In "Precession of Simulacra"
(in Simulacra and Simulation, 1981) Jean Baudrillard describes what he calls
"the third order of simulacra" in which simulation functions
through breaking down the difference between the world and representation in
order to produce a "hyperreality".
Baudrillard addresses two scientific advancements
that changed the way we see the world and allow for the production of hyperreality:
the discovery of the DNA and the invention of digital technology. DNA is a code
for life who determines who we are before we are allowed to do so. It is the
map that precedes the actual territory. Digital technology functions in the
same manner that codes reality and allows for its production.
The creation of the simulacra of
hyperreality is described by Baudrillard through three orders of simulacra manifested
in four types of images. In the first stage the image is "at one"
with the actual world and reflects a deep meaning. This is the basic form of
life which completely distinguishes the real from its representation and map
from territory. The following images correspond to the three orders of
simulacara as described by Baudrillard. The second image disguises a deep
meaning while damaging it. The third image describes by Baudrillard in the
process of creating simulacra or hyperreality is one which disguises the
absence of a deep meaning. The fourth and final image is one that lacks any
connection with reality, a "pure simulacra" and map which completely
replaces territory. For Baudrillard all types of images can coexist or be built
on top of each other, but the age of simulation makes it more and more
difficult to manifest images of the first and second order and we are left with
mostly hyperreality that has lost its connection the actual reality and that
can no longer signify anything but itself.
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