[No.7] We are living in our Republic.
-Simulations Reflection P38-49
When I read Plato's Republic, I always think the rule of the republic is ridiculous and not plausible or interesting enough to operate in real life. Because if everyone is each performing its own functions and never has any value interaction with other individuals in the world, that republic must be a very boring place. However, after reading this week's Simulations, I kinda realized the real world is not really much a different than Plato's world to be honest.
Compare Plato's republic to our republic, I guess we have a little bit more "freedom" than the people working for Plato. At least we have the right to think about whatever we want to imagine and still believe we have our "free right" to be creative since we are controlling our own brain. But question is, are we really though? Are we really being creative and full of imagination, or our mind has already been controlled by the mass society?
Baudrillard suggests that because there is the established order, "as far as the established order is concerned, they are always of the order of the real" (39). The example of a parody robbery crime shows that normally, the masses don't need to see the whole picture to predict what they will see based on what they believe. Everyone is in some level having a closed-mindset which naturally being filled by the rules of the society. And there is nothing we can do to open the mind, people are just going to "inscribed in advance in the decoding and orchestration ritual of the media, anticipated in their mode of presentation and possible consequences" (41).
Here comes what I don't agree or what I think it is reasonable that all human end of being thinking like this: We are all being taught in the same way about the social rule and the power of laws. The priority of being able to predict what will happen is to ensure we have the power to protect ourselves before we get into real danger. Even psychologically when we see a new object being presented in front of us, we will use all the knowledge we already have to analyze "what the hell is that" then decide are we in danger or not, then to take any possible action to save our ass.
As he says in his book, "it is through the death of the social that socialism will emerge"(46), the world need "established order" to keep it functioning and operating in a stable way. Maybe Baudrillard is being objective about this situation now, and I understand his point of this is "As is the fact that power is no longer present except to conceal that there is none" (46). Now I guess he is trying to tell us maybe there shouldn't be any rule at the first place, no one should have power at all, then all people can just thrive naturally. Our world just has a little bit more bugs than Plato's republic.
The idea of we are being unwittingly ruled by the “power" is further being proved in later of this chapter when he gives the example of workers' "strike". The whole strike thing is just a "mortal blows" when people sometime get tired of stay in the daily position under the control of authority, we get bored of filling our roles inside the rules, we jump out to make some noise but end of going back to "normal" due to the "force of inertia".
But eventually, one thing that me and my friend start thinking about is, if there is really nothing other than simulation, why not to confirm that the simulation is the reality?
When I read Plato's Republic, I always think the rule of the republic is ridiculous and not plausible or interesting enough to operate in real life. Because if everyone is each performing its own functions and never has any value interaction with other individuals in the world, that republic must be a very boring place. However, after reading this week's Simulations, I kinda realized the real world is not really much a different than Plato's world to be honest.
Compare Plato's republic to our republic, I guess we have a little bit more "freedom" than the people working for Plato. At least we have the right to think about whatever we want to imagine and still believe we have our "free right" to be creative since we are controlling our own brain. But question is, are we really though? Are we really being creative and full of imagination, or our mind has already been controlled by the mass society?
Winter Landscape with a Bird Trap (1565), Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Baudrillard suggests that because there is the established order, "as far as the established order is concerned, they are always of the order of the real" (39). The example of a parody robbery crime shows that normally, the masses don't need to see the whole picture to predict what they will see based on what they believe. Everyone is in some level having a closed-mindset which naturally being filled by the rules of the society. And there is nothing we can do to open the mind, people are just going to "inscribed in advance in the decoding and orchestration ritual of the media, anticipated in their mode of presentation and possible consequences" (41).
Here comes what I don't agree or what I think it is reasonable that all human end of being thinking like this: We are all being taught in the same way about the social rule and the power of laws. The priority of being able to predict what will happen is to ensure we have the power to protect ourselves before we get into real danger. Even psychologically when we see a new object being presented in front of us, we will use all the knowledge we already have to analyze "what the hell is that" then decide are we in danger or not, then to take any possible action to save our ass.
The Triumph of Death (1562), Pieter Bruegel the Elder
As he says in his book, "it is through the death of the social that socialism will emerge"(46), the world need "established order" to keep it functioning and operating in a stable way. Maybe Baudrillard is being objective about this situation now, and I understand his point of this is "As is the fact that power is no longer present except to conceal that there is none" (46). Now I guess he is trying to tell us maybe there shouldn't be any rule at the first place, no one should have power at all, then all people can just thrive naturally. Our world just has a little bit more bugs than Plato's republic.
The idea of we are being unwittingly ruled by the “power" is further being proved in later of this chapter when he gives the example of workers' "strike". The whole strike thing is just a "mortal blows" when people sometime get tired of stay in the daily position under the control of authority, we get bored of filling our roles inside the rules, we jump out to make some noise but end of going back to "normal" due to the "force of inertia".
But eventually, one thing that me and my friend start thinking about is, if there is really nothing other than simulation, why not to confirm that the simulation is the reality?
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vocabulary building
parody: bad mimicking
apparatus: equipment, institution, organ
transgression: break the law
Peril: danger
Feign: fake, pretend
Incline: lean
Ransom: 赎金
Commotion: chaos
Inextricably: can’t get over it
Phoney: fake
Unwittingly: unconsciouslly
Devour: eat out everything
Irreceivable: cannpt receive
Obedience: 顺从
Transgression: break the law
Inertia: lazy
Inverse:counter
Impotency: lack of power, no ability
Hijack: rob, manipulate
Inscribed: depict, write
Orchestration rituals
Anticipate: estimate
Refracted: reflect
Exert: using power
Nebula: 星云
Defection: betray
Reinject
Discourse： formal discussion
non-referential 无参考内容，非指向性
Shattered: broken
Deterrence: restrain, repress
deterritorialization: 非领地化
liquidate: 清算，清偿，结束
Omnipotence: 全能，万能
Catastrophic spiral
Secreting 动植物器官分泌/隐匿
Glimmer: little shinning
Hysteria 歇斯底里
Profundity 深厚意义
Compulsion 强迫， force
Mourning 悲痛，哀悼
Revitalisation 新生，复兴
expunged erase
Commodity daily stuffs, purchase
Subtly 微妙的，敏锐的
Envisaged: assume, imagine
Ritual scansion 韵律节奏的分析扫描
Locum 临时代理
Obsolescence 陈旧过时
Scenodrama
Ethic 伦理
Obscures 模糊的，朦胧的
Exploitation 开发，利用，剥削
Moral blows 道德打击
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