Task 3-Hyperreality

Write a short analysis (300 words approx) of an aspect of our culture that is in some way Hyperreal.


'Hyperreality is used in semiotics and postmodern philosophy to describe a hypothetical inability of consciousness to distinguish reality from a simulation of reality, especially in technologically advanced post-modern societies. Hyperreality is a way of characterizing what our consciousness defines as "real" in a world where a multitude of media can radically shape and filter an original event or experience.'

An example of hyperreality is Las Vegas, you can go to Las Vegas and see the Eiffel Tower and Venetian canals, empire state building and pyramids all at once. Baudrillard studies how hyperreality effects us, when the un-reality masks the reality. This can be seen in Las Vegas, people go to Las Vegas and they can see monuments from all over the world without having to get on an aeroplane more than once, you would never get all these monuments in the same place in reality so this situation becomes hyperreal.

'It is the generation by models of a real without origins or reality: a hyperreal' (Baudrillard), this discribes Las Vegas well, it is all based on reality but have been scaled down, lit up, made more accessible and exciting, to the point people would rather see the copies than the reality. It is when the copy becomes more known than the original that hyperreality becomes what our consciousness defines what is real, when it it is just a copy of the real, the reality.

Like Las Vegas, New York can also be viewed as a hyperreality,people get the idea of New York from films and television. People think it's a romantic place because they have seen it on a film, their idea comes from a movie which is a simulacra of New York itself. It bodes the question, can we ever get an original idea of New York for ourselves?  What people see in films and television it taking over the true reality of New York, Las Vegas and places similar, has it got to the point where we'd rather stare at the wall of Platos cave then face the harsh reality of the true world.