Simulations: Wednesday

Reading Summary

This reading discussed how simulations are not an imitation, duplication nor a parody rather they are hyperreal. According to the reading, the hyperreal is he process of removing the real process by using its operational double. The operational double is the descriptive simulation which provides all the signs of the real. The reading uses Disneyland as the perfect model of a simulation. The illusions of many Disney Worlds is what makes the operation successful. The reading explains that Disneyland is presented as imaginary to make the audience believe that the rest is real. In other words, Disneyland “is 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 that real childishness is everywhere…” The reading goes on to describe the hyperreal by saying that staging an illusion is no longer possible because the real is no longer possible. This might sound confusing but it only means that the simulation is more than an illusion and more than the real. The simulation showcases the truth of an event with the use of symbols of the real.

Outside Example

As I was reading this chapter, I was reminded of a time in high school when the police department came and made a simulation of a drunk environment to make us aware of the dangers of being under the influence. So, what they did to recreate this was make all the students wear the drunk simulation googles while attempting to walk in a straight line. These googles blur your vision and make it seem as if you are going in circles meaning you have zero control of your vision. Therefore, 90% of my class was not able to walk in a straight line. The other 10% probably just have some serious skills or the simulation is just not as realistic for them. For me, I was not able to walk in a straight line because it was way too blurry. The vision aspect felt very similar to that of being under the influence but the body sensations obviously were not. In fact, since I was not under the influence, I actually stopped mid-way of the line because I knew I was going to probably fall and make a fool of myself. However in real life when a person is drunk, they tend to not have this sense of awareness so they fall and make a mockery of themselves in many ways. After the ‘walk in a straight line’ test, the police officer made us wear the googles and play a driving video game which had a driving stick and steering wheel. If I remember well, I think we all failed that test which proves that if we can not drive with some simulator googles, we can not drive while actually being intoxicated.

Reading Connection

The example of the drunk google simulator connected to the reading because they both display how simulations are a products of an irradiating synthesis of combinatory models in a hyperspace without atmosphere. This means that the drunk google simulator is meant to seem more real than reality itself. Something fake and artificial like a simulator comes to be more definitive of the real than reality. This is may be because when we are living the reality, we can get stuck in the moment and forget about the consequences or benefits of an event. In the case of the drunk google simulator, one is able to see how being drunk can lead to some dangerous consequences because we know that the simulator is showing something more real than the real. This is because the simulator created a real event from memory and command models like the reading said. The drunk googles is a substitute of the real ‘drunk state’ to show this “operational double” of driving while intoxicated and trying to walk on a straight line.