In Response To Jean Baudrillard (Hayles, Porush, Landon, Sobchack, Ballard)

When Baudrillard writes that we live in an age of simulacra, he is not wrong. The phenomena he describes can be observed in corner video stores, supermarket aisles, and neighborhood gas stations as well as in SF. But he is not entirely right, either. The implosion metaphor that he uses to describe the plunge into simulation suggests a sudden, violent, and irreversible change, as when glassware shatters inward or shock waves from high-energy explosives drive fissionable materials together. During the microseconds an implosion is in process, one cannot stop to distinguish between one imploding area and another. Within contemporary culture, by contrast, simulacra are unevenly dispersed, dominant in some places and scarcely visible at others. The Iowa farmer who has spent the day inspecting his seed corn, feeding his hogs, and spreading manure on his garden will not be easily persuaded that he lives in a world where it is no longer possible to distinguish between simulation and reality. Ev

When Baudrillard writes that we live in an age of simulacra, he is not wrong. The phenomena he describes can be observed in corner video stores, supermarket aisles, and neighborhood gas stations as well as in SF. But he is not entirely right, either. The implosion metaphor that he uses to describe the plunge into simulation suggests a sudden, violent, and irreversible change, as when glassware shatters inward or shock waves from high-energy explosives drive fissionable materials together. During the microseconds an implosion is in process, one cannot stop to distinguish between one imploding a