Is your life real?

Some of you may have seen the movie The Matrix or you might have heard of simulation theory.  This is a hypothesis that we are all living in a simulation rather than in the real world.  This is an idea that people have been contemplating for thousands of years such as in Plato’s Allegory of the cave. More recently, French sociologist and philosopher Jean Baudrillard offers another perspective on simulation in his book, Simulacra and Simulation. This examination of what is real to us and how a form of simulation is affecting our lives has a tremendous impact on how we live. 

Baudrillard proposes that today’s society has replaced reality and meaning with symbols and signs, so that our human experience is, in fact, a simulation of reality. Consider, for a moment, a cult.  They live by a narrative that is reinforced by rituals, symbols and a perception of reality that is completely foreign to those outside the cult. Now, take a closer look at the narratives you live by. Is someone's Instagram account the real them or a simulation? The social and political bubbles that many find themselves in are similar.  Look at the curated and algorithmic feed of news and information we get from YouTube and other sources.  These all create a simulated reality because they affect how we see and react to the world.  

A long time ago, people purchased brands because they trusted the quality behind the name.  Today, we buy brands because they are part of our identity. They are a symbol for who we are or aspire to be, but these are all fabricated images. We are constantly being nudged and influenced so that we can no longer see the “real” world.  This is perhaps why people go on retreats and sabbaticals, to step back from the simulation they are immersed in.  It might be something you feel but can’t articulate or explain. 

I remember years ago being at a trade fair where my company’s drink was being promoted. Speaking to a consumer, they perceived another brand, which I know was produced with artificial colours and flavours, to be more natural. We prefer the perfect produce at the supermarket over the natural fruits and vegetables at the farmers market. In many ways, we are so immersed in this simulation that we prefer it. We may prefer interaction on our screens over live interactions with people we know. We might choose an imaginary world over what is all around us. But does this world fulfil you and make you happy, or does it just distract you?

Many are feeling a lack of purpose or what has been called the meaning crisis. This may be due to the unauthentic life we have all created in the simulated world described by Baudrillard. The steps you can take to distinguish simulation from reality are to go offline, slow the pace of your life, and take time to reflect.  Then seek to discover meaning and happiness from there.