“Welcometo

the Desert of the Real”:

The Signifier – Signified Disconnect

Based upon the philosophy of

Jean Baudrillard

This is for the purpose of reference only

 A World Gone Mad
 The postmodern world = mass communication, mass
media, and the proliferation, across all boundaries, of
signs (signifiers).
 The image, the symbol, icon (the signifier) precedes the
meaning (signified)  Signifier becomes more
important than the signified
 Any concept of the real, or of meaning, or of history, has been
eroded
SIMULACRA AND SIMULATION

• Jean Baudrillard – postmodern philosopher, introduces

the idea of “the simulacra of simulation”

• A “hyperreal” or simulacrum – a copy with

no original
• Coins the phrase “desert of the real” – means
that the imitation is more vital and
believable than the original
• The original is rotting, decaying
SIMULACRA AND SIMULATION
• Simulacra are diabolical, meant to control humans by
trapping them into believing that the simulation is real; to
make humans so dependent upon the simulation that
they cannot live without it, and exist only to guarantee its
survival.

• Humans are unconscious/unaware of the simulation

and its control over them.

• Humans are not individuals in the system, but are just

another brick in the wall.

• Can you live happily without the simulations provided by your cell
phone, television, or Internet connection?
ANCIENT CONCEPTS OF SIMULATION:
BASIC GNOSTICISM, AS SEEN IN THE MATRIX

 A sect of Christianity based on the Gospel of Thomas that believes:

• God is transcendent, and between Him and humans are many demigods,
called aeons. Some are good, some evil.

• This world is false and evil.

• It was created by a trickster aeon to manipulate and control humans.

• Humans somehow retain some of the divine spark from God.

• Humans can find salvation through self-knowledge.

• A Redeemer came to save humans, by giving them knowledge of the

deception.
Epistemologically speaking…
• Epistemology is the study of knowledge. But how can
we know what is or is not real? If all that we have ever
experienced is this world, how do we know it’s the real
one or not?
The Problems
• If the image is more real than the real, then how do we
tell what is real and which is not?
• Does it even matter?
• If simulation is better than reality, do we even want to
bother with the real?
• What is “real,” anyway? Is a simulation perceptually
any less real?
Steak or self-righteousness?
Imagine:
• The real world is filled with poverty, sickness, bad
grades, college rejection letters, bad hair days, etc., etc.
• The simulated world offers beauty, riches, luxury, social
status, delicious food, etc., etc.
• Which would you choose?
And this has to do with postmodernism…why?

• Because the postmodern era is concerned with

• Mass-produced images

• The triumph of simulacra

• The cynicism that questions definitions of reality and truth.