The Pros And Cons Of Hyper Reality

They are not real, only illusion. It is just the same with the word universe; these words do not assert any definite or arbitrary idea, I am only using the words as words.”

Postmodern intellectual discourse and fiction refers to simulacrum not only in the original sense of the term – an image and a representation of an object – but also in a discussion and critique of different modern cultural, political, and social phenomena. If to summarise three main postmodern intellectual writers discussed in the theoretical part of the present Master thesis, Jean Baudrillard was interested in different manifestations of simulacrum and simulation in contemporary culture and society, Umberto Eco, on the contrary, in his essay was mainly focused on how various museums, tourist attractions, and historical places around the United States are exhibiting and producing replicas, while Gilles Deleuze in his discussion of simulacra paid more attention to the concepts of identity, appearance, representation, model, difference, and repetition. Thus, all of three had their own focus and approach to the study of simulacrum, simulation, and

The Matrix script has a complex symbolic storyline, with apparent philosophical allusions, and is full of elements and clues that could provide the reader with multiple interpretations. However, beneath this complex layered structure, its underlying main theme is about the nature of reality. In this essay, we study three of the most noticeable philosophical references in The Matrix: Plato’s allegory of the cave, Descartes’ mind-body problem, and Baudrillard’s simulation theory. For each of these philosophical ideas; first we draw parallels between the script and the idea, and then we examine to what extent The Matrix accurately reflects the idea and stays loyal to its conclusion.

Think about the last time you sent a text in order to communicate with another person. You may have been under the impression that you were talking with someone, but in reality you were simply pressing down on your phone and watching the pixels on the screen move. According to Jean Baudrillard’s ideologies, you were the mere product of a simulation. In “Simulacra and Simulations” and “Simulacra and Science Fiction”, author and sociologist Jean Baudrillard explains this phenomenon by exploring the concept of simulacrum and simulations. Baudrillard argues that we live in a simulation that is more real than reality, and thus no longer even bears a resemblance to reality. In other words, the reality we think we know is really just an illusion. One movie with an exceptional amount of parallels to Baudrillard’s ideologies is The Matrix, directed by the Wachowskis. Many people believe that foundation of The Matrix’s plot is based off Baudrillard’s philosophies, however this has been met with numerous counterarguments. While The Matrix’s plot may correspond with many Baudrillard’s beliefs, it is my belief that The Matrix is not solely based on Baudrillard’s works but instead incorporates ideas from a variety of different sources.

People seem to think that everything that happens to them everyday is real. The question is, though, “What is real?”. Is everything you see everyday really real or is it fake? We might see fantasies that other people or machines have created for us. Maybe we are the ones that are not enlightened yet. Numerous essays and films have been produced on this subject. One essay is “The Allegory of the Cave” written by Plato in 360 B.C. Also, the movie The Matrix was filmed in 1999. Even though many differences can be drawn between “The Allegory of the Cave” and The Matrix, there are many similarities as well.

This idea is represented in the matrix by “The Desert of the Real” and the motifs of mirrors throughout the movie. The reflections represent the confusion toward the blurred line between reality and simulation. Similarly, this idea of the blurred line between reality and simulation is reflected with Cypher’s conversation with Agent Smith. A firm believer in the theory “ignorance is bliss”, Cypher prefers the ‘happier’ simulated life to the truth facing him. By emphasising this simulated environment, the Wachowski brothers allow us to analyse our own dependency on technology for our lives. Similarly, Card analyses this idea of human kind living in a simulacra in his novel Ender’s game. Not knowing the truth, Ender is deceived by his military superiors into believing that the real battle against the buggers was simply a computer game. “Real. Not a game.” After this sudden revelation, Ender cannot cope with his existence, and only finds redemption in religion. In both texts, the composers use textual forms to highlight the idea that computers are used to create a simulation which absorbs the user, hiding them from the realities of life.

Being in real world first hand lets a person decide what they experience through his own senses as opposed to a machine which has an idea what could be experienced. In contemporary times illusions that distract from reality are far from gone. Something like Facebook, which causes a disconnect from the physical presence of human interaction is a growing issue. People could spend hours looking up things about other people rather than personally knowing them and learning about him or her and in turn ruin the psychological sociological aspect that humans are social creatures that need interactions, which Facebook affects. Another would be is FarmVille, part of

These two worlds collide and people have difficulties distinguishing what’s real and what’s not. This can be both bad and good. It is detrimental to the real world, but if the real world is truly in a state that cannot be replenished then what is most important is the well being of the people still alive. If people can no longer find meaning in the real world, then at least they can find meaning in a virtual

Baudrillard himself refers to reality

Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” and The Matrix, both deal with defining the concept of what is really “real.” In both stories, the main characters are trapped in a false reality, which essentially is all they have ever known. In order to shake the false reality, both must experience an essential “culture shock” and take a journey outside of the reality they are living in. But sometimes, its hard to face the true reality. The greatest struggle for both characters is distinguishing between what is perceived as reality and what is reality.

Realism is a theory that depicts world politics as a ceaseless repetitive struggle for power. In other words, political realism seeks to explain international relations between states in terms of power. Realist “views that nation-state as the most important actor…because it answers to no higher authority;” in other words, it is an anarchic system (Kegley, 27). Some traits of realism are that states are sovereign, non-cooperation among states, and the exclusion if morality in policies.

“What is real? How do you define 'real'? If you're talking about what you can feel, what you can smell, what you can taste and see, then 'real' is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain.”, as spoken by Morpheus. According to this, everything is

Reality and manipulation, two words that seem opposites at first however, look deeper and it will show that it goes hand in hand. What is reality? Many will say, something that can be see, something that can touch, something that can be feel. If that is the case, then Morpheus explains it best when he says, “How do you define real? If you're talking about what you can feel, …, what you can taste and see, then real is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain” (Matrix). If it is true, reality is electrons traveling from one point to the other. For some reason it sounds logical but doesn’t feel right. The Matrix, a story of a dystopian future where humanity is being manipulated by mechanical sentient being, explores the topic of reality

2. Virtual Reality as Lanier envisioned it has not eventuated, yet the desires he articulated live on. Discuss.

J.Baudrillard(1988:98) said “as a sort of historical attraction to the second degree, a simulacrum to the second power.” The new wedding behaviours are deception and falsehood; the wedding photography companies build up a hyper reality land for the bride and groom to takes photos. There normally like a Destiny land or cinema studio, people can easy to cross around the world, they imitate Beijing the Forbidden City, Europe church, USA Main Street and something you can expects (picture 6-11). Because of the high emulation building complex, Human the examination will get weak. At the same time there is not original emulation, consequently human will forget how is the real Forbidden City look like, human impress is the emulation of Forbidden City, Reality will cover by Simulation. J.Baudrillard(1988:113) believe “The Disneyland imaginary is neither true nor false: it is a deterrence machine set up in order to rejuvenate in reverse the fiction of the real. Whence the debility, the infantile degeneration of this imaginary. It’s meant to be an infantile world, in order to make us believe that the adults are elsewhere, in the “real” world, and to conceal the fact…”