Simulation

Simulation has been an important theory of art, aesthetics, and culture. In particular, the concept has gained significant relevance due to developments in new media technology.


 * Etymology and History**

Simulation is an action noun derived from the verb //to simulate.// Simulate comes from the Latin word //simulare//, which indicates an act of “making like, imitate, and counterfeit.” The concept had a very negative connotation; the idea of “simulation” was closely linked to intent to deceive. Early uses of the term include simulating belief in a religious context, as well as hypocrisy in a social context. These early uses could be summed up as a performance of falsehood.

The term became somewhat more neutral in the 19th century, as it referred to action that could be an accidental imitation, or at least an imitation without intent to deceive. In the twentieth century engineering and business journals adopted the term to denote the practice of imitating an operation or process as a method of training or research.

The most significant theorist of simulation is [|Jean Baudrillard], who used simulation to refer to the process or re-production of products across human history. Baudrillard (1988) historicizes simulation into three historical “orders”:
 * 1) The Counterfeit Order: During the Renaissance, laborers and craftsmen (now free from feudal control) were able to create products that reflected or captured nature in some way
 * 2) The Production Order: In the Industrial age, factories and mechanized means of production open up the possibility of creating and recreating an endless number of identical products (thus, the re-production is not reflecting or capturing nature, but reflecting or capturing the original prototype)
 * 3) The Simulation Order: Due to the developments of computer modeling, original products no longer exist; models of products are created virtually, and simulated endlessly (1988, p. 138).

For Baudrillard, simulation is also a theory of presentation; the process of reproduction or circulation to the point that the original no longer exists. In simulation, the copy comes to stand in for the original. In his famous example, Baudrillard (1988) cites Jorges Luis Borges’ [|story] of cartographers creating a map of an Empire that perfectly simulates the territory it depicts (p. 166). Baudrillard contends that in the age of simulation, the map’s relationship to the ”reality” of the territory ceases to exist. The map comes to stand in for the territory; this era of “hyperreality” is characterized by the “substituting of signs of the real for the real itself” (p. 167).


 * Simulation and Representation**

Simulation is very closely related to the concept of //representation,// which can be thought of as a copy of something (usually composed of signs or referents). Simulations are often mistaken for signs, because by their nature simulations are circulated or designed to a degree where they are taken as reality (Brummett, p. 7). Representation //denotes// reality, while simulation //stands in for// reality.

In his dialogue //[|The Sophist],// Plato uses simulation and representation to distinguish between the work of Sophists and Philosophers. Both types of thinkers create images of knowledge (what Plato calls the Idea), but the Philosopher creates a representation (or a resemblance) of knowledge, and a Sophist creates a false image (or a simulation) of knowledge. The two are almost indistinguishable, as the Sophist works to make their image look authentic to their audience (Muckelbauer, p. 235). Gilles Deleuze and Rosalind Krauss (1983) contend that simulation and representation are ultimately about the distinction between essence and resemblance. A simulation is defined by its disjuncture between its extrinsic resemblance to an idea and the intrinsic essence of the idea (p. 50).

Popular tourism is often cited as a prototype of contemporary simulation. These places create spaces that do not refer to the world as we know it - in fact, they are often better (Brummett, p. 12). Andrew Wood's (2010) study of America's Route 66 examines the way that the meaning of the space relies upon a constellation of simulations; these include refurbished or newly created "Route 66" landmarks, signs, and sites, as well as popular references in films and television. These simulations create a version of Route 66 that participates in a collective memory of an iconic America. The objects and sites along Route 66, Wood argues, are meant to invoke memories that never existed (p. 74). Rather than representing what Route 66 was like at a particular time, "Route 66," made up of myths, icons, and fantasies, stands in for the reality of the site's history.


 * Simulation in Industry and Technology**

The imitation or simulation of a procedure or operation is a common component of technical and industry research and training - from emergency drills to NASA flight simulations. With the advent of digital technology came the capacity to create virtual environments; these are another form of simulation. Some forms of virtual reality involve more of a representation of reality; an online simulator used for training purposes will be designed to mirror reality as closely as possible (Chan, p. 41). However, other forms of visual reality attempt to create entirely new spaces for users to inhabit, that have no referential relationship to the embodied world. A prototypical example or new media simulation would be a video game, which often seek to completely immerse users in an artificial reality that its designer has created. The video game's material reality exists only in its screen, operating system, and interface; it does not have a physical referent (Wright, p. 122). In fact, the most sophisticated new media simulations can be identified specifically because they mask their underlying processes; software is designed to be invisible (Gane, p. 109).


 * Implications for Communication Research**

Simulation and simulacra are concepts which connect to materiality, embodiment, and perception - all the purview of communication research. In particular for scholars studying images, media, and technology, simulation offers through-provoking questions about our perception of reality, the "posthuman," and the relationship between symbols and their referents. The design of interfaces and virtual spaces, the expectations of visual art/media as it relates to reality, and the perceived effects of computer-mediation and representation on ideas are all productive avenues of inquiry for communication researchers interested in simulation.

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 * References**

Alliez, E. (2003). Ontology and Logography: The Pharmacy, Plato, and the Simulacrum. In P. Patton and J. Proveti (Eds.), //Between Deleuze and Derrida// (84-97). London: Bloomsbury.

Baudrillard, J. (1981). //Simulacra and Simulation.// (Sheila Glaser, trans.). Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

Baudrillard, J. (1983). //Simulations.// (Paul Foss, Paul Patton, and Philip Beitchman, trans.). Cambridge: The MIT Press.

Baudrillard, J. (1988). //Selected Writings.// M. Poster (Ed.). Stanford: Stanford University Press.

Baudrillard, J. (2004). //The Gulf War Did Not Take Place.// Sydney: Power.

Brummett, B. (2003). //The World and How we Describe It: Rhetorics of Reality, Representation, Simulation.// Westport: Praeger.

Chan, M. (2014). //Virtual Realities: Representations in Contemporary Media.// New York: Bloomsbury.

Deleuze, G. and Krauss, R. (1983). Plato and the Simulacrum. //October// 27. 45-56.

Gane, N. and Beer, D. (2008). //New Media: The Key Concepts.// Oxford: Berg.

Karus, E. and Auer, C. (2000). Introduction. In E. Kraus and C. Auer (Eds.), //Simulacrum America: the USA and the popular media// (1-21). Rochester: Camden House.

Kittler, F. (1997). //Literature, Media, Information Systems.// J. Johnson (Ed.). Amsterdam: G+B Arts.

Muckelbauer, J. (2001). Sophistic Travel: Inhereting the Simulacrum through Plato’s ‘The Sophist.’ //Philosophy and Rhetoric// 34:3. 225-244.

Perry, N. (1998). //Hyperreality and Global Culture.// London: Routledge.

Plato. (n.d.). //The Sophist.// B. Jowett (trans.). Retrieved from [].

simulation. (n.d.). //OED Online//. Retrieved from [|http://dictionary.oed.com.]

Wood, A. (2010). Two Roads Diverge: Route 66, ‘Route 66,’ and the Mediation of American Ruin. //Critical Studies in Media Communication// 27:1. 67-83.

Wright, K. (2011). Total Imersion and the Total Screen: The Simulated and Screened Realities of Video Games. In Robin DeRosa, (Ed.), //Simulation in Media and Culture// (121-129). Lanham: Lexington Books.

Williams, R. (1985). //Keywords: A vocabulary of culture and society//, Revised Edition. New York: Oxford University Press.