.com/drivingsimulator/maps/
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http://www.agame.com/games/surgery_games
Surgeon Simulator games. They seem to fall under guideline 3, makes absence of a profound reality, and also it is a Renaissance or pre-modern piece. The idea of these games are to simulate surgeries that happen in real life. However, this is a hyper-immediate piece that doesn’t seem to blur any real lines with actual reality. It’s a copy, an idea of what reality is but it doesn’t facilitate a true setting, but rather an artificial one. Rhetorically, its audience is for people way, way outside of the medical field, probably for teenagers who have an idea of what being a doctor is but not specifically a surgeon. Although it’s constraints are the fact that all of this is on a computer, it does its job in simulating the basics of surgery without getting into the real context of reality.
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Tinder would be an example of a simulation as a perversion of reality. It modifies the idea of tradition of dating and creates an almost anonymous way to rate others in order to talk to someone you find attractive. It simulates the idea of speed dating as well because it creates a very fast paced environment to judge whether or not you actually want to talk to the person. In addition, it edits the experience of face to face dating, as you never know if the person swiped left and as a result, never have to deal with the face-to-face rejection.
http://www.gotinder.com/
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Perversion of reality:
Dating sites are a simulation of the self and the “dating game.” You can represent yourself in a light that may not be true to who you currently are: you can upload outdated pictures or pictures at angles that are inaccurate to how you actually look, you can include false information on yourself and your interests, etc. There are specified dating sites as well, which bank certain types of people, thus making it easier for people to find their desired mate.
Creating a dating profile is creating a human advertisement. You are characterizing yourself in a way that you are trying to persuade potential mates to buy in to your product – you.
Here is a link to a specified dating website as an example:
http://www.farmersonly.com/
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3D printers are great examples of simulation. The objects that are created through the 3D printer would be considered a mask of the reality as it pretends to be the faithful copy, but it is a copy with no original. The objects created through the 3D printer can function as the original and can create a physical representation of the object rather than a model or description. It has an immediacy and a physical weight to it which cannot be matched by text or images alone. 3D printed artifacts can stand for the real thing and enhance the authenticity of an argument.
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There is a huge market for simulation when it comes to children’s toys. So many children’s toys are “kid-friendly” versions of the objects they see their parents using. Things like battery-operated cars that kids drive are made to mimic the cars that their parents are driving and still give them the simulated experience of driving. Toy kitchen sets and Barbie houses are a way simulating the reality that children are witnessing around them.
These children’s toys serve as a simulation in that they are responding to a real-world object. These types of toys become more relevant as kid’s become older. A baby may be content to play with a rattle or a noisemaker of some kind. But older kids want to replicate the experiences they see around them and interact with their toys in a way that they can relate to. This is when simulations become useful.
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