What is hyperreality?
“The simulation of something which never really existed.” - Jean Baudrillard
“The authentic fake.” - Umberto Eco
“The virtual irreality.” - Pater Sparrow
hyperreality:
-a condition in which “reality” has been replaced by simulacra
-Baudrillard argues that today we only experience prepared realities— edited war footage, meaningless acts of terrorism, the Jerry Springer Show, Disneyland, edited images, CGI, TV/Film, etc.
The very definition of the real has become: that of which it is possible to give an equivalent reproduction… The real is not only what can be reproduced, but that which is always already reproduced: that is the hyperreal… which is entirely in simulation.
Illusion is no longer possible, because the real is no longer possible.
The term 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.
