Four Stages of Simulation

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About

Four Stages of Simulation refers to steps outlined in the 1981 book Simulacra and Simulation written by French philosopher Jean Baudrillard. The stages caught on as a meme format, usually used as an illustration of memes in their original forms until their "final stage" in which the representation bears no relation to the source material. The meme first appeared in 2018 and began to gain popularity in 2020.

Origin

On 1981, the book titled Simulacres et Simulation (Eng. Simulacra and Simulation) written by Jean Baudrillard was published in French, and on 1983 published in English^[1]. In the book, explaining the four stages of the sign-order as follows:

In the first case, the image is a good appearance – representation is of the sacramental order. In the second, it is an evil appearance – it is of the order of maleficence. In the third, it plays at being an appearance – it is of the order of sorcery. In the fourth, it is no longer of the order of appearances, but of simulation.

On May 1st, 2018, Twitter^[2] user @quincognito_ uploaded the earliest edit using Baudrillard's four stages in which it was used to illustrate the development of memes such as Drakeposting, galaxy brain, Distracted Boyfriend, Gru's plan, and many more. The tweet received more than 2,900 retweets and 9,100 likes in four years (shown below).

Stage One: 2 Initially, the sign (image or representation) isa reflection of basic reality. Stage Two: The sign masks a basic reality. The image becomes a distortion of reality Stage Three. The sign marks the absence of basic reality. The image calls into question what the reality is and if it even exists. Stage Four The sign bears no relation to any reality whatsoever; it is its own pure simulacrum.

Spread

The edit by @quincognito did not catch on significantly until 2020. For example, on September 20th, 2020, Twitter^[3] user @andreeavr uploaded an edit in the same format, which only received 4 retweets and 19 likes (authorship unconfirmed). On November 8th, 2021, Facebook^[4] page Philosophy Matters reposted the image and received more than 4,700 reactions and 3,000 shares (shown below, left).

Coffee mate Stage One: Initially, the sign (image or representation) is a reflection of basic reality. Stage Two: The sign masks a basic reality. The image becomes a distortion of reality. Stage Three: The sign marks the absence of basic reality. The image calls into question what the reality is and if it even exists. Stage Four: The sign bears no relation to any reality whatsoever; it is its own pure simulacrum.

Prior to December 23rd, 2020, Twitter user @JanuszMonke uploaded an edit using black Wojaks. The tweet was removed due to the account's suspension. On December 23rd, 2020, KnowYourMeme^[5] staff Philipp uploaded the image to the site, where it received more than 9,400 views in two years (shown below, right).

Stage One: Initially, the sign (image or representation) is a reflection of basic reality. Stage Two: The sign masks a basic reality. The image becomes a distortion of reality. Stage Three: The sign marks the absence of basic reality. The image calls into question what the reality is and if it even exists. Daddy Stage Four: The sign bears no relation to any reality whatsoever; it is its own pure simulacrum.

As the meme format began to spread, it first became popular in communities focusing on philosophy, where the source material was more recognizable. This meme uploaded on October 7th, 2020 was posted in Reddit's^[6] /r/PhilosophyMemes by /u/meters_and_liters, where it earned approximately one hundred upvotes after posting (seen below).

*177032758 Stage One: Initially, the sign (image or representation) is a reflection of basic reality. Stage Two: The sign masks a basic reality. The image becomes a distortion of reality. Stage Three: The sign marks the absence of basic reality. The image calls into question what the reality is and if it even exists. Stage Four: The sign bears no relation to any reality whatsoever; it is its own pure simulacrum.

Various Examples

P FIRE Stage One: Initially, the sign (image or representation) is a reflection of basic reality. Stage Two: The sign masks a basic reality. The image becomes a distortion of reality. Stage Three: The sign marks the absence of basic reality. The image calls into question what the reality is and if it even exists. Stage Four: The sign bears no relation to any reality whatsoever; it is its own pure simulacrum.

Swedish Fish OREO Swedish Stro 135.6 Stage One: Initially, the sign (image or representation) is a reflection of basic reality. Stage Two: The sign masks a basic reality. The image becomes a distortion of reality. Stage Three: The sign marks the absence of basic reality. The image calls into question what the reality is and if it even exists. Stage Four: The sign bears no relation to any reality whatsoever; it is its own pure simulacrum.

who whom WHOM'ST whomstd Re M Tutt Kachow Increasingly Verbose Memes Greatly Enlarging The Amount of Words in the form of an image growing larger or greater the total ou of g refered to as ends to diterite acutural com tha sta sarkted by en repeatin manerakgous to the bloc tamion of gare. mem Stage One: Initially, the sign (image or representation) is a reflection of basic reality. Stage Two: The sign masks a basic reality. The image becomes a distortion of reality. Stage Three: The sign marks the absence of basic reality. The image calls into question what the reality is and if it even exists. Stage Four: The sign bears no relation to any reality whatsoever; it is its own pure simulacrum.

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Search Interest

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External References

^[1] Wikipedia – Simulacra and Simulation

^[2] Twitter – 2018 culture is absolute, inescapable Baudrillardian self-regression

^[3] Twitter – Awesome illustration of Baudrillard's categorization of reality in Simulacra & Simulation.

^[4] Facebook – The Semiotics of Autumn

^[5] KnowYourMeme – Stage Four

^[6] Reddit – Never Even Read Baudrillard

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Four Stages of Simulation Uploaded by JustOrdinaryMan	Four Stages of Simulation Uploaded by JustOrdinaryMan	Four Stages of Simulation Uploaded by JustOrdinaryMan	Four Stages of Simulation Uploaded by JustOrdinaryMan
Four Stages of Simulation Uploaded by JustOrdinaryMan	Four Stages of Simulation Uploaded by JustOrdinaryMan	Four Stages of Simulation Uploaded by JustOrdinaryMan	Four Stages of Simulation Uploaded by JustOrdinaryMan