I was surprised that almost all of the definitions of this word contain some kind of negative denotation. However, right along with the times and technology, this word is evolving right along with the technology to mean something different.
A simple and popular example of what simulation looks like in today’s world is the computer program called “The Sims.” It’s name stems from the word simulation, as the purpose of the game is to create your own family or friends, with personalities, skills and appearance. They ‘live’ in the world simulated by the computer program, and have relationships and careers. Of course, this is set up as a game, and not designed to be a real family. However, the website challenges the users to “Create your Sims and Control their Lives.” Life is simulated in this game, and seems to be very real. The website also tells the viewer to “live life online to the fullest.” This implies that although this is a game, people do have online lives that are separate from their regular lives. So it seems that even with this game, where people are not living the lives themselves, the Internet has caused people to step into some kind of different territory where they have the ability to maintain some kind of separate life.
“Simulation is no longer that of a territory, a referential being, or a substance concept. It is the generation by models of a real without origin or reality: a hyperreal. The territory no longer precedes the map, nor does it survive it. It is nevertheless the map that precedes the territory…” Jean Baudrillard (521)
The MUD and MOO programs are an excellent example of ‘The Sims’
taken to the next level and involving people interacting not just with a computer
program, but with other people. Users design not only places and rooms, but
also identities and personalities for themselves. None of which exist in real
space or on a CD-ROM like ‘The Sims,’ but in cyberspace. At first
glance, these identities seem to be very separate from real life—they
are inside of the computer, which is not animate nor does it contain literal
rooms. However, they simulate real life. Characters can use gestures, go places
and have relationships. They seem to carry on a life; the only trouble is that
it is not real. Or is it? Baudrillard states that simulation may no longer be
a referential being, meaning that it has evolved to the point where it can be
real to the people who use it. People claim that they can be more like themselves
online than they can in real life. This is what he meant when he said that the
territory no longer precedes the map. People are able to go online and ‘try
out’ new personalities. They are able to simulate what they want to be
before they actually are it. Or, the identities that they assume online can
be more meaningful than the ones they have in real life. Baudrillard is suggesting
that the difference between the real and unreal may be irrelevant:
“…it is complicated because…simulating
is not pretending: ‘Whoever fakes an illness can simply stay in bed and
make everyone believe he is ill. Whoever simulates an illness produces in himself
some of the symptoms’ (Littre)…simulation threatens the difference
between the ‘true’ and the ‘false,’ the ‘real’
and the ‘imaginary.’” Jean Baudrillard (522)
The lines between technology and life are extremely blurred, and their relationship has become increasingly more complicated. The whole concept of simulation forces us to think about what a ‘self’ actually is, and what defines it. Which personalities and identities make one up, and which one is the right one? Or is it possible that instead of having just one self, there can be more?