“Simulacra and Simulations”

In reading “Simulacra and Simulations,” by Jean Baudrillard, I was trying to understand the point it would have in regards to Digital Imaging, but didn’t see that there was one.  Regardless though, the reading was a deep look into our so called “truths” or “reality” that we look upon or interact with, in our daily lives.  There’s these so called real happenings going on around us when really it’s a simulated reality.  Baudrillard, from my understanding, was saying that nothing in this world holds complete truth like it did before.  This “truth” that we all take as real is just a simulaton of the real. 

Looking at Disneyland as the example gave a better understanding of what all this meant.  Adults take their children to a place where they can play the child as well.  Where really, Disneyland is just another avenue for the adult to act childish, an adult that acts this way even outside the theme park.  It’s a simulated fantasy world that has forms of reality, but it’s masked with all the characters and rides.  I never really saw it that way myself and at first I was a bit skeptical at what Baudrillard was even getting at, but I can see now that it could be seen this way. 

Reading further at all the covered up “truths” of our simulated reality, there’s a section where Baudrillard gives an example of if you were to simulate a fake hold up.  You make sure your gun is fake or not loaded and have the most trust worthy hostage.  You demand ransom and go through all the steps, getting a wide range of aired telecasts about this fake hold up that every one thinks is real.  Well the downfall to this simulation is the real will soon show it’s ugly head.  The police would shoot on sight and even though your weapon is harmless, they don’t know this.  So even though it’s simulated and not real to you, it’s very real to the world watching.  This was very interesting in regards to all the covered up stories that are told on the media today, or even all the things that Baudrillard discusses in this article (such as Watergate).  What’s true and what’ false?  Is there ever a way to truly know?  I have these questions still unanswered for me even with reading the article.  It’s gets you thinking, and it’s a bit disturbing to think that events that have happened are just covered up simulations, fake hold ups and fake stories that we all believe and we believe it blindly without question.  How would we think to question it though?  Most people feel the government in power is (or was, these days) on a high pedastal making all these important discisions, handling things the right way, but that’s all put in question with the article… even if that’s not what Baudrillard wanted.  That’s how I’ve taken the information, but that doesn’t mean that I haven’t already questioned things before reading this, it just makes you think of other things that wouldn’t normally be thought of as a simulated look into a reality that we may never truly know as reality.  At least not a true reality.   

The article:

http://www.williamlmoore.com/images/advanced/Baudrillard_Simulacra_and_Simulations.pdf