Pretentious Frenchman

Here's my take on Baudrillard's Simulacra and Simulation.

Baudrillard's claim that simulacra are replacing the reality, or simply covering a reality that doesn't exist, is pretty radical, but at the same time slightly nagging. I was tempted to simply look at this essay as an anachronistic work suited for the purposes of looking at virtual worlds in an elementary sense, but Baudrillard's reference to Disneyland and Borges made me think otherwise because they resonate in todays world more than (say) Watergate.

His point with Disneyland is an example of one of his main points: that the simulation of reality has become more real than real--hyperreal--and ends up serving to cover the reality when it leaves, if it ever existed. Although I couldn't follow most of his logic, this argument simply works: people come in from all over the world to go to Disneyland as a distillation of America, or even the world. The caricature becomes more real than the real thing; what real Mayan ruins take you underground like Indiana Jones?

The logic of Borges's map remains the same. The creativity of the creators gets out of hand, and the perfectly accurate simulation becomes the replacement for the real. In this case, there is no caricature, but the real becomes engulfed by a simulation.

World of Warcraft encompasses both of these conquests of simulacra over the real. On one hand, it is a relatively accurate representation of our 'normal' social lives: we are humanoid characters, interacting in socially accepted ways that generally conform to our real-life social norms. Our work or task becomes to kill monsters and go on quests--tasks which sometimes require collaboration or competition. In this way, WoW is an accurate representation of our lives. However, it is at its heart a caricature. Our struggles are drawn out to life-and-death battles; our conflicts turn to duels; our interactions turn to formal groups and guilds. By dialing up the stakes, WoW as a simulation turns into a caricature of our lives.

Perhaps we are addicted to the grind of everyday life, but the grind of WoW is hyperreal. The stakes are higher; the set pieces are more important. We get hooked because WoW can be hyperreal.